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The Department of Trade and Industry dismissed the petition for the imposition of general safeguard measures on the importation of corrugating medium
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All cash bonds that have been imposed and previously collected on shipments of recycled corrugating medium that entered the Philippines or were withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption, from October 8, 2025, will be immediately returned to the concerned importer/s
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DTI Department Administrative Order No. 2026-02 will take effect upon the issuance of the relevant memorandum order by the Bureau of Customs
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The decision follows the Tariff Commission’s recommendation based on its formal investigation showing that the “causal relationship between increased imports of recycled corrugating medium and serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry can neither be established”
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has dismissed the petition for the imposition of general safeguard measures on the importation of corrugating medium.
With the dismissal of the petition, all cash bonds that have been imposed and previously collected on shipments of recycled corrugating medium that entered the Philippines or were withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption, from October 8, 2025, will be immediately returned to the concerned importer/s, according to DTI Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2026-02 dated March 26.
DAO No. 2026-02 will take effect upon the issuance of the relevant memorandum order by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The decision to dismiss the petition follows the Tariff Commission’s (TC) recommendation after its formal investigation showed that the “causal relationship between increased imports of recycled corrugating medium and serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry can neither be established.”
“Available industry-wide data on all relevant injury factors are insufficient to make a positive determination on serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry,” DAO No. 2026-02 said.
Considering that not all the elements for the imposition of a definitive safeguard duty were met, TC concluded its formal investigation and recommended to DTI that no definitive general safeguard measure be imposed on importations of recycled corrugating medium.
The investigation stems from the applications of safeguard measure by two members of The Pulp and Paper Manufacturers Association of the Philippines, with support from other members, that alleged that the increased imports of corrugating material have contributed significantly to the serious injury suffered by the local industry.
Pursuant to Republic Act No. 8800 or the Safeguards Measures Act, DTI last year issued DAO No. 25-11, which ordered the imposition of the provisional safeguard measure while a formal investigation is to be conducted to determine the need for definitive safeguard measures on imports of corrugating medium. The decision comes after DTI, in its preliminary investigation, established the existence of a “causal link between the increased imports of the products under consideration and serious injury to the domestic industry.”
Corrugating medium is the fluted portion of the corrugated board placed in the middle of two liner boards which provides stacking strength and impact protection. Locally-produced corrugating medium are made from 100% recycled paper and are converted into corrugated boxes, which protects products from possible damage during shipment and storage.
BOC in October 2025 issued Customs Memorandum Circular (CMC) No. 188-2025 implementing DAO No. 2025-11, which imposes a cash bond amounting to P3,438 per metric ton of imported corrugating medium for a period of 200 days.
READ: BOC slaps provisional safeguard duty on corrugating medium imports
The order covered corrugating medium classified under Association of Southeast Asian Nations Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) Codes 4805.19.10, 4805.19.90, and 4805.12.00 from various countries.— Roumina Pablo
