WHEREAS, this role requires that trading firms develop and extend their functional coverage to include expanded bulk trading, adequate and reliable sources of supply, worldwide market networks, trade and production financing, risk absorption, and other innovative functions needed to improve trade leverage;
WHEREAS, this lead role further requires that trading firms provide the vehicle for developing the markets for non-traditional export products particularly of small and medium-scale industries;
WHEREAS, the undertaking of these functions and activities require that trading firms be organized with a sufficiently large capital base, and be geared towards large-scale and integrated trading operations;
WHEREAS, to accelerate and assist the organization and development of such trading firms, there is need to prescribe performance-based incentives and provide institutional support for their operations;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree:
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy.—It is hereby declared to be the policy of the government to promote and encourage the organization and development of large-scale and integrated trading companies that can positively assist develop, expand and diversify the production base and export markets of Philippine non-traditional export products particularly of small and medium scale industries, in order to attain a rising level of production and employment, increase foreign exchange earnings, and accelerate the economic development of the nation.
SECTION 2. Definition of Terms.—For purposes of this Decree:
SECTION 3. Qualifications of Applicants.—In addition to satisfying the citizenship requirements provided for in Section 2 (c) of this Decree, an applicant must meet the annual eligibility requirements proscribed by the Committee at planning intervals of not less than three years, taking into account the combination of any or all of the following criteria:
SECTION 4. Incentives to Accredited Trading Companies.—A duly accredited trading company shall be granted such specific incentives as may be necessary to achieve the purposes and intent of this Decree within the purview of the following general list of incentives, subject to applicable laws and rules and regulations prescribed by each agency having jurisdictional authority and responsibility therefor:
SECTION 5. Committee on Accredited Trading Companies.—A Committee on Accredited Trading Companies, which shall be responsible for administering and coordinating the implementation of this Decree, is hereby created within the Philippine Export Council.
The Governing Council shall appoint the members of the Committee, which shall be composed of one senior official each nominated by the respective Department/Agency Heads of the Department of Trade, Department of Industry or Board of Investments, Department of Finance, Central Bank of the Philippines, and the Philippine Export Council. The appointed nominee of the Department of Trade shall be the Chairman of the Committee.
The Governing Council shall prescribe the organizational framework and guidelines under which the Committee shall operate, drawing upon, to the maximum extent possible, the technical staff expertise of government agencies concerned to assist the Committee in effectively carrying out its functions and duties under this Decree. The guidelines shall contain provisions giving due encouragement to the organization of cooperative trading organizations and other forms of joint export marketing groups by producers either as accredited trading companies or to be supported by the activities of accredited trading companies.
SECTION 6. Functions and Duties.—Subject to policy and operating guidelines which the Governing Council shall prescribe, the Committee shall have the following functions and duties:
SECTION 7. Appropriation.—There is hereby appropriated the sum of one million pesos (P1,000,000) out of the funds of the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the initial organizational and operating expenses of the Committee up to the end of Fiscal Year 1978. Thereafter, its budget shall be provided for by contributions from the agencies represented in the Committee, the respective amounts of which shall be determined by the Governing Council.
SECTION 8. Penal Provision.—Violation of any provision of this Decree or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto or of the terms or conditions of accreditation, or any act of abetting or aiding in any manner any such violation, shall be punished by a fine in the amount of not more than fifty thousand pesos (P50,00) or imprisonment for not more than three (3) years, or both, at the discretion of the Court.
If the offense be committed by a juridical entity, the present and/or other officials responsible therefor shall be subject to the penalty described above. If the official be an alien, he shall be deported after serving the sentence, without need of further proceedings for deportation. If the offender is a naturalized citizen, he shall be automatically denaturalized from the date his sentence becomes final.
SECTION 9. Separability Clause.—The provisions of this Decree are hereby declared to be separable, and in the event one or more of such provisions are held unconstitutional, the validity of other provisions shall not be affected.
SECTION 10. Repealing Clause.—Any and all acts, statutes, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
SECTION 11. This Decree shall take effect upon its approval.
Done in the City of Manila, this 29th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President: (Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE Presidential Executive Assistant