MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND

DESIRING to enhance trade between the
Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Thailand and to further promote
intra-ASEAN trade;

REITERATING their commitment to
liberalize  trade in unprocessed
agricultural products under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT)
Agreement and to address the balance between domestic and regional interests in
order to achieve the broader goal of the region in becoming the ASEAN Economic
Community;

RECALLING the goal of ASEAN to promote
the ASEAN integration and to adhere to the spirit of the ASEAN Economic
Community;

REFERRING to the Philippines submission
of her rice tariffs in line with said products being part of her Highly
Sensitive List;

The Department of Trade and Industry of
the Republic of the Philippines and the Ministry of Commerce of the Kingdom of
Thailand,

Hereby agree as follows:

1. Thailand agrees with the Philippines’
   Invocation of the Protocol to Provide Special Consideration for Rice and Sugar
   and the Philippines agrees to grant Thailand and ASEAN Members the preferential
   tariff rates on rice according to the tariff reduction modality (as Attachment
   1).
2.  In the spirit of ASEAN Members sharing a
   common vision and commitment to broaden and deepen internal integration, the
   Philippines gives priority to rice from ASEAN Members than non-ASEAN Members
   with respect to its importation of rice.
3.  Regarding rice trade, the Philippines
   recognized Thailand as a priority source of rice supplies to the Philippines,
   and Thailand recognizes the Philippines as an important market of rice from
   Thailand.
4. During the invocation of the Protocol to
   Provide Special Consideration for Rice and Sugar, the Philippines shall
   maintain the level of rice trade between the Philippines and Thailand in line
   with historical trade during the past three (3) years which on average is about
   three hundred sixty-seven thousand metric tons (367,000 MT) annually, unless
   international price and/or domestic production do not allow the maintenance of
   such level of trade. A separate agreement may be formulated for a larger volume
   which shall subsume/include the above volume. Should the Philippines need to
   import any high quality rice, the Philippines shall give priority to Thailand,
   in the volume of fifty-thousand metric tons (50,000 MT) of the three hundred
   sixty-seven thousand metric tons (367,000 MT).
5.  Both the Philippines and Thailand agree
   to  cooperate on the following:

 5.1)    Exchange of information between the
National Food Authority of the Department of Agriculture of the Republic of the
Philippines and the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce of
the Kingdom of Thailand related to rice trade, production, consumption and
price;

5.2)      Establishment of a consultative mechanism
to effectively improve rice trade between the Philippines and Thailand, and

5.3)      Facilitation of direct business linkage
between rice exporters and rice importers of the two countries.

6.
The National Food Authority of the Department of Agriculture of the Republic of
the Philippines and the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce
of the Kingdom of Thailand shall be the agencies to implement this MOU, subject
to the existing laws, rules and regulations of government procurement of both
countries.

This MOU shall enter into force from the
date of signing until thirty-first of December in the year Two Thousand and Fourteen.

Done in duplicate in the English
language in Hanoi, Vietnam on the eighth of April in the year Two Thousand and
Ten.

(Sgd.)
JESLI A. LAPUS                              (Sgd.)  ALONGKORN PONLABOOT
Secretary of Trade and Industry                     Deputy Minister of Commerce

Republic of the Philippines                             The Kingdom of Thailand

 Entry
into Force: April 8, 2010

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