Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 148)
The primary purpose is to provide guidelines for the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) on implementing a logbook monitoring system for Methyl Bromide (MB) use specifically for quarantine and pre-shipment (QPS) purposes.
Methyl Bromide is classified as an Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) under the Montreal Protocol and its Copenhagen Amendment.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) are involved in the implementation of the NMBPS.
BPI is charged with monitoring and supervising fumigation as a quarantine and pre-shipment treatment using MB, while FPA is the lead implementing agency on the NMBPS and regulates importation, distribution, and use of MB and other pesticides.
All handlers of Methyl Bromide including importer-distributors, area-distributors, Pest Control Operator-Fumigators, in-house Certified Pesticide Applicators (CPAs), exporters, importers of trade commodities using MB applicators, and relevant national authorities are required to maintain logbooks.
The two types of logbooks are (1) the Distribution Logbook, which records sales of MB, and (2) the Application Logbook, which records MB usage during fumigation.
Each entry in the Distribution Logbook must be verified by the name and signature of the authorized representative of the buyer.
Each entry must include the date of fumigation, name of customer, number of cans used per fumigation, the name of the BPI quarantine inspector in attendance during fumigation, and it must be verified by the corresponding entry in the BPI-maintained logbook.
The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) shall prescribe the corresponding penalties within the limits provided under its charter for violations of this Order.
The Order takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in two newspapers of general circulation and its filing with the National Administrative Register at the U.P. Law Center.
The other portions of the Order that are not affected shall continue to be in full force and effect, as provided under the separability clause.
QPS Applications refer to MB uses exempted from phase-out: Quarantine applications prevent the introduction, establishment, or spread of quarantine pests authorized by official national authorities; Pre-shipment applications are treatments within 21 days before export to meet importing country requirements authorized by relevant authorities.