EO 890 (s. 2010) — Zero MFN Tariff on Crude Oil, Petroleum Products, and Asphalt

Status: operative
Confidence: high
Effective date: 2010-06-25

Full title: Modifying the Nomenclature and the Rates of Import Duty on Crude Oil, Petroleum Products and Asphalt Under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1464), as Amended

Signed: June 10, 2010 | Effective: 15 days after publication | President: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Note: GMA-era EO. Signed June 10, 2010 — 20 days before the Aquino III administration began (June 30, 2010). Grouped under 2010 in the energy-tagged queue.

Context

RA 8479 (Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998) set a uniform 3% tariff on imported crude oil and refined petroleum products, but granted the President discretion to reduce it [EO 890, s. 2010, WHEREAS ¶1, 2010-06-10].

The driver for the reduction to zero was ASEAN alignment: EO 850 (effective Jan 1, 2010) already set ASEAN-origin petroleum to zero under the AFTA-CEPT/ATIGA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) [EO 890, s. 2010, WHEREAS ¶2–3, 2010-06-10], while crude oil and petroleum from non-ASEAN sources remained at 3% — the tariff distortion the Order sets out to remove [EO 890, s. 2010, WHEREAS ¶5, 2010-06-10]. Asphalt had already been reduced to zero under EO 268 (2004) [EO 890, s. 2010, WHEREAS ¶4, 2010-06-10].

The NEDA Board approved the tariff elimination on May 25, 2010 [EO 890, s. 2010, WHEREAS ¶6, 2010-06-10].

Key Provisions

§1 — MFN rate per Annex A: Crude petroleum oils, refined petroleum products, and asphalt listed in Annex A (Tariff and Customs Code §104) are levied the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) rate indicated opposite each article in Annex A [EO 890, s. 2010, §1, 2010-06-10]. Those Annex A rates are 0%, eliminating the prior 3% duty [EO 890, s. 2010, Annex A, 2010-06-10; cf. WHEREAS ¶5].

§2–3 — Scope: Only articles listed in Annex A affected; all others remain unchanged [EO 890, s. 2010, §§2–3, 2010-06-10].

Policy Notes

Creates a level playing field for local refiners (e.g., Petron Bataan) by removing the tariff advantage that ASEAN importers had over non-ASEAN suppliers
Consistent with RA 8479’s deregulation framework, which allows presidential tariff adjustment for petroleum
Reversed by EO 113 (s. 2020) which temporarily imposed an additional 10% duty during COVID-19 (see Digest: EO 113 (s. 2020) — Temporary 10% Additional Import Duty on Crude Oil and Petroleum Products (COVID-19) )

Full text: Cleaned copy