Amendment on Wharfage Charges under Philippine Tariff Act

Section 1 amends Section fourteen of the Philippine Tariff Act of nineteen hundred and nine.
Section 2 repeals all acts, regulations, or parts of acts or regulations that are inconsistent with Act No. 3429.
The Act’s operative changes are confined to the wharfage-charge provision formerly found in Section 14 of the Philippine Tariff Act of 1909.

Section 1 requires a wharfage charge on “all articles, goods, wares, or merchandise.”
The charge applies when the goods are “the product of the Philippine Islands.”
The charge applies when goods are exported “through ports of entry of the Philippine Islands.”
The charge also applies when goods are “shipped therefrom to the United States or any of its possessions.”
The wharfage charge is imposed “whatever be the port of destination or nationality of the exporting vessel.”

Section 1 excludes coal, timber, cement, and iron ore from the wharfage charge.
The exclusions operate within the class of “all articles, goods, wares, or merchandise” subject to the Act.

Section 1 sets the wharfage duty at one dollar per gross ton of one thousand kilos.
The duty is imposed as “a charge for wharfage.”
The duty is collected upon all qualifying goods covered by the Act’s scope.

Section 1 exempts “articles, goods, wares, or merchandise imported, exported, or shipped in transit” for the use of:
- “the Government of the United States,” or
- “that of the Philippine Islands.”
The exemption applies even though the goods otherwise fall within the exported or shipped coverage described in Section 1.

Section 3 conditions effectivity on approval by the President of the United States, under section nine of the Act of Congress of August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen.
After that approval, effectivity is made known “by proclamation of the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands.”
Section 3 states that the Act takes effect on the date of that proclamation.