A
collection of Philippine laws, statutes and codes
not
included or cited in the main
indices
of
theChan Robles Virtual Law Library
This page features the full text of
Republic Act No. 8178
Agricultural
Tariffication Act
AN
ACT REPLACING QUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ON AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS,
EXCEPT RICE, WITH TARIFFS, CREATING THE AGRICULTURAL COMPETITIVENESS
ENHANCEMENT
FUND, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 8178
AN
ACT REPLACING QUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ON AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS,
EXCEPT RICE, WITH TARIFFS, CREATING THE AGRICULTURAL COMPETITIVENESS
ENHANCEMENT
FUND, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Section
1. Title. — This Act shall be
known as the "Agricultural Tariffication Act."
Sec.
2. Declaration of Policy. — It
is the policy of the State to make the country's agricultural sector
viable,
efficient and globally competitive. The State adopts the use of tariffs
in lieu of non-tariff import restrictions to protect local producers of
agricultural products, except in the case of rice, which will continue
to have quantitative import restrictions.
Consistent
with the constitutional mandate of protecting Filipino firms against
unfair
trade, it is furthermore the policy of the State to employ anti-dumping
and countervailing measures to protect local producers from unfair
trade
practices, rather than use quantitative import restrictions.
To
help the agricultural sector compete globally, the State shall seek to
raise farm productivity levels by providing the necessary support
services
such as, but not limited to, irrigation, farm-to-market roads,
post-harvest
equipment and facilities, credit, research and development, extension
services,
other market infrastructure and market information. chan
robles virtual law library
Sec.
3. Definition of Terms. — The
following definitions apply to the terms used in this Act:
(a) "Agricultural
products" shall have the same meaning as agricultural products under
Chapters
1-24 of Presidential Decree No. 1464, otherwise known as the Tariff and
Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended
chanrobles virtuallaw libraryred(b) "Applied
rate" is the rate of import duty that is actually used by Customs
authorities
in the collection of Customs revenues.
(c) "In-Quota
Tariff Rate" refers to the tariff rates for minimum access volumes
committed
by the Philippines to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the
Uruguay
Round Final Act.
(e) "Minimum
Access Volume" refers to the volume of a specific agricultural product
that is allowed to be imported with a lower tariff as committed by the
Philippines to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Uruguay
Round
Final Act.
(f) "Quantitative
Import Restrictions" refers to non-tariff restrictions used to limit
the
amount of imported commodities, including but not limited to
discretionary
import licensing and import quotas, whether qualified or absolute.
(g) "Tariff"
refers to a tax levied on a commodity imported from another country. It
earns revenues for the government and regarded as instruments to
promote
local industries by taxing their competitors. The benefit is accorded
to
the local producers by the maintenance of a domestic price at a level
equal
to the world price plus the tariff.
(h) "Tariffication"
refers to the lifting of all existing quantitative restrictions such as
import quotas or prohibitions, imposed on agricultural products, and
replacing
these restrictions with tariffs.
Sec.
4. Repeal. — The following laws
and all other laws or provisions of law prescribing quantitative import
restriction or granting government agencies the power to impose such
restrictions
on agricultural products, except rice, are hereby repealed:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(1) Republic
Act No. 1296, entitled "An Act to Prohibit the Importation of Onions,
Potatoes,
Garlic, and Cabbages, Except for Seedling Purposes, and to Provide
Penalties
for the Violation Thereof";chanrobles virtuallaw libraryred(2) Republic
Act No. 2712, entitled "An Act to Prohibit the Importation of Coffee";
(3) Presidential
Decree No. 1297, as amended, entitled: "Centralizing the Importation of
Ruminants for Breeding, Slaughter and Beef";
(4) Paragraph
10 of Section 23 of Republic Act No. 7607, entitled: "An Act Providing
a Magna Carta for Small Farmers";
(5) Paragraph
(a) of Section 23 of Republic Act No. 7308, entitled: Seed Industry
Development
Act";
(6) Section
4 of Republic Act No. 4155, as amended, entitled: "An Act to Promote
and
Strengthen the Virginia Tobacco Industry"; and
(7) Presidential
Decree No. 1483, entitled: "Authorizing the Importation of Foreign
Cigar
Leaf Tobacco for Blending Purposes."
Sec.
5. Amendment. — Subparagraph
(xii), paragraph (1) Section 6 of Presidential Decree No. 4 (National
Grains
Authority Act), as amended, is hereby further amended to read as
follows:chan
robles virtual law library
"Sec.
6(a) Powers. — chanrobles virtuallaw libraryred"(xii) To
establish rules and regulations governing the importation of rice and
to
license, impose and collect fees and charges for said importation for
the
purpose of equalizing the selling price of such imported rice with
normal
prevailing domestic prices.
"In
the exercise of this power, the Council after consultation with the
Office
of the President shall first certify to a shortage of rice that may
occur
as a result of a short-fall in production, a critical demand-supply
gap,
a state of calamity or other verified reasons that may warrant the need
for importation: Provided, That this requirement shall not apply to the
importation of rice equivalent to the Minimum Access Volume obligation
of the Philippines under the WTO. The Authority shall undertake direct
importation of rice or it may allocate import quotas among certified
and
licensed importers, and the distribution thereof through cooperatives
and
other marketing channels, at prices to be determined by the Council
regardless
of existing floor prices and the subsidy thereof, if any, shall be
borne
by the National Government."
Sec.
6. Tariffication. — In lieu quantitative
restrictions, the maximum bound rates committed under the Uruguay Round
Final Act shall be imposed on the agricultural products whose
quantitative
restrictions are repealed by this Act. The President shall issue the
corresponding
tariffs beginning 1996 up to year 2000: Provided, That the schedule of
the initial and final applied rates shall be consistent with the
country's
tariff binding commitments.
chanrobles virtuallaw libraryred
In
case of shortages or abnormal price increases in agricultural products,
whose quantitative restrictions are lifted under this Act, the
President
may propose to Congress, revisions, modifications or adjustments of the
Minimum Access Volume (MAV): Provided, however, That in the event
Congress
fails to act after fifteen (15) days from receipt of the proposal, the
same shall be deemed approved.
Sec.
7. Mechanism for the Implementation
of Minimum Access Volume (MAV). — An equitable and transparent
mechanism
for allocating the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) of agricultural
products,
whose quantitative restrictions are herein lifted, shall be developed
and
established, having the least government intervention, addressing the
requirements
of each geographical area, and without entailing any cost to
importers/users
of these products to the detriment of local consumers and other
end-users.
For
this purpose and in accordance with the abovementioned guiding
principles,
the Cabinet Committee created by Memorandum Order No. 245 dated
December
13, 1994 to oversee and manage the minimum access quotas committed by
the
Philippines under the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade Uruguay
Round
with the inclusion of the National Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA),
and in consultation with all concerned agricultural
farmer/producer/processor/importer
groups, shall submit to Congress within a period of sixty (60) days
from
the effectivity of this Act, the appropriate mechanism for the
implementation
of the minimum access volumes.
Sec.
8. Agricultural Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund. — To implement the policy enunciated in this Act,
there
is hereby created the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund,
hereinafter
referred to as the Fund. The proceeds of the importation of minimum
access
volume shall accrue to the General Fund and shall be deposited with the
National Treasury.
The
entire proceeds shall be set aside and earmarked by Congress for
irrigation,
farm-to-market roads, post-harvest equipment and facilities, credit,
research
and development, other marketing infrastructure, provision of market
information,
retraining, extension services, and other forms of assistance and
support
to the agricultural sector.chan
robles virtual law library
The
Committees on Agriculture and Food, Appropriations and Finance of both
the Senate and the House of Representatives shall conduct a periodic
review
of the use of the Fund. The Fund shall have a life of nine (9) years,
after
which all remaining balances shall revert to the General Fund.
Sec.
9. Repealing Clause. — All laws,
decrees, executive issuances, rules and regulations inconsistent with
this
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Sec.
10. Separability Clause. — The
provisions of this Act are hereby declared to be separable, and in the
event one or more of such provisions are held unconstitutional, the
validity
of the other provisions shall not be effected thereby.
Sec.
11. Effectivity. — This Act shall
take effect thirty (30) days from the date of its publication in the
Official
Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved:
March
28, 1996
Back
to Top - Back
to Main Index - Back
to Home
Copyright©1998-2006
by
ChanRobles
Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
Since 19.07.98
|