QuestionsQuestions (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1144)
The FPA is created by Presidential Decree No. 1144, May 30, 1977, titled “Creating the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority and Abolishing the Fertilizer Industry Authority.”
The FPA is attached to the Department of Agriculture. Its purposes include assuring adequate fertilizer and pesticide supplies at reasonable prices, rationalizing fertilizer manufacture and marketing, protecting the public from pesticide risks, and educating the agricultural sector.
The FIA created under P.D. No. 135 (as amended by P.D. Nos. 517 and 669) is abolished. The FPA assumes FIA appropriations, assets, and liabilities and may hire FIA personnel within 60 days from the effectivity of the decree.
A pesticide is any substance/product/mixture (including active ingredients, adjuvants, and formulations) intended to control, prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate pests, covering various categories such as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, plant regulators, defoliants, desiccants, and like substances.
Fertilizer includes any substance (solid/liquid) or nutrient element(s), organic or inorganic, singly or in combination, applied directly to the soil to promote plant growth, increase crop yield, or improve quality.
Handlers are exporters, importers, manufacturers, formulators, distributors, suppliers, wholesalers, dealers, repackers, commercial applicators, warehousers, and retailers of fertilizers and pesticides (and other inputs). It is important because many prohibitions, licensing, registration, inspection, and reporting obligations apply to handlers.
Tolerance Level is the maximum amount of pesticides allowed to remain in raw agricultural produce at any stage between harvesting and consumption, as determined by the FPA. Imminent Hazard is a situation where continued pesticide use likely causes unreasonable adverse effects on the public and/or environment or involves unreasonable hazards to the survival of an endangered species declared by appropriate authorities.
The Board includes the Secretary of Agriculture (Chairman), Secretary of Industry, Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Trade, Governor of the Central Bank, President of the Philippine National Bank, Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Commissioner of the Pollution Control Commission, and Administrator of the Food and Drug Administration. The Board elects a Vice-Chairman who acts as Chairman during absence, inability, or temporary incapacity.
The Board may determine the organization and create positions (including Administrator, Deputy Administrator for Fertilizer, Deputy Administrator for Pesticides, and others). It appoints officers, establishes compensation and working conditions, disciplines/removes personnel for cause, and exercises powers necessary for efficient operation.
They include conducting an information campaign, coordinating research for safe and effective pest control, requesting information/help from government and private sectors, promulgating rules for registration/licensing and imposing penalties, instituting proceedings after due notice and hearing, delegating selected authority to entities allowed by law, and doing lawful acts necessary to carry out its functions.
The FPA may assess supply and demand; establish sales quotas, production schedules, and distribution areas; set wholesale/retail volume and prices; regulate import/export (and may itself import/export); authorize tax/customs-exempt importations and local purchase of specific inputs under stated conditions; control marketing companies and their pricing/mark-ups/distribution/storage; regulate fertilizer quality and set new grades; control production aspects including utilization of idle capacity; approve/reject new plants and expansions/contractions; and access industry information for marketing/production/inventory.
The FPA may determine specific uses/manners of use, establish tolerance levels and good agricultural practices, restrict or ban certain pesticides/formulations in specific areas/periods upon evidence of imminent hazard or widespread serious damage to crops/fish/livestock or to public health/environment, prevent importation/exportation of commodities exceeding tolerance levels, inspect premises of pesticide handlers and farmers’ fields, require reports from handlers, and impose controls during extraordinary price increases or severe shortages (e.g., price ceilings, inventory/distribution/transport controls, and tax-free importations).
It is unlawful to: (a) produce/import/distribute/store/sell in commercial quantities without FPA license; (b) use pesticides contrary to good agricultural practices; (c) deal in unregistered items or expired/suspended/revoked registrations; (d) adulterate formulations/grades; (e) require simultaneous purchase of pesticide and fertilizer as a condition; (f) mislabel or make claims differing from registration/actual effectiveness; or (g) violate other FPA rules and regulations.
They must be duly registered with the FPA (or covered by a numbered provisional permit) and separate registrations are required per active ingredient/formulation for pesticides and per fertilizer grade for fertilizers.
No. For fertilizer violations, the decree provides imprisonment ranges depending on the amount involved (and fines), and special treatment for falsification and corporate offenders. For pesticide violations, the penalty is penal servitude not exceeding one year or a fine of ₱5,000 to ₱10,000, with liability imposed on guilty officers for entities.
The decree takes effect upon approval. The FPA is to constitute itself immediately and continues to exist until abolished by the President.