Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has formed a technical working group (TWG) tasked with reviewing the Department of Agriculture's (DA) regulatory policies.

Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and Regulations Atty. Asis Perez will lead the TWG, which will be co-chaired by Atty. Alvin John Balagbag.

DA Assistant Secretary for Policy and Regulations Atty. Paz Benavidez II, on the other hand, will serve as the group's vice chair.

Moreover, the TWG members will comprise Assistant Secretary for Exports Philip Young and Legal Service Director Atty. Willie-Ann Angsiy, Policy Research Service OIC-Director Jerome Bunyi, and Field Operations Service OIC-Director Lorna Belinda Calda.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Regulation will serve as the group's secretariat.

Based on Special Order No. 753 issued on May 24 this year, the TWG shall provide comments and inputs to the results of the comprehensive review of regulations conducted by the DA Regulatory Agencies pursuant to the Memorandum from the Secretary dated 1 April 2024, with the subject "Conduct of Comprehensive Review of Regulatory Policies,' and direct the concerned agencies to undertake all corrective measures, including, but not limited to, the repeal and amendment of conflicting and obsolete regulations, to rationalize the regulatory policies being implemented by the Department.

Included also in the group's responsibilities are endorsing the DA Regulatory Clearinghouse System, the resulting draft regulations to repeal and amend conflicting and obsolete regulatory policies for further review, and conducting all other activities to ensure the efficient and effective conduct of the comprehensive review of the regulatory policies of the Department, including the adoption of the corresponding corrective measures.

The agri-chief said he formed the TWG 'to harmonize regulations of various agencies of the DA to promote efficiency, trim red tape, plug loopholes, and clarify ambiguities that could be exploited and abused by unscrupulous individuals.'

"We expect this review process to eventually foster the faster delivery of services to our stakeholders, ease the conduct of business with the DA, and facilitate the entry of more investments in agriculture," Laurel added.

'DA as an enabler of agri-growth promotion'

Meanwhile, Undersecretary Perez said that the TWG will 'pro-actively review many regulations,' which is expected to take approximately one year to complete.

"Our mandate is to make the DA, not just a fair and efficient regulator but, more importantly, an enabler to promote the growth of agriculture," he said, noting that they will prioritize reviewing regulations that have far-reaching impacts on the lives and livelihoods of their stakeholders across the agriculture value chain.