AMENDING SECTION 1309 OF THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE AS AMENDED AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, the program requires expeditious documentation of
commercial shipments to and from the Philippines;

WHEREAS, certain provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code
hamper the issuance of consular invoices covering importations into the
Philippines;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution,
do hereby adopt and make as part of the law of the land the following
amendments to Republic Act No. 5499:

SECTION 1. Section 1309 of the Tariff and Customs Code as
amended by Presidential Decree No. 34 dated October 27, 1972, is hereby
amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 1309. The commercial invoke required by the
preceding section shall, in all cases falling under Section 1310, be
presented at the time of or before or immediately after the shipment of
the articles to a consular officer of the Philippines for certification.
Certification shall be made in such form and manner as shall be
prescribed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The form shall
henceforth be referred to in this Act as consular invoice.

“The consular invoice shall be certified in the consular
district in which the articles were manufactured or purchased or from
which they are shipped, as the case may be; Provided, that in
the absence of a Philippine consul in the country of exportation,
manufacture or purchase, the invoice may be certified by the consular
officer in the district nearest the place of exportation or by any other
person specifically designated by the Secretary of Foreign
Affairs.”

SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect immediately.

Done
in the City of Manila, this 31st day of October, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-five.