MOTOR VEHICLE IMPORTATION INTO THE PHILIPPINES IN GENERAL


What is Motor vehicle?

Generally, "Motor Vehicle" (MV) is defined as an automotive vehicle (as an automobile) not operated on rails to carry or transport goods and passengers.

For ease of easy reference, Motor Vehicle is the general term used to describe those Passenger Cars, Motorcycles, Trucks, Buses and Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) which includes, fire trucks, crane lorry, mobile drilling derrick, ambulance, hearses, truck tractor/tractor head, concrete mover lorry, mobile radiological unit and others designed or constructed and equipped with various devices that enable them to perform certain function.

Basically, whether brand new or used are allowed for importation. However, to protect the Philippine domestic motor vehicle industry, an order (E.O. 156 and supported by DAO 08) came out to prohibit/ban importation of all types of used MV and parts and components, except that they may be allowed under certain condition.

Regulated and prohibited Motor Vehicle (MV) importation

For brand new (BN) - the importation of which shall be allowed pursuant to E.O. 264 and monetary board circular (MBC) 92. In layman understanding, there's no more considerations if we say brand new, but the law indicates, to be classified as BN, the subject MV shall be of current or advance year model in the country of origin and/or manufacturer, or even immediately preceding of the current year, provided that, it has a mileage of not more than 200 km and has been acquired by the importer from the dealer as first owner.

Provided that, importation of all types of used Motor Vehicle (MV), its parts and components, are prohibited / banned (E.O. 156), inclusive of freeport, the conditions in order to be allowed for importation are:
  1. Those used MV owned and for the personal use of returning resident or immigrant, provided that, it has been registered with the importer's name for at least six months prior to the said importation, with certificate of emission compliance (CEC) issued by the country of origin and other conditions under No-dollar Importation program so as to be qualified for the issuance of Certificate of Authority to Import (CAI) by the Bureau of import services (BIS).
  2. Used MV for the use of an official Diplomatic Corps and authorized to be imported by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DOF).
  3. Used Trucks, excluding pick-up trucks with gross vehicular weight (GVW) of 2.5 - 6 tons covered by CAI by the BIS and above 6 tons of GVW.
  4. Used Buses with GVW of 6 - 12 tons with BIS - CAI and above 12 tons GVW.
  5. And, those Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) enumerated above.
  6. Local Government Unit (LGU) and other agencies importation under E.O. 443 and LOI 1307, respectively.
  7. Importation for rebuilding purposes under DAO 08.

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[Manila, Philippines | Updated: November 2013]