[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 115, January 26, 1968 ]

CREATING THE NATIONAL EXPORT COORDINATING CENTER TO FACILITATE PROCESSING OF EXPORT PERMITS, LICENSES, CLEARANCES AND PAPERS OF SIMILAR NATURE AND THE RECEIPT ON PAYMENT OF FEES THEREFOR



WHEREAS, it is the avowed policy of the Government to promote and increase export trade in order to realize more foreign exchange receipts and establish a favorable balance of trade; and

WHEREAS, one vital deterrent to the rapid expansion of our foreign trade has been the decentralized state of government offices and agencies through which export papers have to be coursed before exports can be made, resulting in unnecesary expense of time and money and sometimes cancellation of orders for Philippine products.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. To promote the policy enunciated above, there is hereby created, under the Office of the President, a œNational Export Coordinating Center,  hereinafter referred to as the Center,  with offices in the City of Manila.

SECTION 2. The Center shall have the following powers and duties:
  1. To coordinate all functions pertaining to the grant of clearances, permits and licenses, and other documents and payment of fees that are required for the exportation of goods from the Philippines, now being undertaken by various offices and agencies mentioned in Section 3 hereof;

  2. To update, simplify and improve the issuance of export papers;

  3. To eliminate barriers to the smooth and expedient flow of export goods; and

  4. To establish, when necessary, branches of the Center in other places in the Philippines where there are parts of entry.
SECTION 3. The Center shall be staffed by personnel, both technical and clerical, who shall be detailed by government offices and agencies whose functions are related to the processing of papers and receipts of fees relative to the exportation of goods from the Philippines, such as the following offices:
  1. Bureau of Commerce
  2. Bureau of Internal Revenue
  3. Central Bank of the Philippines
  4. Philippine Tobacco Administration
  5. Philippine Virginia Tobacco Administration
  6. Bureau of Fiber Inspection Service
  7. Parks and Wildlife Office
  8. Philippine Coconut Administration
  9. Philippine Fisheries Commission
  10. Sugar Quota Administration
  11. Bureau of Animal Industry
  12. Bureau of Forestry
  13. Food and Drug Administration
  14. National Cottage Industries Development Authority
  15. Bureau of Plant Industry
  16. Bureau of Customs
  17. Bureau of Standards
SECTION 4. The above-named offices end such other government bureaus and agencies concerned with processing and approval of export documents as the Office of the President shall determine are hereby directed to detail to the Center necessary personnel to enable the Center to act expeditiously on all export papers as required by their respective offices upon request by the Office of the President.

SECTION 5. Salaries and other expenses of the personnel detailed by various offices in accordance with the preceding sections shall continue to be for the account of their respective offices.

SECTION 6. The management of the Center shall be vested in the Export Coordinator, who shall be detailed end appointed by the President and who shall have the rank of an Undersecretary of Department. He shall be assisted by a Deputy Export Coordinator who shall be chosen by the President, upon recommendation of the Export Coordinator, from the personnel detailed to the Center.

SECTION 7. The Export Coordinator shall have the power of technical supervision and coordination of all personnel assigned by different government agencies in the Center, including the clerical Staff, for the efficient performance of the functions of the Center.

SECTION 8. The Deputy Export Coordinator shall perform the duties assigned to him by the Export Coordinator and shall exercise the powers and functions of the Export Coordinator in the latter ™s absence or incapacity.

SECTION 9. The Center, through the Export Coordinator and with the approval of the President, is hereby authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Executive Order and as are essential to the proper conduct of its operations.

SECTION 10. The Secretary of General Services is hereby directed to provide a suitable office space for the Center.

SECTION 11. This Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 26th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and sixty-eight.

(SGD.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:
(SGD.) RAFAEL M. SALAS
Executive Secretary