The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) teamed up with FMC Research Solutions Inc. to pilot test a digital solution aimed at improving the safety and quality of imported agricultural products.
The partnership leverages innovative technology to enhance inspection processes and ensure compliance with food safety regulations, safeguarding the health of Filipino consumers.
“By adopting this technology, we will gain additional verification points for our agricultural product supply, allowing us to be more proactive in ensuring the availability of safe, pest-free, and disease-free agricultural commodities,” BPI director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said.
“The initiative is particularly important in light of the recent enactment of the Anti-Agricultural Sabotage Act, which has expanded DA’s powers to combat agricultural smuggling,” he said.
The BPI, tasked with enforcing food safety and phytosanitary regulations, will benefit from FMC Research’s comprehensive lifecycle monitoring system for imported agricultural products.
The pilot program will demonstrate the capabilities and features of the solution, which is designed to enhance the monitoring and audit functions of regulatory agencies.
FMC Research Solutions Inc. co-founder Melody Chua said the adoption of their technology would foster greater transparency in import compliance, ensuring improved food safety and quality for consumers.
“We aim to secure an end-to-end system designed to counter the present issues on food safety and agricultural smuggling. Our proposed solution ensures comprehensive coverage to enhance the monitoring and audit functions of regulatory agencies by providing the needed reports and business analytics to aid the Bureau of Plant Industry,” she said.
