EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 299, March 26, 2004

MODIFYING THE RATES OF IMPORT DUTY ON CERTAIN ARTICLES UNDER SECTION 104 OF THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978 (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1464), AS AMENDED

WHEREAS, it is the policy of government to provide assistance to sectors facing economic difficulties;

WHEREAS, the livestock and poultry sectors need assistance to bring down the costs of their inputs;

WHEREAS, there is a need to stabilize the prices of poultry and livestock products while balancing the impact of such move to both consumers and producers;

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 Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) import duty 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 "x x x" 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 Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, all articles listed in Annex "A" which are entered or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the MFN rates of duty therein prescribed.

Section 4. This Executive Order shall be subject to the Implementing Rules and Regulations guided by the provisions on the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) set by the Department of Agriculture.

Section 5. 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 6. This Executive Order shall effect immediately following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 26th day of March, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Four.

(SGD.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

President of the Philippines

By the President:

(SGD.) ALBERTO G. ROMULO

Executive Secretary