Implementing the Zero Rate of Import Duty on Milling (Food) Wheat

February 19, 2010

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 863

IMPLEMENTING THE ZERO RATE OF IMPORT DUTY ON MILLING (FOOD) WHEAT UNDER SECTION 104 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1464, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978, AS AMENDED, AS PROVIDED FOR UNDER SECTION 3 OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 818, SERIES OF 2009

WHEREAS, under Executive Order 818, issued on 10 July 2009, the zero Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) rate of duty on milling (food) wheat was extended for six months, subject to further review;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 3 of E.O. 818, series of 2009, the Tariff and Related Matters (TRM) Committee reviewed the need to extend the imposition of the zero MFN rate of duty on milling (food) wheat;

WHEREAS, zero MFN rates of duty on milling wheat would support efforts to lower the cost of producing wheat flour thereby stabilizing the price of bread and other bread products; CacISA

WHEREAS, the NEDA Board endorsed on 26 January 2010 the TRM recommendation to implement the zero duty on milling (food) wheat for six (6) months, subject to further review;

WHEREAS, Section 401 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as amended, empowers the President of the Republic of the Philippines to increase, reduce, or remove existing rates of import duty, as well as to modify the form of duty and the tariff nomenclature, under Section 104 of the Code.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. The articles specifically listed in Annex "A" hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall be subject to the MFN rate of import duty in accordance with the schedule indicated opposite each article.

SECTION 2. The nomenclature and the rates of import duty on tariff headings not enumerated and those listed but represented by the symbol "XXX" shall remain in force and in effect.

SECTION 3. Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, all articles listed in Annex "A" which are entered and withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the MFN rate of duty of zero ad valorem for six (6) months, subject to further review.

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

SECTION 5. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately following its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 19th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Ten.

ANNEX A

AHTN	Description	Rate of Duty
		%
10.01	Wheat and meslin.
1001.10.00	- Durum wheat	0
1001.90	- Other:
	- - Fit for human consumption:
1001.90.11	- - - X X X
1001.90.19	- - - Other	0