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F O UR T E E NT H C O NG R E S S

F i rs t Regu la r Sess i on

Republic of the PhilippinesHOUSE OF REPRESENTAT IVES

Q uezon C ity

House B ill No. __ 2_470

Introduced by MA. CAR ISSA O. COSC Ol lUELA,RE NE M. VEL AR DE, and WilLIAM IRWIN C. TIENG

The Agricultural C ompetitivene ss E nhance ment F und (AC E F ) was created throughR epublic Act No. 8178 (R.A. 8178), entitled "An Act R eplacing Q uantitative ImportRestrictions on Agricultural Products, Except Rice, With Tariffs, Creating the AgriculturalCompetitiveness Enhancement Fund." This fund consists of in-quota tariffs collected fromthe importation of M inimum Access Vo lumes (M AV s) of agricultural and fisheries products.The entire proce eds will be earmarked for irrigation, farm-to-market roads , po st-harvestequipment and facilities, credit, research and development, extension services, and otherforms of as sistance and suppo rt to the agricultural and fisheries se ctor.

On December 21, 2007, the balance of the AC E F is set to revert to the GeneralFund, as mandated under S ection 8 of R .A. 8178. C onsidering that our farmers andfisherfolk still belong to the most socio-economically challenged of sectors, the life of theAC E F must be extended to s upport projects that will help them compete in a global setting.Furthermore, an effective information dissemination mechanism must be set in place toinform the general public, especially the intended beneficiaries of the AC E F, of itsavailability, in order to ensure participation of the widest range and effectiveness of theprogram towards a viable, efficient, and globally competitive agriculture sector.

In view o f the impending end of the utilization period of the AC E F , the pass age of thisbill is urgently sought.

MA. CAR ISSA O. CPL-BU

A \ 1 ; J ; M1

W L 1A MIR W IN C . T I GPL-BUHAY

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R epublic of the P hilippines

H O US E O F R E P R E S E N TAT IV E S

Quezon C ity

F O UR T E E NT H C O NG R E S S

F i rs t Re gu la r Se ss i on

House enfNo. 24 7 0--

Introduced byMA. CARISSA O . COSCOl lUELA ,RENE M. VELARDE, and WilL IAM IRWIN C. T IENG

AN ACTEXTENDING THE UTIL IZATION PE RIOD OF THE AGRICULTURAL

COMPE TIT IVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND, AMENDING FOR THISPU RP OSE SEC TION 8 OF RE P UBLIC ACT NO. 8178, ENTITLED

"AN ACT REPLACING QUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ONAGRICULTURAL PR ODUCTS, EXCEPT R ICE , WITH TARIFFS ,

CREATING THE AGRICULTURAL COMPE TIT IVENESSENHANCEMENT FUND," AND FOR OTHER P URPOS ES

B e i t e n a c t e d b y t h e S e n a t e a n d t h e H o u s e of R epres enta t i ves of t he Ph i l i pp i nes i nCon g ress assem b l ed :

1 S E CT ION 1. Section 8 of Republic Act No. 8178, entit led "An Act Replacing

2 Quantitative Import Restrictions on Agricultural Products, Except Rice, with Tariffs, Creating

3 the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, and for Other Purposes," is hereby

4 amended to read as follows:

5 "SE C. 8. Agr i cu lt u ra l Com pe t it iv eness Enhan cem en t Fun d . - To implement6 the policy enunciated in this Act, there is hereby created the Agricultural

7 Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, hereinafter referred to as the Fund.

8 THE FUND SHALL CONS IST OF ALL DUTIES C OLLEC TED FR OM [The

9 proceeds o i j the importat ion of AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS UNDER

10 THE minimum access volume (MAV) ME C HAN ISM , TO BE C R E DITE D TO

11 A S P E C I A L A C C O U N T I N T H E G E N E R A L F U N D O F T H E N A T I O N A L

12 TREASURY. [shall accrue to the General Fund and shall be deposited in

13 the national Treasury.]

14 The FU ND [entire proceeds] shall CO NTINUE TO be set aside [and

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1 earmarked by C ongress ] AS F O LL O W S : [for irrigation, farm to market

2 roads, post-harvest equipment and facilities, credit, research and

3 development, other marketing infrastructure, provision of market

4 information, retraining, extens ion s ervices , and other forms of ass istance

5 and support to the agriculturalsector.]

6 1) E IGHTY-F IV E PERCENT (85%) FO R A GRI -B A SED PRO D UCTIO N

7 AND P OS T PR ODUC TION AND P RO CE SS ING ACTIV IT IES, INCLUDING

8 B UT N O T L IM IT E D T O N E W E X P O R T IN DU S TR IE S A N D A G R I-

9 R E LAT E D IN FR AS T RU C TU R E A ND E Q UIP M E NT T O A CH IE VE

10

MO DE RN AG RIC ULTUR AL P R AC TIC ES ; AND F OR P U BLIC11 IN F O R M A T IO N A N D P R O M O T IO N A C T IV IT IE S , IN C L U DIN G T H E

12 E S T A BL IS H M E NT O F A P R IN C IP A L M E C H A N IS M T H E R E F O R T O

13 P R O MO TE T HE DE S IR E D AG R IC ULT UR AL P R O DU CT S AND

14 ACTIV IT IES AND CR EATE NEW MARK ETS ;AND

15 2) F IFTEEN P ER CE NT (15%) FO R RE SEA R CH, D EV EL O P MENT,A ND

16 THE CO MM ER CIA LIZA T IO N O F SUC H, INCL UD ING THE UP GRA D ING

17 O F THE RE SEA R CH F A CILIT IES O F Q UA L IF IED UNIV ERS IT IES A ND

18 C O L L E G E S .

19 The C ommittees on A griculture and F ood, Appropriations and F inance of

20 both the S enate and H ouse of R epresentatives shall conduct AN A NN UA L

21 [a periodic] review of the use of the F und. The F und shall have a life of UP

22 TO TH E Y E AR 2015 [nine (9) years], after which TH E [all] remaining

23 balance[S]shall revertto the General Fund."24 Sec . 2 . Fund Management and Sustainabi/ ity. - For the purpose of fund

25 management, the F und shall be deposited to the Land B ank of the P hilippines (LB P ). The

26 Department of Agriculture and the LB P are hereby mandated to draw up a plan that sha ll

27 allow regional application, processing and release of the fund to local farmers and such

28 other mechanisms for fund utilization and sustainability.

29 Sec. 3. Public Information. - The Department of Agriculture (DA), in coordination

30 with the P hilippine Information Agency (P IA) and the Department of Trade and Industry

31 (DT I), shall ensure the proper information dissemination of this Ac t, including administrative

32 orders and/or implementing rules and regulations promulgated for the utiliza tion of the F und,

33 to the general public, espe cially its intended bene ficiaries .

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1 S ec. 4. R ep ea l ing C l aus e . - All laws, decrees , orders, rules and regulations or other

2 issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or

3 modified accordingly.

4 Sec. 5. S epa rab i l it y C l aus e . - If any portion or provision of this Act is declared

5 unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provision not affected thereby shall remain

6 in force and effect.

7 Sec. 6. Ef fec t i v i t y . - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the

8 completion of its publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general

9 circulation in the Philippines.

10 Approved,