EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 384
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 384 -
PROMULGATING POLICY GUIDELINES AND TRADE WITH SOCIALIST AND COMMUNIST
COUNTRIES
WHEREAS,
it is in the national interest to develop as early as possible trade
and other relations with all countries, including socialist and
communist countries, a policy which has received the support of all
significant sectors in the country;
WHEREAS, policy guidelines must be adopted for the orderly conduct of
such trade relations;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby promulgate the
following policy guidelines:
A.
Commodity Pattern
1.
All present and potential export products of the Philippines shall be
allowed.
2. In case of
importation, priority shall be given to the following commodities:
a.
Heavy machinery and equipment, including spare parts, particularly
those that will carry them some technology transfer. Preference shall
be given to those not produced locally.
b. Raw
materials, including fuel, which are not produced locally.
c. Essential
consumer products which are not produced locally.
B.
Channels of Trade
1.
Export trade will be handled through normal private commercial channels
and government trading firms, such as NETRACOR. Initially, however,
import trade shall be conducted solely through NETRACOR in pursuance of
the government’s economic development program. To avoid possible
ruinous competition among Philippine traders, all commercial
transactions shall be coursed through the Department of Commerce and
Industry.
2. Should the
establishment in the Philippines of resident trading representatives
from socialist and communist countries become necessary, the matter
shall be referred to the Department of Commerce and Industry which
shall coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of
Immigration, and/or other government agencies concerned.
3. Travel
requirements to socialist and communist countries for trading purposes
shall be normalized subject to existing conditions, rules and
regulations for travel to any other country.
4. Trade
communication between the Philippines and socialist and communist
countries shall be allowed.
5. Entry into
and exit from Philippine ports of commercial vessels belonging to
socialist and communist countries shall be allowed.
6. Exchange of
legitimate trade missions and traders between the Philippines and
socialist and communist countries shall be allowed.
C.
Payments Arrangement
1.
Payments shall be effected through prescribed instruments acceptable to
the central banks of the Philippines and socialist and communist
countries concerned in accordance with their respective foreign
exchange regulations.
2. Payments
shall be made in convertible currencies acceptable to the central
banks. Under existing Philippine Central Bank regulations, the US
dollar, English pound, German mark, Swiss franc, French franc, Italian
lira, Dutch guilder, Canadian dollar or Japanese yen are acceptable
convertible foreign currencies which form part of the international
reserve. Payments through clearing arrangements providing for swing
credits with the balance to be settled in convertible currencies may be
adopted on a case-to-case basis mutually acceptable to the central
banks.
3. The
establishment of normal banking correspondent relations between
Philippine banking institutions and the banking institutions of
socialist and communist countries shall be allowed.
D.
Miscellaneous
1.
Documentation of merchandise to be imported into the country from
socialist and communist countries shall be done by the Philippine
embassy, consulate, or honorary consulate to be designated by the
Department of Foreign Affairs until such time when the Philippines
shall have established diplomatic and/or consular relations with these
countries.
2. Inspection
of commodities imported into and exported from the Philippines and
these countries shall follow the normal procedure, i.e., through an
independent international superintendent or surveyor acceptable to both
parties.
3. In the
event of a dispute, the same shall be submitted for arbitration
mutually acceptable to both parties.
No provision in the foregoing guidelines shall be deemed to exempt the
trade between the Philippines and socialist and communist countries
from Philippine laws, rules and regulations applicable to trade and
foreign exchange.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 11th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-two.