Question & AnswerQ&A (JOINT DENR-DA-PCSD-NCIP ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 1, S. 2005)
The policy aims to regulate the prospecting of biological resources to ensure their conservation, sustainable development and use in accordance with national interest, including securing prior informed consent from resource providers and equitable benefit-sharing.
Bioprospecting means the research, collection and utilization of biological and genetic resources for purposes of applying the knowledge derived therefrom solely for commercial purposes.
Exemptions include traditional use, subsistence consumption, conventional commercial consumption like logging or fishing, scientific research on wildlife under certain conditions, scientific research on agrobiodiversity, existing procedures for commercial or conservation breeding/propgation, and ex-situ collections accessed under international agreements in which the Philippines is a party.
Resource providers include local communities, indigenous peoples, Protected Area Management Boards (PAMB), private land owners, or other agencies having jurisdiction over specific areas from where biological resources are collected.
Prior Informed Consent is required from resource providers before any bioprospecting activity may proceed; it ensures consent is given freely and is based on full disclosure of the intent and scope of the bioprospecting activity in a language and manner understandable to the community.
The BU is signed by the resource user and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and/or the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In Palawan, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) Chairperson is also a co-signatory.
A resource user must pay an application fee of PhP 500 to each implementing agency, post a rehabilitation/performance bond amounting to 25% of project cost, pay a minimum bioprospecting fee of US$3,000 (adjusted for certain conditions), and negotiate monetary and non-monetary benefit-sharing with resource providers.
Violations result in automatic cancellation or revocation of the Undertaking, confiscation of collected materials in favor of the government, forfeiture of the bond, a perpetual ban on access to biological resources by the violator, and administrative and criminal sanctions under existing laws.
Benefits are shared among the national government, resource providers, and local governments. Royalties are split with 25% accruing to the national government and 75% to resource providers. Up-front payments go directly to resource providers, and local governments share amounts received by the national government as per the Local Government Code.
NCIP assists indigenous peoples in documenting Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and negotiating for benefits; representatives also participate in technical committees during evaluations involving ancestral domains or when traditional knowledge is accessed.