Tagaytay City | March 13, 2026 – The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), through the Pesticide Regulations Division (PRD), conducted a three-day workshop on Process Improvement in Preparation for the Digitalization of Pesticide Product Registration from March 11–13, 2026 at the Development Academy of the Philippines Conference Center – Tagaytay.
The activity forms part of FPA’s broader digital transformation agenda and aims to strengthen one of its core regulatory services, the pesticide product registration system.
In her opening message, PRD Chief Maribel Querijero emphasized that pesticide registration is central to the Authority’s mandate. Through this process, products are carefully evaluated before market entry to ensure safety, efficacy, and compliance with standards that protect farmers, consumers, public health, and the environment.
She acknowledged that while the system has evolved to uphold regulatory integrity, it has also become highly complex, requiring numerous procedural steps, extensive documentation, and coordination across multiple units. Initial mapping of one registration pathway revealed a substantial number of steps, not all of which directly contribute to the core technical evaluation and decision-making process.
“For digitalization to be meaningful, we must first understand and improve our current workflows,” Querijero stressed, highlighting that automation should enhance – not simply replicate, existing procedures.
The initiative builds on a 2025 engagement with the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), where PRD representatives conducted detailed process mapping. The earlier review identified that one pathway for new proprietary pesticide product registration involved approximately 149 steps, with only about 40 percent considered value-adding.
Ms. Kris Minguez, Chemist IV and Project Lead, underscored the importance of redesigning processes before digitalization. Citing the process reengineering concept known as “paving the cow,” she warned against embedding inefficiencies into digital systems.
“Technology alone cannot fix structural inefficiencies,” Minguez explained. “If we digitize a workflow without improving it first, we risk making the same bottlenecks faster. What we aim to build is a pesticide registration process that remains rigorous in protecting public safety, while becoming more efficient, transparent, and responsive as we move toward digitalization.”
FPA Executive Director Glenn Estrada expressed strong support for the initiative, recognizing both its strategic importance and the challenges ahead. He encouraged the PRD team to remain resilient and collaborative as reforms move forward.
“The path to reform will not be without challenges,” Estrada noted, “but once this project materializes, it will significantly fast-track regulatory services and help foster a more productive pesticide industry valued at around ₱2 billion.”
He emphasized that streamlining and digitalizing the registration process will not only improve government efficiency but also encourage industry growth while maintaining standards for safety and compliance.
Throughout the workshop, members of the Project Implementation Team conducted a comprehensive “As-Is” process and data flow mapping, supported by ARTA’s technical guidance. Representatives from the system developer were also invited to observe current workflows to ensure that the future digital platform will be built on streamlined and improved processes.
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Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) Online ISSN: 2815-1674
Published by the FPA Information and Communications Team