The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) rejected a petition to impose definitive safeguard duties on imported corrugating medium paper, ordering the immediate refund of cash bonds previously collected from importers to shield the local industry.

In Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 26-02, signed on March 26 and made public on Wednesday, April 1, the DTI said it dismissed the local industry's proposal to impose a definitive safeguard duty on imported corrugating medium paper.

“All cash bonds that have been imposed and previously collected on shipments of recycled corrugating medium which entered the Philippines or were withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption…shall be immediately returned to the concerned importer/s,” the DTI said.

In August last year, the DTI imposed a provisional safeguard measure in the form of a cash bond of ₱3,438 per metric ton of imported corrugating medium to protect the local industry.

The measure was set to be in place for 200 days from Oct. 8 last year, the date when the Bureau of Customs (BOC) issued Memorandum Circular No. 188-2025 ordering the collection of the cash bond.

The DTI’s move to reject the proposal put forward by The Pulp and Paper Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (PULPAPEL) and two of its members, United Pulp and Paper Co. Inc. and Bataan 2020 Inc., follows the recommendation of the Tariff Commission (TC) that there is no need to impose a definitive general safeguard on imports of corrugating medium paper.

In its initial probe, the DTI found a causal link between increased imports of corrugating medium and serious injury to the domestic industry, which prompted the TC to launch a formal investigation to determine whether a definitive duty is necessary.

Based on its findings submitted to the DTI on Jan. 29, the TC found that corrugating medium was imported into the country in increased quantities, both in absolute terms and relative to domestic production, from 2023 until last year.

However, the TC determined that available industry-wide data on all relevant injury factors are insufficient to support a positive determination of serious injury to the local industry.

In the absence of this, the causal relationship between increased imports and serious injury or threat thereof cannot be established.

In addition, the TC said the output of the petitioners does not constitute a major proportion of domestic production of corrugating medium, noting that the locally made version is a “like product” to the imported variety.

Made from recycled paper, corrugating medium is the paperboard component used to produce corrugated fiberboard, the material commonly used for packaging products such as cardboard boxes.

The DTI said DAO No. 26-02 would take effect upon the BOC's issuance of the relevant customs memorandum order.

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 8800, or the Safeguard Measures Act, the government imposes safeguard measures to give relief to domestic industries suffering from serious injury as a result of increased imports.