Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero is proposing a measure to restructure the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by transferring certain functions to other government agencies to improve regulatory efficiency and streamline business compliance.
He said the FDA’s broad mandate has resulted in overlapping functions and delays, and that redistributing responsibilities to specialized agencies would streamline government processes.
“Sa tingin ko, masyadong malawak ang kasalukuyang mandato ng FDA, na nagiging dahilan para bumagal at maging komplikado ang proseso. Mas mainam na ilipat sa tamang ahensiya ang ilang responsibilidad nito para sa mas mabilis at malinaw na regulasyon,” Sen. Escudero said.
Under the proposal, FDA functions would be reassigned as follows: regulation of fresh food to the Department of Agriculture (DA), regulation of processed food and cosmetics to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and regulation of medicines to the Department of Health (DOH).
“Hindi dapat lahat ay nasa FDA,” he added.
Sen. Escudero said the reform seeks to reduce bureaucratic overlap and improve regulatory efficiency while maintaining consumer protection.
“The FDA has become a catch-all agency for the longest time. It is time to fix this and assign its functions to the proper departments or offices,” he said.
He added that the proposal also aims to address delays in product approvals, particularly for emergency medicines, which have been flagged by industry groups and oversight agencies.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has previously identified the FDA as one of the agencies with a high number of complaints, citing bottlenecks in application processing, prolonged registration timelines, and complex requirements.
Sen. Escudero also cited international models, noting that several countries do not operate a single centralized FDA-style regulator.
In Singapore, food regulation is handled by the Singapore Food Agency, while medicines and cosmetics are regulated by the Health Sciences Authority. In the United Kingdom, responsibilities are distributed among the Food Standards Agency, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and the Department for Business and Trade.