Overview of Pesticide Regulation in the Philippines and the List of Prohibited and Restricted Pesticides

Release Date:

2019-05-29

In the Philippines, oversight of pesticide use is primarily entrusted to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), an agency under the Department of Agriculture. Its responsibilities encompass pesticide licensing, import controls, product quality assurance, institutionalized management of product‑handling procedures, pesticide registration, and public information and training initiatives. Notably, a license serves as a prerequisite for the import, export, manufacture, formulation, repackaging, distribution, delivery, sale, transport, storage, and use of any pesticide or other agricultural chemical. Meanwhile, pesticide product registration functions as a mechanism for generating relevant information to safeguard safety, public health, and environmental protection throughout the pesticide‑use process. The regulatory framework governing pesticide oversight is chiefly set out in Presidential Decree No. 1144, associated implementing rules and regulations, and the “Policy and Implementation Guidelines for the Regulation of Fertilizers and Pesticides” (the “Green Book”).

At present, the Philippines has not yet established a comprehensive national standard for maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides. To date, it has issued national MRL standards for several crops, including rice, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, okra, and asparagus, which serve as an initial list. The MRLs for these commodities are based on data derived from the FPA’s register of registered pesticide products, the maximum residue limits set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), ASEAN MRLs, Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS), and production practices followed by individual registrant companies. In addition, in light of the Philippines’ specific pesticide‑control circumstances, the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FPA) has developed a list of prohibited and restricted pesticides. The prohibited list includes 31 chemicals, while the restricted list comprises 17 chemicals; details are provided in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively.

Table 1: List of Pesticides Banned in the Philippines