a. Overseas Contract Workers Holders of valid passports duly issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and certified by the Department of Labor and Employment/Philippine Overseas Employment Agency for overseas employment purposes. It covers all nationals working in a foreign country under employment contracts, including Middle East Contract Workers, entertainers, domestic helpers, regardless of their employment status in the foreign country.
TCLP 1937 SECTION 105
SECTION 105. Conditionally Free Importations. — The following articles shall be exempt from the payment of import duties upon compliance with the formalities prescribed in, or with the regulations which shall be promulgated by the Commissioner of Customs with the approval of the department head:
a. Animals and plants for scientific, experimental, propagation, botanical, breeding, zoological and national defense purposes:
b. Aquatic products (e.g., fish, crustaceans, mollusks, marine animals, seaweed, fish oil, roe)
c. Samples of the kind, in such quantity and of such dimensions or construction as to render them unsalable or of no appreciable commercial value, models not adapted for practical use and samples of medicine properly marked “physicians’ samples not for sale”.
d. Articles, including binnacles, propellers, and the like, the character of which, as imported, prevents their use for other purposes than the construction, equipment, or repair of vessels and aircraft, and life-preservers and life buoys, related equipment and parts and accessories thereof, which are necessary for the take-off and landing and for the safe navigation of vessels and aircraft.
e. Equipment for use in the salvage of vessels or aircraft, upon identification and the giving of a bond in an amount equal to one and one-half times the ascertained duties, taxes and other charges thereon, conditioned for the exportation thereof or payment of the corresponding duties, taxes and other charges within six months from the date of acceptance of the import entry.
f. Cost of repairs made in foreign countries upon vessels or aircraft documented, registered or licensed in the Philippines.
g. Articles brought into the Philippines for repair, processing or reconditioning to be re-exported upon completion of the repair, processing or reconditioning.
h. Medals, badges, cups and other small articles bestowed as trophies or prizes, or those received or accepted as honorary distinctions.
i. Wearing apparel and household effects, including those articles provided for under subsections “j” and “k”, and belonging to residents of the Philippines returning from abroad, which were exported from the Philippines by such returning residents upon their departure therefrom or during their absence abroad, upon the identity of such articles being established to the satisfaction of the Collector of Customs; personal and household effects brought into the Philippines by returning residents, the export value of which does not exceed five hundred pesos, solely for personal or household use but not imported for the account of any other person nor intended for barter, sale or hire: Provided, That such returning residents have not received the benefit of any exemption hereunder within one hundred and eighty days from and after the date of the last exemption granted: And provided, further, That in the event the total export value of the imported article or articles exceeds the amount of five hundred pesos, such article or articles shall be subject to duty only on the amount in excess of five hundred pesos; articles of the same kind and class purchased in foreign countries by residents of the Philippines during their absence abroad and accompanying them upon their return to the Philippines, or arriving within a reasonable time which in no case shall exceed ninety (90) days before or after the owner’s return, upon proof satisfactory to the Collector of Customs that same have been in their use abroad for more than one year; articles in any single shipment consigned to any single person when the total export value of such shipment does not exceed one hundred pesos: Provided, That when the export value exceeds the amount of one hundred pesos, only the amount in excess of one hundred pesos shall be subject to duty.
j. Wearing apparel, articles of personal adornment, toilet articles, portable tolls and instruments, theatrical costumes, and similar personal effects, accompanying travelers or tourists in their baggage or arriving within a reasonable time, in the discretion of the Collector of Customs, before or after the owners, in use of and necessary and appropriate for the wear or use of such persons according to their profession or position for the immediate purposes of their journey and their present comfort and convenience: Provided, That this exemption shall not be held to apply to articles intended for other persons or for barter, sale or hire: Provided, further, That the Collector of Customs may, in his discretion, require a bond in an amount equal to one and one-half times the ascertained duties, taxes and other charges upon articles classified under this subsection, conditioned for the exportation thereof or payment of the corresponding duties, taxes and other charges, within six months from the date of acceptance of the import entry: And provided, finally, That the Collector of Customs may extend the time for exportation or payment of duties, taxes and other charges for a term not exceeding six months from the expiration of the original period.
k. Vehicles, horses, harness, bed and table linen, table service, furniture, musical instruments and personal effects of like character, owned and imported by travelers or tourists for their convenience and comfort, upon identification and the giving of a bond in an amount equal to one and one-half times the ascertained duties, taxes and other charges thereon, conditioned for the exportation thereof or payment of the corresponding duties, taxes and other charges within six months from the date of acceptance of the import entry.
l. Professional instruments and implements, tools of trade, occupation or employment, wearing apparel, domestic animals, and personal and household effects, including those of the kind and class provided for under subsections “j” and “k” and belonging to persons coming to settle in the Philippines, in quantities and of the class suitable to the profession, rank or position of the person importing them, for their own use and not for barter or sale, accompanying such persons, or arriving within a reasonable time, in the discretion of the Collector of Customs, before or after the arrival of their owners, upon the production of evidence satisfactory to the Collector of Customs that such persons are actually coming to settle in the Philippines, that the articles are brought from their former place of abode, that change of residence is bona fide, and that the privilege of free entry under this subsection has never been previously granted to them
m. Animals, vehicles, portable theaters, circus and theatrical equipment, including musical instruments, sceneries, panoramas, properties, saddlery, wax figures and similar objects for public entertainment, and other articles for display in public expositions, or for exhibition or competition for prizes, and devices for projecting pictures and parts
n. Articles (e.g., photographic, sound recording, electrical and other equipment, vehicles, animals, costumes, apparel, properties, supplies, unexposed motion picture films) brought by foreign producers for making or recording motion pictures on location in the Philippines
o. Costumes, regalia and other articles, including office supplies and equipment, imported for the official use of members and attaches of foreign embassies, legations, consular officers and other representatives of foreign government: Provided, That the country which any such person represents accords like privileges to corresponding officials of the Philippines.
p. Regalia, gems, statuary, specimens or casts of sculptures imported for the bona fide use and by the order of any society incorporated or established solely for religious, philosophical, educational, scientific or literary purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the use and by the order of any institution of learning, public library, museum, orphan asylum or hospital, and not for barter, sale or hire
q. Musical organs imported for the bona fide use and by the owner of any society incorporated or established for religious or educational purposes, or, expressly for presentation thereto.
r. Scientific apparatus, instruments and utensils specially imported for the bona fide use and by the order of any society or institution incorporated or established solely for educational, scientific, or charitable purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the bona fide use and by the order of any institution of learning in the Philippines, and not for barter, sale or hire.
s. Philosophical, historical, economic, scientific, technical and vocational books specially imported for the bona fide use and by the order of any society or institution, incorporated or established solely for philosophical, educational, scientific, charitable or literary purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the bona fide use of and by the order of any institution of learning in the Philippines: Provided, That the provisions of this subsection shall apply to books not exceeding two copies of any one work when imported by any individual for his own use, and not for barter, sale or hire.
Bibles, missals, prayerbooks, koran, ahadith and other religious books of similar nature and extracts therefrom, hymnal and hymns for religious uses, specially prepared books, music and other instrumental aids for the deaf, mute or blind, and textbooks prescribed for use in any school in the Philippines: Provided, That complete books published in parts in periodical form shall not be classified herein.
t. Newsprint, whenever imported by or for publishers for the exclusive use in the publication of newspapers.
u. Articles donated to public or private institutions established solely for educational, scientific, cultural, charitable, health, relief, philanthropic or religious purposes, for free distribution among, or exclusive use of, the needy.
v. Food, clothing, house-building and sanitary-construction materials, and medical, surgical and other supplies for use in emergency relief work, when imported by or directly for the account of any victim, sufferer, refugee, survivor or any other person affected thereby, or by or for the account of any relief organization, not operated for profit, for distribution among the distressed individuals, whenever the President shall, by proclamation, declare an emergency to exist by reason of a state of war, pestilence, cholera, plague, famine, drought, typhoon, earthquake, fire, flood and similar conditions.
w. Philippine articles previously exported from the Philippines and returned without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means, and upon which no drawback or bounty has been allowed, and foreign articles when returned after having been loaned and exported for use temporarily abroad solely for exhibition, examination or experimentation, for scientific or educational purposes, and foreign containers packed with exported Philippine articles and returned empty if imported by or for the account of the person or institution who exported them from the Philippines and not for sale, subject to identification.
x. Large containers (e.g., demijohns, cylinders, drums, casks and other similar receptacles of metal, glass or other material) which are, in the opinion of the Collector of Customs, of such a character as to be readily identifiable may be delivered to the importer thereof upon identification and the giving of a bond in an amount equal to one and one-half times the ascertained duties, taxes and other charges thereon, conditioned for the exportation thereof on payment of the corresponding duties, taxes and other charges within one year from the date of acceptance of the import entry.
y. Supplies or ship stores listed as such for the use of the vessel; supplies which are intended for the reasonable requirements of the vessel in her voyage outside the Philippines, including such articles transferred from a bonded warehouse in any collection district to any vessel engaged in foreign trade, for use or consumption of the passengers or its crew on board such vessel as sea stores; or articles purchased abroad for sale on board a vessel as saloon stores or supplies: Provided, That any surplus or excess of such ship, sea or saloon stores arriving from foreign ports shall be dutiable according to the corresponding heading or subheading.
z. Articles and salvage from vessels recovered after the period of two years from the date of filing the marine protest or the time when the vessel was wrecked or abandoned as determined by the Collector of Customs, or such part of Philippine vessel or her equipment, wrecked or abandoned in Philippine waters or elsewhere: Provided, That articles and salvage recovered within the said period of two years shall be dutiable according to the corresponding heading or subheading.
aa. Articles of easy identification exported from the Philippines for repairs abroad and subsequently reimported: Provided, That the cost of the repairs made to any such article shall pay a rate of duty of twenty-five per cent ad valorem.
bb. Coffins or urns containing human remains, bones or ashes, and all articles for ornamenting said coffins or urns and accompanying same; used personal and household effects, not merchandise, of deceased persons, upon identification as such, satisfactory to the Collector of Customs.
