Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1144)
The government policy aims to provide adequate assistance to the agricultural sector to increase food production by ensuring adequate supply of fertilizers and pesticides at reasonable costs.
To assure the agricultural sector of adequate supplies of fertilizer and pesticide at reasonable prices, rationalize manufacture and marketing, protect the public from pesticide risks, and educate on the proper use of these products.
The FPA abolished the Fertilizer Industry Authority (FIA) created under Presidential Decree No. 135 and assumed its appropriations, assets, liabilities, and personnel within 60 days of the decree's effectivity.
Pesticide means any substance or product, including active ingredients, adjuvants, and formulations intended to control pests; it includes insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, nematocides, herbicides, molluscicides, rodenticides, plant regulators, defoliants, desiccants, and similar compounds.
Handlers include exporters, importers, manufacturers, formulators, distributors, suppliers, wholesalers, dealers, repackers, commercial applicators, warehousers, and retailers of fertilizers, pesticide, and other agricultural inputs.
Prohibitions include operating without a license from FPA, misuse of pesticides contrary to good agricultural practices, dealing in unregistered products, adulteration, forced purchase conditions, mislabeling, and violations of FPA regulations.
Penalties range from imprisonment of ten to twenty years and fines between P5,000 and P20,000 depending on the amount involved, with harsher penalties if falsification of documents occurs or if violations involve corporations.
The Board of Directors includes the Secretary of Agriculture as Chairman, and members such as the Secretaries of Industry, Finance, Trade; Governor of Central Bank; President of Philippine National Bank; Director of Bureau of Plant Industry; Commissioner of Pollution Control Commission; and Administrator of Food & Drug Administration.
The FPA can regulate importation, manufacture, distribution, sale, transport, storage, issue licenses and registrations, set prices, establish marketing controls, inspect fields and establishments, set tolerance levels for pesticide residues, and impose penalties for violations.
It can restrict or ban pesticide use in specific areas or periods if usage is an imminent hazard causing unreasonable adverse effects on public health, environment, or endangered species survival.