Importing products to the Philippines is not an easy task. First you need to incorporate and decide which of the 8 different legal structures existing in the Philippines suits your business sector and achieves your company’s goals. Every structure brings different liabilities, requires different capital and has different registration procedures.
After the business registration is complete you must find out which is the governmental agency responsible for the category of the product you want to register. As a matter of fact, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not the only authority dealing with product registration and some products must undergo a very different registration process under different agencies.
FDA is the government agency responsible for the registration of products under the categories of cosmetics, food, drugs, household hazardous and medical devices. The process of registering these products starts with getting the respective License To Operate (LTO), according to the category of the product. After the release of the LTO, each product must undergo a specific product registration process. The time frame of registration and documentary requirements vary according to the category of the products.
But how to register products such as chemicals and others that are just not classified under a specific category of the FDA? It really varies.
Some chemical products part of the production chain will undergo a registration process with the Department of Energy and Environmental Resources (DENR). In most scenario, this will actually be part of the acceptance of an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC).
Products that FDA cannot classify such as water purification devices for example must undergo a difference process with the Department of Health (DOH). In this case, in comparison to FDA related products, no LTO will be required to start the registration.
Identifying which government entity is responsible for each product registration can be a real challenge. Furthermore, Philippines is not necessary following the general international regulations. This causes delays and increases the difficulty of foreign companies to comply.
Obtaining accurate information from the government departments is not always easy and it is essential to seek the expertise of professionals. Triple provides an A-Z service that will start with the business registration of your company and will culminate with the release of the certificate of product registration.
