Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 20)
The main purpose of Executive Order No. 20 is to modify the nomenclature and rates of import duty on various products under Section 161 of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), as part of promoting sustainable economic growth and enhancing the international competitiveness of Philippine industries.
The authority is given under Republic Act No. 10863, known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), specifically under Section 1608.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board recommends changes to the rates of import duty, which the President may then enact.
The rates of import duty under this Executive Order take effect thirty (30) days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
The MFN tariff schedule is a multi-year tariff rate schedule approved by the NEDA Board, intended to promote transparency, stability, facilitate trade, and enhance consumer welfare, and it sets the import duty rates from 2017 to 2020.
All such issuances, orders, rules, and regulations or parts thereof are repealed or modified accordingly to conform with this Executive Order.
Section 1 prescribes that the articles listed in Annex A of the Order, as classified under Section 161 of the CMTA, shall be subject to the MFN rates of import duty in accordance with the schedule indicated.
Section 2 imposes that upon the effectivity of the Order, all listed articles entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be charged the MFN rates of duty prescribed.
The separability clause means that if any provision of the Executive Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions will still be valid and enforceable.
Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the President of the Republic of the Philippines at that time, signed the Executive Order.