The TAIPEI ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE (TECO) and the MANILA E-
CONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE (MECO) (hereinafter referred to as
”The Contracting Parties”) desiring to expand and strengthen
economic and trade relations on the basis of equality and mutual
benefit, have agreed as follows :

Article 1
The Contracting Parties agree to organize a system for facilita-
ting the temporary duty free importation of goods when such goo-
ds are covered by a Carnet (hereinafter referred to as ”TECO-M-
ECO Carnet”).

Article 2
This Agreement relates to the temporary admission of goods which
both Contracting Parties may allow to circulate freely within t-
he relevant territories according to the modalities set forth in
the Customs Convention on the ATA Carnet for the Temporary Admi-
ssion of Goods (ATA Convention) and by the national laws and re-
gulations of the Contracting Parties.

Article 3
For the Purpose of this Agreement
.”Import duties” means Customs duties and all other duties, f-
ees, taxes or other charges payable on or in connection with i-
mportation, and shall include all internal taxes chargeable on
imported goods, which shall not include fees and charges which
are limited in amount to costs of services rendered and do not
represent any indirect protection to domestic products or a ta-
xation of imports for fiscal purposes;
.”Temporary admission”means temporary importation free of imp-
ort duties in accordance with the conditions laid down by the
ATA Convention and by the national laws and regulations of the
Contracting Parties;
.”TECO-MECO Carnet”means the document to be set out in the An-
nex to this Agreement;
.”Issuing association”means the association authorized to iss-
ue the TECO-MECO Carnet;

.”Guaranteeing associations”means the organization designated
by TECO and MECO respectively, to implement this Agreement to
guarantee payment of the sum due to customs should there be br-
each of conditions;
.”Rerlevant territories”means the territories in which the Co-
ntracting Parties are established;

Article 4
The issuing and guaranteeing associations shall
i) issue the TECO-MECO Carnets; and
ii) guarantee the payment of import duties and taxes in the eve-
nt of non-compliance with the conditions of temporary admis-
sion in respect of goods dispatched under cover of TECO-MECO
Carnets to and from the relevant territories in accordance
with the rules laid down in the ATA Convention and by the n-
ational laws of the Contracting Parties.

Article 5
The period of validity of any TECO-MECO Carnet shall not exceed
one year from the date of the issuance of that Carnet by the is-
suing association.

Article 6
The guarantee granted pursuant to this Agreement shall be the s-
ecurity for the payment of the amount as required by the nation-
al laws of the Contracting Parties. The guarantee shall further
cover, up to 10% of the amount of import duties, the payment of
any other sums which would have had to be deposited by the impo-
rter if there had been no guarantee.

Article 7
Should the goods covered by the guarantee not be duly re-export-
ed within the prescribed period the guaranteeing association sh-
all pay to Customs the amount as required by the national laws
of the Contracting Parties.

Article 8
Regularization of TECO-MECO Carnets
The guaranteeing association shall have a period of three months
, from the date of the claim made by the Customs authorities for
the amount of the import duties and any other sums payable in t-
he event of non-compliance with the conditions of temporary adm-
ission, in respect of goods introduced into the relevant territ-
ories under cover of TECO-MECO Carnets issued by a corresponding
issuing association, in which to furnish proof of the re-export-
ation of the goods under the conditions laid down in the present
Agreement or of any other proper discharge of the TECO-MECO Car-
net.
.If such proof is not furnished within the time allowed the gua-
ranteeing association shall forthwith deposit, or pay provisio-
nally, such sums to Customs. This deposit or payment shall bec-
ome final after a period of one month from the date of the dep-
osit or payment. During the latter period the guaranteeing ass-
ociation may still furnish the proof referred to in the preced-
ing paragraph with a view to recovery of the sums deposited or
paid.
.Either Contracting Party whose laws and regulations do not pro-
vide for the deposit or provisional payment of import duties,
payments made in conformity with the provisions of the precedi-
ng paragraph shall be regarded as final, but the sums paid sha-
ll be refunded if the proof referred to in paragraph I of this
Article is furnished within one month of the date of the payme-
nt.

Article 9
All differences, disputes or contestations between the Contract-
ing Parties and guaranteeing associations in connection with the
implementation of this Agreement shall, as far as possible, be
settled amicably through negotiations between the parties to the
dispute, failing which they shall be referred to arbitration on
such terms and conditions as the Contracting Parties may agree.

Article 10
A Protocol based on the principles of this Agreement shall be m-
ade between the guaranteeing associations of the Contracting Pa-
rties for the implementation of this Agreement, to prescribe th-
eir rights and obligations, in which the coverage of goods and
other matters concerning the present TECO-MECO Carnet system wi-
ll be further discussed.

Article 11
This Agreement shall come into force on the date when the two g-
uaranteeing associations have signed the protocol for the imple-
mentation of this agreement and shall remain in force until the
expiry of 90 days from the date on which either of the Contract-
ing Party shall have given the other Contracting Party notice in
writing of its intention to terminate the Agreement.

Article 12
The Annex to the present Agreement shall be construed to be an
integral part of the Agreement.

Article 13
The Contracting Parties agree that other matters not covered in
this Agreement shall be governed by the ”Customs Convention on
the ATA Carnet for the temporary admission of goods”.

Article 14
Any revision to this Agreement, or the termination thereof, sha-
ll be effected without prejudice to any rights or obligations a-
ccruing or incurred under this Agreement prior to the effective
date of such revision or termination.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned being duly authorized hereto
, have signed this Agreement.

Done in Manila, Philippines, in duplicate, in the English langu-
age, on the19th of August 1998.

[Signed] [Signed]
HSIEN-CHING CHAN VESTA I. CUYUGAN
Representative Resident Representative
Taipei Economic and Cultural Manila Economic and Cultural
Office Office

WITNESSES

[Signed] [Signed]
DR. CHIH-KANG WANG JOSE T. PARDO
Minister Secretary
Ministry of Economic Affairs Department of Trade and Industry

[Signed] [Signed]
SEAN C. CHEN SOLOMON CUA
Administrative Vice-Minister Undersecretary
Ministry of Finance Department of Finance

[Signed] [Signed]
WEN-YEA WU TITUS B. VILLANUEVA
Deputy Director General Deputy Commissioner
Board of Foreign Trade Bureau of Customs
Ministry of Economic Affairs