WHEREAS, Sections 104 and 401 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as amended, empower 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, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. The following articles under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code, as amended, shall have rates of import duty in accordance with the schedule indicated opposite each article as listed below:

HDG NO.	HARMONIZED SYSTEM CODE		DESCRIPTION	Rate of Duty , (%) 1 January
				1997	1998	1999	2000
(1)	(2)		(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)
76.04			Aluminum bars, rods and profiles
	7604.21 00		- x x x
			- Of aluminum alloys
	7604.29		- x x x
	7604.29 00		- Other
	7604.29 10		- Y-shape profiles for zippers, in coils	3	3	3	3
	7604.29 90		- Other	20	10	10	10
76.05			Aluminum wire
			- Of aluminum, not alloyed:
	7605.11 00		- Of which the maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeds 7 mm	10	3	3	3
	7605.19 00		- x x x
			- x x x
	7605.21 00		- x x x
	7605.29 10		- x x x
76.16			Other articles of aluminum.
	7616.10 00		- x x x
			- Other:
	7616.91 00		- x x x
	7616.99		- Other:
	7616.99 10		- x x x
	7616.99 20		- x x x
	7616.99 30		- x x x
	7616.99 40		- Tube for yarn winders; Bobbins, spools and similar supports for textile yarn	3	3	3	3
85.23			Prepared unrecorded media for sound recording or similar recording of other
HDG NO.	HARMONIZED SYSTEM CODE		DESCRIPTION	Rate of Duty , (%) 1 January
				1997	1998	1999	2000
(1)	(2)		(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)
			phenomena, other than products of Chapter 37.
			- x x x
	8523.11		- x x x
	8523.11 10		- x x x
	8523.11 90		- x x x
	8523.12		- x x x
	8523.12 10		- x x x
	8523.12 90		- x x x
	8523.13		- x x x
	8523.13 10		- x x x
	8523.13 90		- x x x
	8523.20		- x x x
	8523.20 10		- x x x
	8523.20 90		- x x x
	8523.30 00		- x x x
	8523.90		- Other:
	8523.90 10		- Compact discs (CD) media	3	3	3	3
	8523.90 90		- Other	20	20	20	20

SECTION 2. The nomenclature and the rates 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 Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, the abovementioned articles which are entered or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the rates of duty herein prescribed.

SECTION 4. All 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 thirty (30) days following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

Adopted: 17 Dec. 1997

BY THE PRESIDENT:

(SGD.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary