MALACAÑANG
Manila
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 395
MODIFYING
THE NOMENCLATURE AND THE RATES OF IMPORT DUTY ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)
PRODUCTS UNDER SECTION 104 OF THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978 (PRESIDENTIAL
DECREE NO. 1464, AS AMENDED)
WHEREAS, on 13 December 1996, fourteen (14) economies signed in Singapore a
Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology (IT) Products
providing for the elimination/binding of tariffs on certain IT products
beginning 01 July 1997 and ending on 01 January 2000 with extended staging of
tariff reductions up to the year 2005 for developing countries;
WHEREAS, the
Philippines formally signed the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) on 01
April 1997 and was ratified by the Philippine Senate on 03 December 1998;
WHEREAS, the
Philippines availed of the flexibility of extended staging of tariff reductions
on sensitive IT products up to year 2005 as approved by the Tariff and Related
Matters (TRM) Cabinet Committee in its meeting of 24 March 1997 and confirmed by
the NEDA Board on 25 March 1997;
WHEREAS, Section 402 of the
Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as amended,
empowers the President of the Republic of the Philippines, upon the
recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority, to increase,
reduce or remove existing protective rates of import duty, as well as to modify
the form of duty;
NOW, THEREFORE,
I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO, President of the Republic of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:
SECTION 1. The
articles specifically listed in Annex “A” hereof, as classified under Section
104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall be subject to the
rates of import duty in accordance with the schedule indicated opposite each
article.
SECTION 2. The
nomenclature and the rate of import duty on tariff headings not enumerated and
those listed but represented by the symbol “X X X” shall remain in force and
effect.
SECTION 3. Upon the
effectivity of this Executive Order, the articles specifically listed in the
aforesaid “Annex” which are entered in or withdrawn from warehouses in the
Philippines for consumption shall be levied the rates of duty herein prescribed.
SECTION 4. All other
Presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof,
which are inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified
accordingly.
SECTION 5. This
Executive Order shall take effect on 01 January 2005 following its complete
publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
Done in the City of
Manila, this 31th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and
Four.
By the President:
Signature of the President
(signed)
EDUARDO R. ERMITA
Executive Secretary
to view Annex A