EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 165 - MODIFYING THE RATES OF DUTY ON CERTAIN IMPORTED ARTICLES AS PROVIDED FOR UNDER THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978, AS AMENDED, IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT THE 2002 PHILIPPINE SCHEDULE OF TARIFF REDUCTION UNDER THE BOLD ECONOMIC MEASURE INITIATIVES OF THE ACCELERATED COMMON EFFECTIVE PREFERENTIAL TARIFF (CEPT) SCHEME FOR THE ASEAN FREE TRADE AREA (AFTA) AND THE TRANSFER OF PRODUCTS FROM AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT SENSITIVE LIST (SL) TO THE CEPT INCLUSION LIST (CEPT-IL)

WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the 6th ASEAN Summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 15-16 December 1998, the ASEAN Heads of State and Government agreed to adopt a number of “bold” economic measures aimed at restoring regional economic growth and hastening the recovery from the Asian financial crisis; 

WHEREAS, on 25 October 2001, the Tariff and Related Matters (TRM) Cabinet Committee approved the 2001-2010 Philippine CEPT Schedule of Tariff Reduction of Sensitive Agricultural Products;

WHEREAS, at its meeting on 27 February 2002, the TRM Cabinet Committee approved the year 2002 Philippine CEPT Acceleration Package;

WHEREAS, Sec. 402 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as amended, empowers the President, 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” (Articles Granted Concession under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff [CEPT] for the ASEAN Free Trade Area [AFTA]) hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall be subject to the ASEAN Common Effective Preferential Tariff in accordance with the year 2002 schedule indicated in Column 4 of Annex “A”. The ASEAN CEPT rates so indicated shall be accorded to imports coming from ASEAN Member States applying CEPT concession to the same product pursuant to Article 4 of the CEPT Agreement and its Interpretative Notes.

Sec. 2. The articles specifically listed in Annex “B” (Sensitive Agricultural Products Granted Concession under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff [CEPT] for the ASEAN Free Trade Area [AFTA]) hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall be subject to the ASEAN Common Effective Preferential Tariff in accordance with the year 2002-2010 schedule indicated in Columns 4-12 of Annex “B”. The ASEAN CEPT rates so indicated shall be accorded to imports coming from ASEAN Member States applying CEPT concession to the same product pursuant to Article 4 of the CEPT Agreement and its Interpretative Notes. 

Sec. 3. In the event that any subsequent change is made in the basic (Most Favored Nation) Philippine rate of duty on any of the articles listed in Annexes “A” and “B” to a rate lower than the rate prescribed in Column 4 of Annex “A,” and Columns 4-12 of Annex “B”, respectively, such article shall automatically be accorded the corresponding reduced duty.

Sec. 4. Products eligible for tariff concessions not listed in Annex “A” of this Executive Order, in Annex “A” of Executive Order No. 254, Series of 2000, and in Annex “A” of Executive Order No. 49, Series of 2001, shall be subject to the ASEAN CEPT rates under Executive Order 453, Series of 1997, Executive Order 487, Series of 1998, Executive Order 71, Series of 1999 and Executive Order 234, Series of 2000.

Sec. 5. From the date of effectivity of this Order, all articles listed in Annexes “A” and “B” entered or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be imposed the rates of duty therein prescribed subject to qualification under the Rules of Origin as provided for in the Agreement on the CEPT Scheme for the AFTA signed on 28 January 1992.

Sec. 6. All presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are contrary or inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 7. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 10th of January, in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Three.

Annex “A”
ARTICLES GRANTED CONCESSION UNDER THE COMMON EFFECTIVE PREFERENTIAL TARIFF (CEPT ) FOR THE ASEAN FREE TRADE AREA (AFTA)

HDG H.S. APPLICABLE ASEAN CEPT RATE (%)
NO. CODE DESCRIPTION 1 January of Year
2002
(1) (2) (3) (4)

02.06 Edible offal of bovine animals, swine, sheep, goats,

horses, asses, mules or hinnies, fresh, chilled or
frozen.

fish meat of heading No. 03.04.

- Other fish, excluding livers and roes:

heading No. 03.04

- Other salmonidae, excluding livers and roes:

- Flat fish (Pleuronectidae, Bothidae, Cynoglossidae,
Soleidae, Scophthalmidae and Citharidae), excluding
livers and roes:

- Other fish, excluding livers and roes:

punctatus)

minced), fresh, chilled or frozen.

not cooked before or during the smoking process;
flours, meals and pellets of fish, fit for human
consumption.

- Smoked fish, including fillets:

- Dried fish, whether or not salted but not smoked:

- Fish, salted but not dried or smoked and fish in
brine:

chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine, crustaceans,
in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water,
whether or not chilled, frozen, dried, salted, or in brine;
flours, meals and pellets of crustaceans, fit for human
consumption

- Frozen:

frozen, dried, salted or in brine; aquatic invertebrates
other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, fresh
chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine, flours, meals
and pellets of aquatic invertebrates other than
crustaceans, fit for human consumption

- Scallops, including queen scallops, of the genera
Pectan, Chlamys or Placopecten:

- Mussels (Mytilus spp., Perna spp.):

dairy spreads

bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried,
dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared.

whether or not shelled or peeled.

- Coconuts:

and mangosteens, fresh or dried.

(papayas), fresh.

- Melons (including watermelons):

fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta.

- Pepper:

or not shelled or broken.

broken.

fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not
chemically modified.

- Coconut (copra) oil and its fractions:

- Palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof:

and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not
chemically modified.

- Maize (corn) oil and its fractions:

vegetable fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or
oils of this Chapter, other than edible fats or oils or
their fractions of heading No. 15.16.

substitutes prepared from fish eggs.

- Fish, whole or in pieces, but not minced:

not containing cocoa.

cocoa.

sweetening matter.

- Other in blocks, slabs or bars:

malt extract, containing 40% or more but less than
50% by weight of cocoa and other food preparations
of goods of headings No. 04.01 to 04.04, containing
5% or more but less than 10% by weight of cocoa;
preparations of cereals containing 6% but not more
than 8% by weight of cocoa

other substances) or otherwise prepared, such as
spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagne, gnocchi, ravioli,
cannelloni; couscous, whether or not prepared.

- Uncooked pasta, not stuffed or otherwise prepared:

in the form of flakes, grains, pearls, siftings or in
similar forms.

wares, whether or not containing cocoa; communion
wafers, empty cachets of a kind suitable for
pharmaceutical use, sealing wafers, rice paper and
similar products.

fruit or nut pastes, being cooked preparations, whether
or not containing added sugar or other sweetening
matter.

prepared or preserved, whether or not containing added
sugar or other sweetening matter or spirit, not
elsewhere specified or included.

- Nuts, ground-nuts and other seeds, whether or not
mixed together:

- Other, including mixtures other than those of
subheading No. 2008.19

juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit,
whether or not containing added sugar or other
sweetening matter.

and mixed seasonings; mustard flour and meal and
prepared mustard.

volume of less than 80% vol; spirits, liqueurs and other
spirituous beverages.

ground or in the form of pellets, resulting from the
extraction of vegetable fats or oils, other than those of
heading No. 23.04 or 23.05.

or of tobacco substitutes.

- Amino-acids and their esters, other than those
containing more than one kind of oxygen function;
salts thereof:

for use as soap, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded
pieces or shapes, whether or not containing soap;
paper, wadding, felt and non-wovens, impregnated,
coated or covered with soap or detergent.

- Soap and organic surface-active products and
preparations, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces
or shapes, and paper, wadding, felt and non-wovens,
impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent

or not incorporating sound track or consisting only of
sound track.

leads, knee pads, muzzles, saddle door, saddle
bags, dog coats and the like), of any material.

brief-cases, school satchels, spectacle cases,
binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument
cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers,
travelling-bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, handbags,
shopping-bags, wallets, purses, map-cases,
cigarette-cases, tobacco-pouches, tool bags, sports
bags, bottle-cases, jewellery boxes, powder-boxes,
cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of
composition leather, of plastic sheeting, of textile materials,
of vulcanized fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly
covered with such materials or with paper.

- Articles of a kind normally carried in the pocket
  or in the handbag:

  woods.

  - Plywood consisting solely of sheets of wood, each
  ply not exceeding 6 mm thickness:

specified in Subheading Note 1 to this Chapter

wood

- Other, with at least one outer ply of non-coniferous
wood:

Subheading Note 1 to this Chapter

  - Other:

Subheading Note 1 to this Chapter

correspondence cards, of paper or paperboard; boxes,
pouches, wallets and writing compendiums, of paper
or paper-board, containing an assortment of paper
stationery.

cards

of paper or paperboard, containing an assortment of
paper stationery.

webs of cellulose fibres, of a kind used for household or
sanitary purposes, in rolls of a width not exceeding 36
cm, or cut to size or shape; handkerchiefs, cleansing
tissues, towels, tablecloths, serviettes, napkins for
babies, tampons, bed sheets and similar household,
sanitary or hospital articles, articles of apparel and
clothing accessories, of paper pulp, paper, cellulose’
wadding or webs of cellulose fibres.

receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads. diaries
and similar articles, exercise books, blotting-pads,
binders (loose-leaf or others), folders, file covers,
manifold business forms, interleaved carbon sets and
other articles of stationery, of paper or paperboard;
albums for samples or for collections and book covers,
of paper or paperboard.

receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries
and similar articles

covers

of cellulose fibres, cut to size or shape; other articles
of paper pulp, paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding or
webs of cellulose fibres.

   - Gummed or adhesive paper, in strips or rolls:

- Other paper and paperboard, of a kind used for
writing, printing or other graphic purposes:

skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls,
breeches and shorts (other than swimwear), knitted or
crocheted.

knitted or crocheted.

dresses, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace
overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear).

  - Dresses:

- Trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and
  shorts:

ceramic constructional goods, other than those of
siliceous fossil meals or similar siliceous earths.

50% of the elements Mg, Ca or Cr, expressed as
MgO, CaO or CrO3

(Al2O3), of silica (SiO2), or of a mixture or compound
of these products

glazed ceramic mosaic cubes and the like, whether or
not on a backing.

rectangular, the largest surface area of which is
capable of being enclosed in a square the side of
which is less than 7 cm

baths, bidets, water closet pans, flushing cisterns,
urinals and similar sanitary fixtures.

whether or not having an absorbent, reflecting or
non-reflecting layer, but not otherwise worked.
- Non-wired sheets

opacified, flashed or having an absorbent, reflecting
or non-reflecting layer:

not having an absorbent, reflecting or non-reflecting
layer, but not otherwise worked.

opacified, flashed or having an absorbent, reflecting or
non-reflecting layer:

office, indoor decoration or similar purposes (other
than that of heading No. 70.10 or 70.18).

- Glassware of a kind used for table (other than
drinking glasses) or kitchen purposes other than of
glass-ceramics)

- Other glassware:

open seam or welded, riveted or similarly closed), of
iron or steel.

  non-alloy steel:

No. 94.06) and parts of structures (for example,
bridges and bridge-sections, lock-gates, towers, lattice
masts, roofs, roofing frameworks, doors and windows
and their frames and thresholds for doors, shutters,
balustrades, pillars and columns), of iron or steel;
plates, rods, angles, shapes, sections, tubes and the
like, prepared for use in structures, of iron or steel.

  pit-propping:

material (other than compressed or liquefied), of
iron or steel, of a capacity exceeding 300 l, whether or
not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with
mechanical or thermal equipment.

containers, for any material (other than compressed or
liquefied gas), of iron or steel, of a capacity not
exceeding 300 l, whether or not lined or heat-insulated,
but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment.
    - Of a capacity of less than 50 l:

crimping

steel.

the like, of iron or steel, not electrical insulated.

fencing, of iron or steel wire; expanded metal of iron or
steel.

wire with a maximum cross-sectional dimension of 3
mm or more and having a mesh size of 100 cm2 or
more

rivets, cotters, cotter-pins, washers (including spring
washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel.

- Threaded articles:

subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbecues,
braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers and similar
non-electric domestic appliances, and parts thereof, of
iron or steel.

- Cooking appliances and plate warmers:

- Other appliances:

- Other:

  - Forged or stamped, but not further worked:

and fans; ventilating or recycling hoods incorporating a
fan, whether or not fitted with filters.

- Fans:

self-contained electric motor of an output not
exceeding 125 W

fan and elements for changing the temperature and
humidity, including those machines in which the
humidity cannot be separately regulated.

freezing equipment, electric or other; heat pumps other
than air conditioning machines of heading No. 84.15.

external doors:

  - Refrigerators, household type:

capacity

- Other refrigerating or freezing equipment; heat pumps:

including machines which both wash and dry.

- Machines, each of a dry linen capacity not exceeding
10 kg:

whether or not rectangular (including square).

   -Other:

the species Gallus domesticus,
ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea
fowls

    - Weighing not more than 185 g:

domesticus:

   - Other:

domesticus, weighing not more
then 2,000 g

domesticus, weighing more than
2,000 g:

artichokes, sweet potatoes and similar
roots and tubers with high starch or
inulin content, fresh, chilled, frozen or
in the form of pellets; sago pith