WHEREAS, it is the declared policy of the government to promote the judicious conservation and efficient utilization of energy resources in light of the continuing increase in world prices of imported fuel oil;

WHEREAS, Executive Order 472 (s. 1998) targets a 5% reduction in fuel consumption by road transport users;

WHEREAS, there is a need to promote the efficient use of fuel in the transport sector, being one of the highest fuel consuming sectors;

WHEREAS, the emerging alternative fuel vehicle technology present opportunities for improving energy efficiency of transportation in support of the government ™s energy independence agenda;

WHEREAS, Executive Order 156 (s. 2002) establishing a œComprehensive Industrial Policy and Directions for the Motor Vehicle Development Program  provides for the development of the Philippines as the manufacturing hub for certain motor vehicles, parts and components;

WHEREAS, Sections 401 and 402 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (PD 1464), as amended, empower the President of the Republic of the Philippines to increase, reduce, or remove existing rates of import duty, as well as to modify the form of duty and the tariff nomenclature, under Section 104 of said Code;

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 Anne œA ^*   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 [Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) ] indicated in Columns 4 and 5 opposite each article, respectively.

 

SECTION 2. The ASEAN - CEPT rates so indicated in Annex œA  ^*   shall be accorded to imports coming from ASEAN Member States applying CEPT concession to the same product pursuant to Article 4 of the Agreement on the CEPT Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (CEPT Agreement) signed on 28 January 1992 and its Interpretative Notes.

 

SECTION 3. The rates of import duty in tariff headings not enumerated and those listed but represented by the symbol œx x x  shall remain in force and in effect.

 

SECTION 4. Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, all articles listed in Annex œA  entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the MFN rates of duty therein prescribed.

 

SECTION 5. Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, all articles listed in Annex œA  entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the ASEAN - CEPT rates of duty therein prescribed subject to qualification under the Rules of Origin as provided for in the CEPT Agreement.

 

SECTION 6. The Board of Investments, pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Development Program and in consultation with concerned government agencies, shall issue appropriate guidelines to implement the preferential tariff privilege.

 

SECTION 7. All presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are contrary to or inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.

 

SECTION 8. This Executive Order shall take effect thirty (30) days following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

Adopted: 12 Jan. 2006

(SGD.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

By the President:

(SGD.) EDUARDO R. ERMITA
Executive Secretary

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^* Text Available at Office of the National Administrative Register, U.P. Law Complex, Diliman, Quezon City.