President Hipolito Mejia authorized the duty-free import of books and magazines, proclaiming them educational material needed for teaching and cultural enhancement. The good news is contained in Decree 1078-03, which was released by the President’s Legal Advisor, Guido Gomez Mazara in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace yesterday. Book importers nevertheless say that the tax reduction has been over-publicized. They indicate that the government has yet to eliminate the 10% exchange surcharge, which continues to be levied on books assessed in customs. Book retailers say that since the peso has continued to depreciate against the dollar, customers should not expect books to cost less in the short term.