FIAP deploys teams to monitor fertilizer quality

To address the issue on sold substandard fertilizers, the Fertilizer Industry Association of the Philippines organized regional teams to police their own members.

FIAP president Raymond Ilustre assured the Department of Agriculture that they will be organizing teams for every region to monitor the quality and weight of fertilizer products being sold in retail outlets.

He assured that full compliance with the specification and standards will be met by all participating FIAP members.

FIAP immediately acted on the concern of DA who received reports and apprehended fertilizer manufacturers who were caught selling mislabeled and substandard fertilizers.

This after they paid a courtesy call to DA secretary Domingo Panganiban to thresh out problems emanating from substandard fertilizer products being sold in retail outlets.

Recently, Panganiban instructed the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) to monitor the product quality of legitimate licensed fertilizer manufacturers and report immediately any violations on non-compliance to the specification and standard set by FPA.

The warning came after reports that there were mislabeling and rampant sale of substandard fertilizer products by different fertilizer manufacturers.

FPA was instructed to conduct regional field operations to inspect fertilizer manufacturers in order to ensure that quality standards have been strictly observed by fertilizer companies.

"We will impose discipline and check our ranks to ensure honest and healthy competition among ourselves," Ilustre said.