By virtue of the authority vested in me by Republic Act 1189 and in order to review and recommend the implementation and/or modification of the commitments of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines under any trade and financial agreement, I, Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. In order to expand foreign markets and establish new ones for Philippine products, and in order to carry out the objectives of Republic Act 1189, there is hereby created a Presidential Committee on Trade and Financial Agreements and related matters composed of a representative each from the Department of Foreign Affairs, as Chairman; the Departments of Commerce and Industry, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Economic Coordination, Central Bank and the Tariff Commission, as members.

This Committee shall (a) explore the possibilities of negotiating trade and financial agreements between the Philippines and other countries as a means of expanding Philippine overseas trade; (b) review and recommend the modification or revision of any agreement, in whole or in part, once concluded; (c) study ways and means, consistent with export/import and exchange laws, rules and regulations, of effectively implementing all trade and financial agreements as have been, or may hereafter be, entered into between the Philippines and other countries; (d) study the commodity composition of trade plans (including the need for their revision) as well as the operation of any trade and financial agreement as it actually affects the national economy in terms of productivity, employment, and the country ™s fiscal and foreign exchange position; and (e) submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the President quarterly or as often as it is so directed.

SEC. 2. In order to coordinate the functions and activities of this Committee with other economic planning or advisory bodies in respect to the overall policy, it shall, from time to time as it finds necessary, or as directed by the President, consult with the National Economic Council and/or any other economic planning and development authority that may be established.

SEC. 3. Any provisions of existing executive and/or administrative orders as are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed.

SEC. 4. This Order shall take effect on March 15, 1955.

Done in the City of Manila, this 15th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-five, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the ninth.

(Sgd.) RAMON MAGSAYSAY
President of the Philippines

By the President:
(Sgd.) FRED RUIZ CASTRO
Executive Secretary