MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 21

REDUCING THE RATE OF IMPORT DUTY ON MILLING (FOOD) WHEAT TO ZERO UNDER SECTION 104 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1464, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE TARIFF AND CUSTOMS CODE OF 1978, AS AMENDED, AS PROVIDED FOR UNDER SECTION 3 OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 863, SERIES OF 2010

WHEREAS, Executive Order 863 issued on 19 February 2010, implemented the zero Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) rate of duty on milling (food) wheat for six (6) months, subject to further review;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 3 of E.O. 863, series of 2010, the Tariff and Related Matters (TRM) Committee reviewed the need to extend the imposition of the zero MFN rate of duty on milling (food) wheat;

WHEREAS, reducing the MFN rate of duty on milling (food) wheat to zero would support efforts to lower the cost of producing wheat flour which would help stabilize prices of bread, e.g., pandesal and other bread products as well as noodles;

WHEREAS, the NEDA Board endorsed on 25 November 2010 on ad referendum basis the TRM recommendation to reduce the duty on milling wheat to zero for six (6) month, subject to further review;

WHEREAS, Section 401 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as amended, empowers the President of the Republic of the Philippines to increase, reduce, or remove existing rates of import duty, as well as to modify the form of duty and the tariff nomenclature, under Section 104 of the Code;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. The articles specifically listed in the Annex hereof, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, shall be subject to the MFN rate of import duty in accordance with the schedule indicated opposite each article.

SECTION 2. The nomenclature and the rates of import duty on tariff headings not enumerated and those listed but represented by the symbol “XXX” shall remain in force and in effect.

SECTION 3. Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, all articles listed in the Annex which are entered and withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption shall be levied the MFN rates of duty of zero ad valorem for six (6) months, subject to further review.

SECTION 4. All Presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are contrary to or inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.

SECTION 5. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately following its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 14th day of Jan. in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Eleven.

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

By the President:

(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR.

Executive Secretary