An Act to Amend Sections Seventeen Hundred and Ninety-Five and Seventeen Hundred and Ninety-Six-B of The Administrative Code

August 22, 1940

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 603

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-FIVE AND SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX-B OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

SECTION 1. Section seventeen hundred and ninety-five of the Administrative Code, as amended by section nineteen of Act Numbered Thirty-two hundred and sixty-three, is further amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 1795. Inspection fees. — There shall be levied and collected as inspection fees by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce or by his authorized agent with the approval of the President an amount not more than two pesos nor less than ten centavos for each bale of fibers inspected and stamped, whether approved or rejected. Such fees shall be paid by the owner of the bale, to whom a receipt shall be issued. Subject to the approval of the President, the inspection fees may be changed at any time by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce within the higher and lower limit fixed in this section, and the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce may also fix different rates of fees for the different grades of hemp, provided the fees are uniform for each grade: Provided, however, That the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce shall give general notice in writing of his intention to change the amount of the inspection fees not less than fifteen days nor more than two months previous to the date on which such new fees shall take effect."

SECTION 2. Section seventeen hundred and ninety-six-B of the Administrative Code, inserted by virtue of section twenty-one of Act Numbered Thirty-two hundred and sixty-three, is also amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 1796-B. Disposition of funds. — All the amounts collected in the future and those which may have been collected up to the approval of this Act as fees for grading permits, baling and sale of specimens of the official standards shall be deposited in the National Treasury to the credit of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce and shall constitute a special fund to be used:

"(a) For the payment of the salaries of the inspectors and other employees of the Fiber Office and of any expenses properly and duly incurred in the exercise of their powers and the performance of their duties; and

"(b) Any unexpended surplus amount at the end of any year for the purposes mentioned in subsection (a) shall be expended by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce with the approval of the President of the Philippines for the following purposes: 1st. For investigational trips and for the establishment of agencies in the hemp markets abroad for the purpose of opening new markets for hemp and its by-products, enlarging the present markets, undertaking a publicity campaign for industrial products using hemp and other Philippine fibers as raw material, preventing the undue adulteration of Philippine fibers, and employing any other means tending to insure a reasonable price which will enable the producer to obtain a just compensation for his investment; 2nd. For the scientific and economical study of the hemp fibers and of other similar Philippine fibers with a view to their industrialization; 3rd. For the eradication and control of plagues and diseases injurious to the hemp plants and other similar plants; 4th. For the education and training of the producers of hemp and other fibers in connection with the cultivation, industrialization, stripping and baling thereof; 5th. For the establishment of hemp experimental stations; and 6th. For any other aims or purposes which in the judgment of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce shall tend to promote, improve, etc., the hemp industry and other fibers."

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, August 22, 1940.