Modifying the MFN Rates of Duty on Certain Agricultural Products under the Tariff and Customs Code, As Amended

November 5, 2015

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 190

MODIFYING THE MOST-FAVOURED-NATION (MFN) RATES OF DUTY ON CERTAIN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS UNDER THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES (TCCP), AS AMENDED, IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT THE PHILIPPINE TARIFF COMMITMENTS UNDER THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION DECISION ON WAIVER RELATING TO SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR RICE OF THE PHILIPPINES

WHEREAS, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture ("Agreement") embodies the multilateral trading rules governing "agriculture;"

WHEREAS, the Philippine government secured "Special Treatment" for rice under Article 4.2 and Section B of Annex 5 of the Agreement which temporarily permitted the country to impose quantitative restrictions in the importation of rice;

WHEREAS, the Special Treatment expired on 30 June 2012 as scheduled in the Rectification and Modification of Schedule LXXV — Republic of the Philippines contained in the WTO documents G/MA/TAR/RS/99/Rev.1 dated 27 September 2006 and WT/Let/562 on 08 February 2007;

WHEREAS, the Special Treatment has been reinstated up to 30 June 2017 by virtue of the WTO Decision on Waiver Relating to Special Treatment for Rice of the Philippines ("Waiver") contained in WTO document WT/L/42 dated 24 July 2014;

WHEREAS, paragraphs 2-8 of the Waiver also embody the terms and conditions including the concessions in rice contained in its "Annex A" and the other concessions to reduce the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rates of duty on certain agricultural products;

WHEREAS, Section 401 of the TCCP, as amended, authorizes the President of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), to modify import duties as required or as appropriate; and

WHEREAS, the NEDA Board, during its meeting on 16 February 2015 approved the tariff modification schedule on certain agricultural products.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Rates for Articles in Annexes A and B. — From the date of effectivity of this Executive Order, the articles specifically listed in Annexes A and B hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the TCCP, as amended, which are entered or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines shall be subject to the MFN rates of import duty indicated in Column 4 of said Annexes.

SECTION 2. Rates for Articles in Annexes A and B upon the Expiration of the Waiver. — The concession entered by the Philippine government shall cease to exist upon the expiration of the Waiver. The MFN rates of duty as provided for in Column 5 of Annexes A and B shall then apply.

SECTION 3. Articles Represented with XXX. — 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 4. Repeal. — All other Presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly. CAIHTE

SECTION 5. Separability. — If any provision of this Executive Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 6. Effectivity. — 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 5th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Fifteen. 

ANNEX A

Temporary Modification of MFN Rates of Duty on Rice
Hdg.	AHTN Code	Description	Rate of Duty (%)
No.	2012		Starting	Starting
			01 Jan. 2015-	01 July 2017
			30 June 2017
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
10.06		Rice.
	1006.10	- Rice in the husk (paddy or rough):    HEITAD
	1006.10.10	- -X X X
	1006.10.90	- - Other:
	1006.10.90A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.10.90B	- - - X X X
	1006.20	- Husked (brown) rice:
	1006.20.10	- - Thai Hom Mali rice:
	1006.20.10A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.20.10B	- - -X X X
	1006.20.90	- - Other:
	1006.20.90A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.20.90B	- - - X X X
	1006.30	- Semi-milled or wholly milled rice,
		whether or not polished or glazed:
	1006.30.30	- - Glutinous rice:
	1006.30.30A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.30.30B	- - - X X X
	1006.30.40	- - Thai Hom Mali rice:
	1006.30.40A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.30.40B	- - - X X X
		- - Other:
	1006.30.91	- - - Parboiled rice:
	1006.30.91A	- - - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.30.91B	- - - - X X X
	1006.30.99	- - - Other:
	1006.30.99A	- - - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.30.99B	- - - - X X X
	1006.40	- Broken rice:
	1006.40.10	- - Of a kind used for animal feed:
	1006.40.10A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.40.10B	- - - X X X
	1006.40.90	- - Other:
	1006.40.90A	- - - In-Quota	35	40
	1006.40.90B	- - - X X X

ANNEX B

Temporary Modification of MFN Rates of Duty on Non-Rice Products
Hdg.	AHTN Code	Description	Rate of Duty (%)
No.	2012		2014-	Starting
			30 June	01 July
			2017	2017
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
02.06		Edible offal of bovine animals, swine,
		sheep, goats, horses, asses, mules or
		hinnies, fresh, chilled or frozen.
	0206.10.00	- X X X
	to
	0206.30.00
		- Of swine, frozen:
	0206.41.00	- - Livers	5	5
	0206.49.00
	to
	0206.90.00	- X X X
02.07		Meat and edible offal, of the poultry of
		heading 01.05, fresh, chilled or frozen.
		- Of fowls of the species Gallus domesticus:
	0207.11.00
	to
	0207.14.30B	- - - - X X X
		- - - Other:
	0207.14.91	- - - - Mechanically deboned or separated	5	40
		meat
	0207.14.99
	to
	0207.14.99B	- - - -X X X
		- Of turkeys:
	0207.24.00
	to
	0207.24.00B	- - - X X X
	0207.25.00	- - Not cut in pieces, frozen:
	0207.25.00A	- - - In-Quota	20	30
	0207.25.00B	- - - Out-Quota	20	35
	0207.26.00
	0207.26.00B	- - - - X X X
	0207.27	- - Cuts and Offal, frozen:
	0207.27.10
	to
	0207.27.10B	- - - - X X X
		- - - Other:
	0207.27.91	- - - - Mechanically deboned or separated
		meat:
	0207.27.91A	- - - - - In-Quota	5	30
	0207.27.91B	- - - - - Out-Quota	5	40
	0207.27.99	- - - - Other:
	0207.27.99A	- - - - In-Quota	20	30
	0207.27.99B	- - - - Out-Quota	20	40
	0207.41.00
	to
	0207.60.00F	- - X X X
02.09		Pig fat, free of lean meat, and poultry fat,
		not rendered or otherwise extracted, fresh,
		chilled, frozen, salted, in brine, dried or
		smoked.
	0209.10.00	- Of pigs	5	5
	0209.90.00	- Other	5	5
04.03		Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yogurt,
		kephir and other fermented or acidified milk
		and cream, whether or not concentrated or
		containing added sugar or other sweetening
		matter or flavoured or containing added fruit,
		nuts or cocoa.
	0403.10 to
	0403.10.90	- - X X X
	0403.90	- Other:
	0403.90.10	- - Buttermilk	1	3
	0403.90.90	- - X X X
04.05		Butter and other fats and oils derived from
		milk; dairy spreads.
	0405.10.00	- Butter	5	7
	0405.20.00
	to
	0405.90.90	- - X X X
04.06		Cheese and curd.
	0406.10
	to
	0406.10.20	- - X X X
	0406.20	- Grated or powdered cheese, of all kinds:
	0406.20.10	- - In packages of a gross weight exceeding	1	3
		20 kg
	0406.20.90	- - Other	1	7
	0406.30.00
	to
	0406.90.00	- X X X
07.13		Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled,
		whether or not skinned or split.
	0713.10	- Peas (Pisumsativum):
	0713.10.10	- - Suitable for sowing	3/a	3
	0713.10.90	- - Other	3	3
	0713.20
	to
	0713.90.90	- - X X X
08.02		Other nuts, fresh or dried, whether or not
		shelled or peeled.
	0802.11.00
	to
	0802.22.00	- - X X X
		- Walnuts:
	0802.31.00	- - In shell	3	3
	0802.32.00	- - Shelled	3	3
		- Chestnuts (Castanea spp.):
	0802.41.00
	to
	0802.90.00	- X X X
08.06		Grapes, fresh or dried.
	0806.10.00	- Fresh	7	7
	0806.20.00	- X X X
12.05		Rape or colza seeds, whether or not broken.
	1205.10.00	- Low erucic acid rape or colza seeds	1	1
	1205.90.00	- Other	1	1
12.08		Flours and meals of oil seeds or oleaginous
		fruits, other than those of mustard.
	1208.10.00	- X X X
	1208.90.00	- Other	3	3
15.14		Rape, colza or mustard oil and fractions
		thereof, whether or not refined, but not
		chemically modified.
		- Low erucic acid rape or colza oil and its
		fractions:
	1514.11.00	- - Crude oil	3	3
	1514.19	- - Other:
	1514.19.10	- - - Fractions of unrefined oil	3	3
	1514.19.90	- - - Other	3	3
		- Other:
	1514.91	- - Crude oil:
	1514.91.10	- - - Other rape or colza oil	3	3
	1514.91.90	- - - Other	3	3
	1514.99	- - Other:
	1514.99.10	- - - Fractions of unrefined oil	3	3
		- - - Other:
	1514.99.91	- - - - Other rape or colza oil	3	3
	1514.99.99	- - - - Other	3	3
16.02		Other prepared or preserved meat,
		meat offal or blood.
	1602.10
	to
	1602.20.00	- - X X X
		- Of poultry of heading 01.05:
	1602.31	- - Of turkeys:
	1602.31.10	- - -X X X
		- - - Other:
	1602.31.91	- - - - Mechanically deboned or separated	5	40
		meat
	1602.31.99
	to
	1602.90.90B	- - - X X X
20.04		Other vegetables prepared or preserved
		otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid,
		frozen, other than products of heading
		20.06.
	2004.10.00	- Potatoes	0	10
	2004.90
	to
	2004.90.90	- - X X X
23.06		Oil-cake and other solid residues, whether
		or not ground or in the form of pellets,
		resulting from the extraction of vegetable
		fats or oils, other than those of heading
		23.04 or 23.05.
	2306.10.00
	to
	2306.30.00	- X X X
		- Of rape or colza seeds:
	2306.41	- - Of low erucic acid rape or colza seeds:
	2306.41.10	- - - Of low erucic acid rape seeds	1	3
	2306.41.20	- - - Of low erucic acid colza seeds	1	3
	2306.49	- - Other:
	2306.49.10	- - - Of other rape seeds	1	3
	2306.49.20	- - - Of other colza seeds	1	3
	2306.50.00
	to
	2306.90.90	- - X X X
a	Zero duty until 31 December 2015 under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, subject to submission of Certificate of Eligibility or Certificate of Accreditation issued by the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Units, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Trade and Industry's regional and provincial offices, or the Board of Investments.