The primary enforcement agency with respect to cross border trade is the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BoC).
As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country uses transaction value as the primary basis for the valuation of imported goods for customs purposes. It is also a member of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and uses the Harmonized System for the tariff classification of its imports and exports.
Tariffs in the Philippines are already considerably low, with an average applied rate of 6.3 percent in 2007. Applied tariffs on agricultural products average 9.6 percent while the average tariff applied to non-agricultural goods is 5.8 percent. Although tariff rates are generally low, non-tariff barriers such as import restrictions, import licensing requirements, labeling, complex customs regulations, and other administrative requirements continue to remain a concern for companies.