EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 353 March 27, 1989

REDUCING THE RATES OF IMPORT DUTY ON CEMENT AND CLINKER UNDER PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1464, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978, AS AMENDED

WHEREAS, the improving political and economic climate in the country has resulted in a marked increase in domestic construction activity;

WHEREAS, the construction boom has triggered a sharp demand for construction materials, particularly cement, which local production cannot adequately meet in the short run;

WHEREAS, the shortage can be remedied only by importation;

WHEREAS, the import duties on cement and clinker, an essential input therefor, have an impact on the prices of such commodities; and

WHEREAS, to ensure the availability of cement and to stabilize the price of this basic construction material, there is a need to reduce the import duties on these products.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by Section 401 of Presidential Decree No. 1464, as amended, do hereby order:

Sec. 1. The rates of import duty on cement and clinker under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code, as amended, are hereby modified as follows:

H.S. Hdg.	Description of Article	Rate of Duty (%)
25.33	Portland cement, aluminous cement ("ciment fondu"), slag cement, supersulphate cement and similar hydraulic cements, whether or not coloured or in the form of clinkers.
2523.10 00	Cement clinkers:
2523.10 10	CEMENT CLINKER OTHER THAN FOR WHITE CEMENT	10% UNTIL DEC. 1991 20% 1 JAN. 1992
2523.10 90	CLINKER FOR WHITE CEMENT	40%
	Portland Cement:
2523.21 00	. . .
2523.29 00	Other	20% UNTIL DEC. 1991
2523.30		30% 1 JAN. 1992
2523.30	. . .
2523.90 00	Other hydraulic cements	20% UNTIL DEC. 1991 30% 1 JAN. 1992

Sec. 2. Upon effectivity of this Executive Order, the above articles which are entered or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption, shall be subject to the rates of duty herein prescribed.

Sec. 3. All orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 4. This Executive Order shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date hereof.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-nine.