In the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture (DA) serves as the primary agency responsible for ensuring agricultural development. It formulates policy frameworks and implements them, manages public investments, and provides critical support services related to trade. As part of its mandate to safeguard the Philippine plant industry, the Bureau of Plant Industry also plays a vital role in the seed system. Having a seed market size estimated at 0.82B USD in 2023, the BPI continues to collaborate with private and public institutions to drive research and development, provide production support, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements (Mordor Intelligence, 2024).
The National Plant Quarantine Services Division (NPQSD) of the DA-BPI, as mandated by Presidential Decree No. 1433 known as the “Plant Quarantine Decree of 1978”, and further amended by Executive Order No. 366 Series of 2003, serves as the regulatory authority overseeing the import, export, and domestic movement, and market access of plants and plant products. It ensures efficient border control and facilitates agricultural trade. With over (30 NPQS stations including sub-stations covering 47 international and domestic airports, and 147 international and domestic seaports) throughout the Philippines, the NPQSD remains vigilant in protecting the PH agriculture from the introduction, establishment, and spread of pests associated with plants, plant products, and planting materials.
To ensure sanitary and phytosanitary conditions of trade partners, the NPQSD promulgated several policies and guidelines for the movement of seeds.
A Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) must be obtained from BPI NPQSD to enter the Philippine seed market. This document outlines the conditions that the applicant or trader must adhere to for the importation.
The NPQSD lists the allowale planting materials for import in this link:(https://npqsd.bpi-npqsd.com.ph/import/ ).
If not on the list, BPI will conduct Pest Risk Analysis (PRA)
The three (3) general stages used in the conduct of PRA. The PRA process, as a technical tool used for identifying appropriate phytosanitary measures, adheres to the guidelines set forth in International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM 2).
The requirements for importation are as follows:
Before the issuance of SPSIC, the applicant must be a registered importer of BPI and shall apply to, the service provider in charge of collecting and processing data for the purpose of consummating transactions with BPI. The procedure for licensing as an importer is detailed in this procedure manual.
The LTO is valid for three (3) years and renewal shall be done six (6) months before expiration. Renewal after expiration will be considered as a new application. Other pertinent information on the processing of SPSIC including processing fees is also indicated in the DA Department Circular No. 4 s2016 entitled “Guidelines on the Importation of Plants, Planting Materials, and Plant Products for Commercial Purposes”.
The step-by-step procedure for the issuance of SPSIC is detailed below:
Figure 1. Procedure for Application for SPSIC for seeds for research or planting
Requirements in the SPSIC application:
An importer shall secure an Application for Inspection / Electronic Request for Inspection (e-RFI) with the NPQSD through the DA-Trade System, or in case of manual application, BPI “Q” Form No. 4. Application for Inspection, at least twenty-four (24) hours before arrival of the consignment. The following requirements must be submitted:
Upon arrival of a shipment, the Plant Quarantine Officers at the port of entry shall inspect the commodities. The procedure for commodity inspection, verification, and clearance is depicted below.
Figure 2. Procedure for Commodity Inspection, Verification, and Clearance
A post-entry quarantine is required as a phytosanitary measure for seeds intended for use as planting materials. Seeds will be grown in isolated field sites, screenhouse, or greenhouse/glasshouses given the high risk of spread of plant pests across borders. This is particularly necessary when the quarantine pests associated with seeds are challenging to detect upon entry, as signs and symptoms may take time to appear, or when testing or treatment is required.
To export goods from the Philippines, whether commercially or non-commercially, you must apply for export permission at least two days (48 hours) before your intended departure. This allows time for the export process to be completed.
The export and phytosanitary certification process follows international standards (IPPC). Exporters must meet both the Philippines' export rules and the import rules of the destination country, especially if a trade agreement exists between the two.
As part of the phytosanitary inspection requirements, sample collection and laboratory analysis are required, depending on the pest of concern specified in the Phytosanitary Certificate or SPSIC of the importing or exporting country.
Three government laboratories under BPI are capable of plant pest and disease diagnosis.
NSQCS also conducts tests for seed certification (i.e., seed purity, germination) and is authorized to conduct private seed testing laboratory accreditation.
There are 3 private seed testing laboratories namely: Pioneer Hi-Bred International (now Corteva AgriScience Inc.), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and East-West Seed Philippines are accredited by ISTA with the following criteria:
The NPPO has to conduct regular inspection/audit of the laboratory facilities, monitoring of on-going activities in the laboratory and validation of seed health test protocols. While the accredited laboratory has to submit to BPI the monthly report of in-house seed health tests and phytosanitary plant inspection.
In 2019, the BPI launched an ePhyto system or ePhytosanitary Web Application (ephyto.intercommerce.com.ph), the system that allows exporters to apply for electronic PC—or ePhyto—and enables the Philippines to exchange ePhyto certificates with other trading countries and to do away with paper versions eventually. Three years later (2022), to improve the ePhyto system, the electronic phytosanitary certificate was adopted. After that, a pilot exchange with Indonesia and Thailand in May and July 2023, respectively, through the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) commenced. Recently, in 2024, the country passed the e-Phyto Certificate end-to-end test with Indonesia and Thailand through the ASW.
The online phytosanitary certificate application procedure is outlined below:
Moreover, the ePhyto connectivity facilitated connections for bilateral agreements, IPPC Hub, and the ASEAN Single Window platform. In 2024, the BPI and InterCommerce collaborated with the Australian Department of Agriculture Technical Team (AU DA) to initiate testing of the ePhyto certification system, and certificates were transmitted in XML format via the File Transfer Protocol. A total of 13, 477 ePhyto Certificate data entries have been received by BPI from the AU DA as of May 2024 through the DA Trade System.
Aside from these, the current ePhyto exchange through the IPPC Hub has been used efficiently to deliver information from countries including Argentina, Chile, Denmark, and France to the Philippines NPPO. From then, information received through the HUB will be further checked by the PH NPPO for validation of the ePhyto.
The ASEAN Single Window was also established in preparation for the PH NPPO for the exchange of ePhyto certificates. In this system, the BOC routing platform will be used for transmitting ePhyto certificates, PH ASW Gateway, ePhyto Management Portal, and Tradenet. The said certificate from IPPC Hub, Australia (bilateral), and BPI Trade System will be transmitted through the BOC routing platform coursed through with the BPI API connector.
The NPQSD partners with private companies and public research institutions to share knowledge, practices, and expertise for the conduct of Pest Risk Analysis and private laboratory accreditation. Some of the most prominent concerns include pest lists (that are not updated for seed-transmitted pests) affecting the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) process (ISPM11) and the conduct of private laboratories (ISPM45). Below are some of the successful developments:
Mordor Intelligence. Philippines seed market size & share analysis - growth trends & forecasts up to 2030. https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/seed-sector-analysis- philippines-industry.