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December 09, 1960

Note: The Agreement is pending ratification by the Senate.

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of Japan,

Animated by the desire to maintain and strengthen the amicable relations existing between their respective countries, and Desirous of facilitating and developing trade and commerce between the two countries on a mutually advantageous basis,

Have resolved to conclude a Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation and for that purpose have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries,

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines:

J. B. Laurel, Jr., Former Speaker, House of Representatives

Lorenzo Sumulong, Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Ramon P. Mitra, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives

Rogelio de la Rosa, Member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Antonio V. Raquiza, Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives

Manuel A. Adeva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan

Perfecto E. Laguio, Undersecretary of Commerce and Industry

Caesar Z. Lanuza, Career Minister, Chief of Mission, Philippine Reparations Mission

Andres V. Castillo, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank

Enrique M. Garcia, Career Minister

The Government of Japan:

Morio Yukawa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of the Philippines

Shigenobu Shima, Deputy Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs

Nobuhiko Ushiba, Ambassador, Director of the Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Who, having communicated to each other their full powers found to be in due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

ARTICLE I

Nationals of either Party shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to nationals of any third country with respect to all matters relating to their entry into, sojourn, travel and residence within, the territories of the other Party.

ARTICLE II

1. Nationals and companies of either Party, within the territories of the other Party, shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to nationals and companies of any third country with respect to all matters pertaining to the levying of taxes, access to the courts of justice and to administrative agencies, the making and performance of contracts, rights to property, participation in juridical entities, and generally the conduct of all kinds of business and professional activities.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article, each Party reserves the right to accord special tax advantages on a basis of reciprocity or by virtue of agreements for the avoidance of double taxation or the mutual protection of revenue.

ARTICLE III

1. Nationals and companies of either Party shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to nationals and companies of any third country with respect to payments, remittances and transfers of funds or financial instruments between the territories of the two Parties as well as between the territories of the other Party and of any third country.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article do not preclude either Party from imposing such exchange restrictions as are consistent with the rights and obligations that it has or may have as a contracting party to the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund.

3. Neither Party shall impose restrictions or prohibitions on the importation of any product of the other party, or on the exportation of any product to the territories of the other Party, unless the importation of the like product of, or the exportation of the like product to all third countries is similarly restricted or prohibited.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 3 of the present Article, either Party may apply restrictions or controls on the importation and exportation of goods that have effect equivalent to exchange restrictions which the said Party may at that time apply under the provisions of paragraph 2 of the present Article.

ARTICLE IV

1. With respect to customs duties and charges of any kind imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation or imposed on the international transfer of payments for imports or exports, and with respect to the method of levying such duties and charges, and with respect to all rules and formalities in connection with importation and exportation, and with respect to the application of internal taxes to exported goods, and with respect to all internal taxes or other internal charges of any kind imposed on or in connection with imported goods, and with respect to all laws, regulations and requirements affecting internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, distribution or use of imported goods, any advantage, favor, privilege or immunity which has been or may hereafter be granted by either Party any product originating in or destined for any third country shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the like produce originating in or destined for the territories of the other Party.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article shall not apply to special advantages accorded by either Party to products of its national fisheries.

ARTICLE V

The two Parties undertake to cooperate for mutual benefit with a view to expanding trade and to strengthening economic relations between the two countries, and to furthering the interchange and use of scientific and technical knowledge, particularly in the interests of economic development and of the improvement of standards of living within their respective territories. Neither Party shall hamper the introduction into its territories of capital or technology of the other Party which will contribute to the sound and balanced development of its national economy on a self-sustaining basis.

ARTICLE VI

1. Vessels under the flag of either Party, and carrying the papers required by its law in proof of nationality, shall be deemed to be vessels of that Party both on the high seas and within the ports, places and waters of the other Party.

2. Merchant vessels of either Party shall have liberty, on equal terms with merchant vessels of the other Party and of any third country, to come with their passengers and cargoes to all ports, places and waters of such other Party open to foreign commerce and navigation. Such vessels shall in all respects be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to the vessels of any third country within the ports, places and waters of such other Party, and shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to like vessels of such other Party with respect to technical facilities of all kinds, such as the allocation of berths, the use of loading and unloading facilities, pilotage services and supply of fuel, lubricating oils, water and food.

3. Merchant vessels of either Party shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to like vessels of any third country with respect to the right to carry all goods and persons that may be carried by vessels to or from the territories of the other Party; and such goods and persons shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to like goods and persons carried in merchant vessels of such other Party with respect to: (a) duties and charges of all kinds, (b) the administration of the customs, and (c) bounties, drawbacks and other privileges of this nature.

4. Each Party may reserve to its own vessels the right to engage in the coasting trade. Merchant vessels of either Party may, nevertheless, proceed from one port to another within the territories of the other Party, either for the purpose of landing the whole or part of their passengers or cargoes brought from abroad, or of taking on board the whole or part of their passengers or cargoes for a foreign destination, always complying with the laws and regulations of such other Party.

5. (1) In case of shipwreck, damage at sea or forced putting in, either Party shall extend to vessels of the other Party the same assistance and protection and the same exemptions as are in like cases accorded to its own vessels. Goods salvaged from such vessels shall be exempt from all customs duties, unless the goods are entered for domestic consumption; but goods not entered for domestic consumption may be subject to measures for the protection of the revenue pending their exit from the country.

(2) If a vessel of either Party has stranded or has been wrecked on the coasts of the other Party, the appropriate authorities of such other Party shall notify the occurrence to the nearest competent consular officer of the country to which the vessel belongs.

6. The certificates concerning tonnage measurement of vessels issued by the competent authorities of either Party shall be recognized by the competent authorities of the other Party as equivalent to the certificates issued by the latter.

ARTICLE VII

The provisions of the present Treaty shall not be interpreted as precluding either Party from adopting or executing measures relating to:

(a) the public security or national defense or the maintenance of international peace and security;

(b) fissionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;

(c) traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and such traffic in other goods and materials as is carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment;

(d) the protection of public morals, and of human, animal or plant life or health; and

(e) trade in gold or silver.

ARTICLE VIII

1. Each Party shall accord sympathetic consideration to, and shall afford adequate opportunity for consultation regarding, such representations as the other Party may make with respect to any matter affecting the operation of the present Treaty.

2. Any dispute between the Parties as to the interpretation or application of the present Treaty, not satisfactorily adjusted by diplomacy, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice, unless the Parties agree to settlement by some other pacific means.

ARTICLE IX

1. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged at Manila as soon as possible.

2. The present Treaty shall enter into force one month after the day of the exchange of the instruments of ratification. It shall remain in force for three years and shall continue in force thereafter until terminated as provided for in paragraph 3 of the present Article.

3. Either Party may, by giving a six-month written notice to the other Party, terminate the present Treaty at the end of the initial three-year period or at any time thereafter,

ARTICLE X

The present Treaty shall be in the Filipino, Japanese and English languages. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty and have affixed thereunto their seals.

DONE in duplicate at Tokyo, this ninth day of December in the fifteenth year of the Independence of the Republic of the Philippines, corresponding to the ninth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-fifth year of Showa and to the ninth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and sixty.

FOR THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES:

PROTOCOL

At the time of signing the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between the Republic of the Philippines and Japan (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaty") the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have further agreed on the following provisions, which shall be considered integral parts of the Treaty:

1. It is understood that all matters relating to the permission for permanent residence be outside the scope of the Treaty.

2. With reference to Article I, it is understood that neither Party shall be entitled to claim the benefit of those advantages relating to matters concerning passports and visas which the other Party has accorded or may hereafter accord to nationals of any third country by virtue of special agreements on a basis of reciprocity.

3. As used in the Treaty, the term "companies" means corporations, partnerships, companies and other associations, engaging in business activities for gain.

4. With reference to the provisions of Article II, paragraph 1, relative to the grant of treatment no less favorable than that accorded to any third country, either Party may require that such treatment shall be dependent on reciprocity with respect to the enjoyment of rights on immovable property and of the right to practice the professions.

5. Nothing in the Treaty shall be construed so as to grant any right or impose any obligation in respect of copyright and industrial property right.

6. It is confirmed that property of nationals and companies of either Party, as well as property in which such nationals and companies have direct or indirect interests, shall not be taken within the territories of the other Party except for a public purpose, nor shall such property be taken without just compensation.

7. Except with respect to access to the courts of justice and to administrative agencies, the provisions of the Treaty shall not be interpreted as precluding either Party from denying the advantages of the Treaty to any company of the other Party in the ownership or direction of which nationals of any third country or countries have directly or indirectly the controlling interest.

8. The provisions of Article III, paragraph 3, shall not preclude either Party from imposing restrictions or prohibitions on customary grounds of a non-commercial nature, or in the interest of preventing deceptive or unfair practices, provided that such restrictions or prohibitions do not arbitrarily discriminate against the commerce of the other Party.

9. The Governments of the two Parties expect that the expansion of mutual trade will be achieved without serious injury being caused or threatened to their domestic procedures. If, nevertheless, there is reasonable evidence that any manufactured goods of either Party are being imported into the territories of the other Party under such conditions as to cause or threaten serious injury to its domestic producers of like or directly competitive manufactured goods, the Government of the exporting Party shall, at the request of the Government of the importing Party, enter into consultation, and, upon such consultation, the Government of the exporting Party shall adopt adequate measures within its power to prevent or remedy the injury.

10. (1) Nothing in the Treaty shall be construed so as to entitle Japan to claim the benefit of those rights and privileges which are or may hereafter be accorded by the Republic of the Philippines exclusively to:

(a) nationals and companies of the United States of America with respect to their carrying on, within the territories of the Republic of the Philippines, business activities such as the operation of public utilities and the disposition, exploitation, development and utilization of natural resources, or

(b) products of the United States of America with respect to customs duties and charges, by virtue of the Agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America concerning Trade and Related Matters, signed at Manila on July 4, 1946, and revised at Washington on September 6, 1955, or any other agreement, treaty or convention between the two countries.

(2) Nothing in the Treaty shall be construed so as to entitle the Republic of the Philippines to claim the benefit of those rights and privileges which are or may hereafter be accorded by Japan exclusively to: (a) persons who originated in the territories to which all right, title and claim were renounced by Japan in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of the Treaty of Peace with Japan signed at the city of San Francisco on September 8, 1951, or (b) the native inhabitants and vessels of, and trade with, any area set forth in Article 3 of the said Treaty of Peace, so long as the situation set forth in the second sentence of the said Article continues with respect to the administration, legislation and jurisdiction over such area.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Protocol and have affixed thereunto their seals.

DONE in duplicate, in the Filipino, Japanese and English languages, at Tokyo, this ninth day of December in the fifteenth year of the Independence of the Republic of the Philippines, corresponding to the ninth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-fifth year of Showa and to the ninth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and sixty. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

FOR THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES: