Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 814)
The main purpose of Executive Order No. 814 is to modify the rates of duty on certain imported articles to implement the 2009-2012 Philippine schedule of tariff reduction under the Normal Track of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) and to transfer certain tariff lines from the Sensitive Track to the Normal Track category of ACFTA.
Section 402 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (PD 1464), as amended, empowers the President to modify import duties for the promotion of foreign trade.
ACFTA is a free trade agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People's Republic of China aimed at establishing a free trade area covering trade in goods by reducing or eliminating tariffs.
It was signed on 4 November 2002 in Cambodia.
The Philippines commits to eliminating all tariff lines placed in the Normal Track not later than 1 January 2010, with flexibility to defer elimination on some lines not exceeding 150 tariff lines by 1 January 2012.
Articles in Annex "aAa" are subject to the ACFTA rates under the 2009-2012 tariff reduction schedule, while articles in Annex "aBa" are those transferred from the Sensitive Track to the Normal Track and subject to the ACFTA rates as per the indicated schedule.
Imports must be accompanied by the proper Certificate of Origin, Form E, to qualify for the ACFTA rates.
If the MFN rate on any article listed in the Annexes is later reduced to a lower rate than that prescribed, the article shall automatically be accorded the reduced duty rate.
It takes effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.
All presidential issuances, administrative rules, and regulations or parts thereof that are contrary or inconsistent with EO No. 814 are revoked or modified accordingly.