The Philippines has extended its no-tariff policy on electric vehicles and parts through 2028 and expanded the coverage to include hybrid electric vehicles, e-motorcycles and e-bicycles.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the expansion in the coverage of executive order (EO) 12, which temporarily modified the rates of import duty on electric vehicles (EVs), their parts and components.
Marcos first approved in January 2023 cutting the most favored nation tariff on EVs such as cars, vans and buses to 0 percent . Import duties previously ranged from 5 percent to 30 percent.
In a statement yesterday, NEDA said the Board in its May 15 meeting agreed to maintain the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rate at zero until 2028 on 34 tariff lines of battery electric vehicles currently covered under the EO.
The Board has expanded the list of articles with reduced duty to include e-motorcycles and e-bicycles, and nickel metal hydride accumulators, and reduce the duty on these articles to zero until the end of this administration’s term.
The expansion in the coverage of EO 12 also includes other types of EVs, particularly battery e-tricycles and quadricycles; battery, hybrid EV (HEV) and plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV) jeepneys/buses; and HEV and PHEV cars and trucks; as well as completely knocked down EVs for all types of vehicles.
The tariffs on these articles shall be reduced to zero until 2028.
“EO No. 12 is designed to stimulate the electric vehicle (EV) market in the country, support the transition to emerging technologies, reduce our transport system’s reliance on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions attributed to road transport. By encouraging consumers to adopt EVs, we are promoting a cleaner, more resilient and more environmentally friendly transportation alternative,” NEDA secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
The President has further instructed the Committee on Tariff and Related Matters to conduct an annual review of the rates to ensure timeliness, applicability and impact on the sectors concerned due to the modification in duties of EVs.
Meanwhile, the NEDA Board also approved other projects during its meeting, among these is the P2.75 billion Facility for Accelerating Studies for Infrastructure Project, which will initially focus on the transportation sector by providing fund support in formulating high quality transportation master plans and develop a robust pipeline of big-ticket transportation projects that would strengthen both national and regional connectivity.
The Board also greenlighted the Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools Project, which is designed to address the urgent physical recovery needs of schools affected by natural disasters between 2019 and 2023. It involves several interventions, including the repair, rehabilitation, retrofitting and reconstruction for the recovery of damaged school facilities outside Metro Manila.
With project implementation scheduled from 2024 to 2029, this will benefit 13,101 classrooms across 1,282 schools nationwide, equivalent to 741,038 students.
Meanwhile, the thumbs up has also been given to the extension of the implementation period and loan validity for the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling Project.
With a total project cost of P24.62 billion, this Official Development Assistance-financed project aims to improve land tenure security and stabilize the property rights of agrarian reform beneficiaries.
As of December 2023, a total of 78,657 e-titles covering 105,691 hectares have been registered to 85,665 agrarian reform beneficiaries, of which 54,698 registered e-titles covering 72,996 hectares have been distributed to 59,375 agrarian reform beneficiaries.
The NEDA Board tackled the P8.41 billion LRT Line East Extension Project.
“While this project is already completed and is currently in full operation, this request for an extension in the implementation period intends to facilitate full disbursement to project contractors and consultants and ensure the quality of the project until the end of its defects liability period in December 2024,” NEDA said. – With Reuters
