AMENDING THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE; CREATING TITLE III IN BOOK I – EXPORT TARIFF.

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 6125 was enacted as a revenue
raising measure and as a stabilization device to withdraw excessive money supply
generated by windfall gains in the export sector due to the change in the
exchange rate of the peso;

WHEREAS, this fiscal measure can generate more benefits to
the economy if made a permanent feature of our tariff system as an export duty
and used as instrument to promote certain economic objectives of stabilization
and industrialization;

WHEREAS, the primary strategy in our export policy now is
the restructuring of our export sector by including the processing of
traditional export products and giving encouragement to exports of manufactured
and semi-processed goods; and

WHEREAS, it is appropriate to transfer assessment and
collection of the export duty from the Central Bank to the Bureau of
Customs;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and pursuant to
Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, Proclamation No. 1104, dated
January 17, 1973, and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended,
in order to make the tariff system an effective tool for the implementation of
the desired changes and reforms in our Society, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. — Republic Act No. 6125, as amended, is hereby
repealed and a new Title III is inserted in Book I of the Tariff and Customs
Code to read as follows:

TITLE III — EXPORT TARIFF

“SEC. 514. Export Products Subject to Duty and
Rates. — There shall be levied, assessed and collected a duty on the gross
F.O.B. value at the time of shipment based on the prevailing rate of exchange,
of the following products in accordance with the following schedule:

WOOD PRODUCTS:
	(1)	Logs, including poles		10%
	(2)	Lumber		4%
	(3)	Veneer, face and core		4%
	(4)	Plywood		4%
MINERAL PRODUCTS:
	(1)	Metallic ores and concentrates
		(a)	Copper	6%
		(b)	Iron	4%
		(c)	Chromite	4%
	(2)	Gold		4%
	(3)	Non-Metallic
		(a)	Clincker, cement	4%
		(b)	Portland cement	4%
	(4)	Mineral Fuel
		(a)	Bunker fuel oil	4%
		(b)	Petroleum pitch	4%
PLANT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS:
	(1)	Abaca
		(a)	Stripped hemp, unmanufactured	4%
	(2)	Bananas		4%
	(3)	Coconut
		(a)	Copra	6%
		(b)	Coconut oil	4%
		(c)	Copra meal or cake	4%
		(d)	Dessicated coconut	4%
	(4)	Pineapple
		(a)	Pineapple sliced or crushed	4%
		(b)	Pineapple juice or juice concentrate	4%
	(5)	Sugar and Sugar Products
		(a)	Centrifugal sugar	5%
		(b)	Molasses	4%
	(6)	Tobacco
		(a)	Tobacco leaf	4%
		(b)	Scrap tobacco	4%
ANIMAL PRODUCTS:
	(1)	Shrimps and prawns		4%

For purposes of computing the duty, the cost of packaging and
crating materials shall be deductible from the export value, provided such
materials are domestically manufactured using a substantial portion of local raw
materials, as determined by the Board of Investments.

“SEC. 515. Flexible Clause. — The President, upon
recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority, may subject
any of the above products to higher or lower rates of duty provided in this
Title, include additional products, exclude or exempt any product from this
Title, or additionally subject any product to an export quota. In the exercise
of this authority the President shall take into account: (1) the policy of
encouraging domestic processing; (2) the prevailing prices of export products in
the world market; (3) the advantages obtained by export products from
international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory; (4) the
preferential treatment granted to our export products by foreign government; and
(5) the need to meet domestic consumption requirements.

“SEC. 516. Assessment and Collection of the Duty. —
The Duty shall be assessed by the Bureau of Customs and collected by the Bureau
thru authorized agent banks of the Central Bank not later than 30 days from date
of shipment.

“SEC. 517. Deficiency and Surcharges. — In case the
duty is not fully paid at the time specified hereof, the deficiency shall be
increased by an amount equivalent to twenty-five per centum thereof, the total
to be collected in the same manner as the duty. Where the deficiency is the
result of false or fraudulent statements or representations attributable to the
exporter, the surcharge shall be fifty per centum.

“SEC. 518. Allotment and Disposition of the
Proceeds. — The proceeds of this duty shall accrue to the General Fund and
shall be allotted for development projects; except that one per centum (1%)
annually shall be set aside for the Export Assistance Fund to be administered by
the Board of Investments and expended in accordance with the General
Appropriation Act to finance export promotion projects; however, thirty percent
of this 1% shall accrue to the Bureau of Customs which shall constitute as its
intelligence fund to be disbursed by the Commissioner of Customs in the
implementation of this Decree, such as but not limited to the purchase of
equipment, hiring of personnel if necessary and for such other operational
expenses in the promotion of the export industry.”

SEC. 2. — The Commissioner of Customs shall promulgate the
rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this Decree, subject
to the approval of the Secretary of Finance.

SEC. 3. — All laws, decrees, rules and regulations which are
inconsistent herewith are hereby amended or modified accordingly.

SEC. 4. — This Decree shall take effect July 1, 1973.

Done in the City of Manila, this 28th day of June, in the year of Our Lord,
nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. REYES
		Assistant Executive Secretary