The Anti-Red Tape Authority ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to approve pending applications and address backlogs following mounting complaints against the two agencies.
The announcement came after a surprise visit by ARTA director-general Jeremiah Belgica to the head office of SEC on Aug. 19 to observe the agency’s frontline services and monitor their compliance with Republic Act No. 11032.
Belgica assured the SEC that ARTA would assist the agency in improving its service delivery.
ARTA had a similar account with the FDA which has the largest backlog on the processing and issuance of the certificate of product registration with around 14,000 pending applications.
ARTA asked the SEC to submit the complete list of pending applications for accreditation of auditing firms and external auditors with complete documentary requirements and duly paid fees.
It also directed FDA to submit the pending applications with the Center for Food Regulation and Research and the Center for Drug Regulation and Research, which were found to have the most number of backlogs in terms of various applications.
ARTA said it received the list from SEC containing four pending applications and from FDA containing a total of 3,125 pending applications.
It declared the completeness of all pending applications for automatic renewal in the list submitted by FDA, and the pending applications for accreditation of external auditors by the SEC.
Belgica said ARTA would continue with its mandate to help government agencies in streamlining and reengineering their processes.