EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 768 November 7, 2008

MODIFYING THE RATES OF IMPORT DUTY OF CERTAIN ARTICLES UNDER THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978 (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1464, AS AMENDED), IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT THE ASEAN INTEGRATION SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES (AISP) PACKAGE OF THE PHILIPPINES

WHEREAS, at the 4th ASEAN Informal Summit held in Singapore in November 2000, the ASEAN Heads of Government/State agreed on the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) in order to narrow the development gap between the older and newer members of ASEAN and to enhance the new members' integration with the rest of the ASEAN;

WHEREAS, to implement the decision of the ASEAN Heads of Government/State, the ASEAN Economic Ministers, at their meeting in Siemreap, Cambodia on 3-5 May 2001, decided to implement the ASEAN Generalized System Preferences Scheme (now AISP) on a bilateral basis;

WHEREAS, the preference is a unilateral offer made by preference-giving countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) to the preference-receiving countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam);

WHEREAS, on 5 August 2008, the NEDA Board approved the proposed elimination of the tariff on products listed in "Annex A" imported from Cambodia and Myanmar, under the AISP;

WHEREAS, Section 402 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (P.D. 1464), as amended, empowers the President of the Republic of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority, to modify, decrease or remove existing protective rates of import duties for the promotion of foreign trade.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO, President 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" (Articles Granted Concession Under the AISP Package of the Philippines), hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall be subject to the AISP rate of duty indicated in Column 5 of "Annex A" when imported from Cambodia and Myanmar (preference-receiving countries) indicated in Column 6 of "Annex A".

SECTION 2. From the date of effectivity of this Order, all articles listed in "Annex A" entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be imposed the rates of duty therein prescribed subject to qualification under the Rules of Origin of forty percent (40%) single country content (Cambodia or Myanmar) as provided for in the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area signed on 28 January 1992.

SECTION 3. All presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are contrary or inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 4. 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 7th day of November, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Eight.

(Sgd.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

By the President:

(Sgd.) EDUARDO R. ERMITA

Executive Secretary