WHEREAS, the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 1993-1998 focuses on global competitiveness and people empowerment as the twin strategies towards achieving sustainable economic and human development;

WHEREAS, in order to achieve global competitiveness, the said Plan stipulates that the government should continue to undertake the import liberalization and tariff reform programs which will result in uniform levels of trade and industrial protection across various sectors of the economy;

WHEREAS, during the Economic Caucus held on 22 July 1993 and the People ™s Economic Summit on 8 September 1993, it was agreed to further liberalize trade policy through tariff reform and import liberalization;

WHEREAS, the liberalization of import restrictions on agricultural products also forms part of the Government ™s commitment as member of the World Trade Organization;

WHEREAS, the lifting of import restrictions on agricultural products, mandated under Republic Act 8178 entitled, œAn Act Replacing Quantitative Import Restrictions (QRs) on Agricultural Products, Except Rice, with Tariffs, Creating the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund and Providing Funds Therefor,  may create initial difficulties for the producers as they adjust to a more open trade regime;

WHEREAS, the government needs to provide interim tariff adjustments in lieu of the import restrictions to help the agricultural sector to be efficient and globally competitive;

WHEREAS, Section 401 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as amended, empowers the President to increase, reduce or remove existing protective rates of import duty, including any necessary changes in classification, as well as to modify the form of duty upon the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. The articles specifically listed in Annex œA  hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall pay the rates of import duty in accordance with the schedule indicated opposite each article as listed in the aforementioned Annex.

SEC. 2. For certain articles, two rates of import duty are provided. For these articles, a Minimum Access Volume (MAV) is provided. The MAV refers to the volume of a specific agricultural product that is allowed to be imported with a lower rate of duty. The In-Quota rate of duty shall apply for importations that are within the MAV provided for an agricultural product. The Out-Quota rate of duty shall apply when the importation is in excess of the MAV specified for an agricultural product.

SEC.3. Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, the articles specifically listed in the aforesaid Annex œA  which are entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the rates of duty herein prescribed.

SEC.4. All Presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.

SEC.5. The Executive Order shall take effect 30 days following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 29th day of March in the Year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary