SC asked to ban used car imports via Port Irene

MANILA, Philippines - Former Solicitor General Francisco I. Chavez has asked the Supreme Court to ban the importation of used motor vehicles via Port Irene in Sta. Ana, Cagayan. Acting as a taxpayer, the lawyer said the high court should compel the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) to respect an earlier high court ruling upholding Executive Order 156. The EO, issued on Dec. 12, 2002, seeks to promote competitiveness in the local motor vehicle industry by prohibiting the importation of used vehicles. Several parties have questioned the validity of the executive order. Highlighting the police powers of the President however, the high court in 2006 upheld the ban on the importation, except in Subic. The imported cars, however, should remain within the former US naval base area, it said. Despite the SC order, Mr. Chavez said that CEZA continued to import used motor vehicles. Some 7,650 were brought into the country via the economic zone from June 2005 to May 2008. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile once defended the continuous operations at the port, noting that the high court does not have jurisdiction over the CEZA. Once the vehicles reach the ports, these are remodeled to conform to local automotive regulation standards. "The clincher is that because of relaxed tariff and customs rules within the [economic zone], the vehicles, as modified, and even with a high mark-up placed by the local ’rebuilder,’ are sold at grossly lower prices compared to used motor vehicles sold outside the economic zone... to the detriment of the local motoring industry," Mr. Chavez said. Further, the Bureau of Customs (BoC), "either through its deliberate inaction, or refusal or inability to enforce EO 156, has facilitated the importation of said used motor vehicles and their eventual sale outside the bounds of CEZA," he said. The Land Transportation Office also issues certificates of registration of the imported vehicles. Besides the injunction, Mr. Chavez also asked the high court to compel the government agencies to enforce EO 156. - BusinessWorld