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HOUSE B I L L NO. 1517 '

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period of this fund that allows for an extendedtime for the availment ofthe benefits therefrom. Furthermore, this bill intends to ensure that themost deservingonly of the benefits of ACEFwill avail of it by making thepreferred lending to micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises(MSME)in the agricultural and aqua-cultural sectors includingtechnology

transfer assistance, and limiting the lending to large-scale entities inthese sectorsto not morethan 15%of the ACEF.

Thus, this bill proposesthe extension of the ACEFto 2015, for anaddition of eight (8) more years, for a total duration of nineteen (19)years from the original start-up date of the fund. This extension willprovide a necessary lifeline for our agriculture, aquaculture and/orfisheries sector at the crucial period of adjustment to a more competitiveinternational environment, and may well prove to bethe very instrumentthat ensures levels of global competitiveness of our agriculture,aquacultureand/or fisheriessector.

To finance the ACEF,this bill also amends Section 6 of RA 8178,allOWingthe Presidentof the Philippinesto imposethe tariffs provided insaidAct from 2004 to 2015. The original tariffs, as provided, were to beimposedby the Presidentonly from 1996 to 2000. It would not work aseffectively to extend the life of the ACEFfor the purposes merely ofallOWingthe use of its remainingfunds, but more importantly, additionalfunding source must be prOVidedby an extensionof the powerto imposethe allowable tariff on the importation of the minimum access volumesindicatedin RA8178.

In this era of globalization, we must, as a nation, take thenecessarysteps to make our sectors and industries viable, stable, andcompetitive. In light of the foregoing purpose, the immediate enactmentof this bill is highly recommended.

LUIS R.

DI OSDADO~AGALARROYO

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Introduced byHONORABLE LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE,HONORABLE DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL ARROYO, HONORABLE

FERDINAND MARTIN G. ROMUALDEZ '

AN ACT

TO EXTEND THE UTILIZATION PERIOD OF THE AGRICULTURAL

COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND, AMENDING SECTION 8

OF REPUBUC ACT NO. 8178, ENTITLED "AN ACT REPLACING

QUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTION ON AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS, EXCEPT RICE, WITH TARIFFS, CREATING THE

AGRICULTURAL COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND, AND

FOR OTHER PURPOSES"

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in

Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 8 of Republic Act No. 8178, entitled "An Act

Replacing Quantitative Import Restriction on Agricultural Product, Except

Rice, with Tariffs, Creating the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement

Fund and for Other Purposes" is hereby amended to read as follows:

SECTION. 8. Agricultural Competitiveness EnhancementFund. - To implement the policy enunciated in this Act, thereis hereby created the Agricultural Competitiveness

Enhancement Fund, hereinafter referred to as the Fund. [The

proceeds of] THE FUND SHALL CONSIST OF ALL DUTIESCOLLECTED FROM the importation of AGRICULTURAL

PRODUCTS UNDER THE minimum access volume (MAV)

[shall accrue to the General Fund and shall be deposited with

the National Treasury.] MECHANISM, INCLUDING UNUSED

BALANCE AND COLLECTIONS FROM REPAYMENTS FROM

LOAN BENEFICIARIES INCLUDING INTERESTS, IF ANY,

THE FUND SHALL BE AUTOMATICALLY CREDITED TO

SPECIAL ACCOUNT 183 IN THE GENERAL FUND OF THENATIONAL TREASURY.

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The entire proceeds shall be set aside and earmarked byCongress for: irrigation, farm-to-market roads, post-harvestequipment and facilities, credit, research and development,other marketing infrastructure, provision of market

information, retraining, extension services, MI CRO, SMAL LAND M EDI UM SCAL E ENT ERPRI SES (M SM SE) I NAGRI CUL T URE, AQUACUL T URE A ND FI SHERI ES

SECTORS; Y OUNG ENTREPRENEURS, OUT-OF-SCHOOL

Y OUTH, GRADUAT ES OF AGRI CUL TURE, FI SHERI ES,AND RELATED COURSES; AGRICUL TURE AND FISHERY

COOPERATI VES ENGAGED I N ECONOMI C ENTERPRISESand other forms of assistance and support to the agriculturesector.

The Committees on Agriculture and Food,Appropriations and Finance of both Senate and the House ofRepresentatives shall conduct a periodic review of the use ofthe Fund. The Fund shall [have a life span of nine (9) years]EXIST UNTI L THE Y EAR 2015, after which all remainingbalances shall revert to the General Fund.

SEC. 2. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive issuances,rules and regulations inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed ormodified accordingly.

SEC. 3. Separability Clause. - The provisions of this Act are herebydeclared to be separable, and in the event one or more of such provisionsare held unconstitutional, the validity of the other provisions shall not beaffected thereby.

SEC. 4. EffectiVity. - This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days fromthe date of its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapersof general circulation.