The Department of Agriculture is streamlining regulatory processes as part of efforts to reduce food costs and create a policy environment that would attract investors to the sector, hopefully by next year.
Agriculture Undersecretary Asis Perez said that complicated regulatory processes and redundant requirements add to food costs since regulatory fees incurred by industry players are passed on to customers. So they are working to take out the redundancies, unnecessary requirements, and streamline government processes to reduce red tape.
The DA hopes to complete the review over the next eight months and implement changes to its regulations starting next year, Perez said.
It would have a department-wide review after the regulatory agencies are done with their respective internal reviews of their regulations and policies.
“The less you invest in unnecessary regulations the more efficient you become. So you can utilize those resources for other uses,” Perez said.
One initial redundancy that the DA has identified is the need for cold chain players or cold storages to still submit their mayor’s permit and barangay clearance to the department for registration,” the DA official said.
Aside from the savings and reduction in food costs, the foreseen improvements in the regulations and policies of the DA would entice more investors to venture into agriculture,” he added.
In May, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. formed a technical working group for the comprehensive review of regulations of the DA. One its primary roles is to endorse draft regulations that would repeal and amend conflicting and obsolete regulatory policies within the department.
Any effort to streamline government processes and requirements that would reduce food costs and attract investors is always welcome, and a serious one from the Department of Agriculture is certainly long overdue, considering the significance of the sector to the economy and food security. Hopefully this particular initiative can be both successful and sustained, benefitting not only the country’s agriculture, but all Filipinos as well.*
