Duterte OKs modified rates of imported products under ASEAN, Hong Kong FTA

January 20, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the modification of rates of import duty on certain imported articles pursuant to the Philippine commitments under the Free Trade Agreement between the Association Southeast Asian Nations and Hong Kong, China.

Executive Order No. 102, which Duterte signed on January 10, said that all goods originating from Hong Kong and the ASEAN member countries, in accordance with the Philippine Schedule of Tariff Commitments, entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption, shall be levied the rates of duties prescribed under the Order, subject to the submission of a certificate of origin, in compliance with the Rules of Origin under the ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement. 

"The Tariff Commission may be requested to issue advance rulings on tariff classification of goods to confirm the applicable rates of duty of particular goods subject of this Order, consistent with Section 1100 of RA (Republic Act) No. 10863 (or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act)," the EO said.

The Order also said that the Philippine government could not be precluded from invoking its right of recourse to all trade remedy measures provided for in the laws, the AHKFTA, and other relevant international agreements in order to ensure the prevention of import surges or unfair trade practices.

The Philippines signed AHKFTA on Nov. 12, 2017 at the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Leaders' Summit in Manila, while the signatures of all ASEAN member states were completed in March 2018 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

The order shall take effect immediately following its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Celerina Monte/DMS