All Undersecretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Service Directors, Bureau Directors, Heads of Attached Agencies, Regional Directors and DA Program Directors

Adoption of the Agricultural Engineering Standards, Volume 1, Series of 2000

WHEREAS, Articles 5, 6, and 7, Chapter 1, Title II of the Republic Act No. 7394, otherwise known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines identified standards development and enforcement of three agencies: Department of Agriculture (for agricultural products), Department of Health (for drugs, cosmetics, devices and substance) and Department of Trade and Industry (for other products not covered by the two agencies).

WHEREAS, Section 2, Chapter 1, Title IV (Agriculture), Book IV of EO No. 292 provides that the Department is the government agency responsible for the promotion of agricultural development by providing the policy framework, public investments, and support services needed for domestic and export-oriented business enterprises.

WHEREAS, Section 59 of Republic Act No. 8435, otherwise known as the Agriculture and Fisheries Act of 1997 (AFMA) provides that "the Department shall give priority to the development and promotion of appropriate agricultural machinery and other agricultural mechanization technologies to enhance agricultural mechanization in the countryside."

WHEREAS, Rule 59.3 of the IRR of AFMA states that "the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) may be designated by the Department of Agriculture to issue the standards for agriculture and fisheries machinery."

WHEREAS, on 26 November 1999, the Department entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the University of the Philippines - Los Ba os for the establishment of agricultural engineering standards, to be undertaken by the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC), of the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology of the UP-Los Ba os.

WHEREAS, Administrative Order No. 11, s. 2001 states that the AMTEC, in partnership with the Philippine Society of Agricultural Engineers (PSAE) and concerned DA agencies, shall be charged with the formulation and development of the official agriculture and fisheries machinery standards.

Such standards, to be known as "Philippine Standards for Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery" shall be subjected to public hearings by the NAFC, through its Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization Committee (AFMeC), prior to its approval by the Secretary of Agriculture.

WHEREAS, pursuant to the MOA and the AO 11, s. 2001, AMTEC, with funding from the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), drafted thirty eight (38) Agricultural Engineering Standards in partnership with PSAE, the Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors' Association (AMMDA), the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry, and other agencies.

WHEREAS, the draft agricultural engineering standards have undergone extensive technical reviews, circulations, and a public hearing conducted by NAFC, where thirty five (35) out of the thirty eight (38) draft standards are now recommended for adoption.

WHEREAS, the PSAE unanimously passed Resolution No. 25, s. 2001, adopting the Agricultural Engineering Standards as the technical standard of agricultural engineering.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Leonardo Q. Montemayor, as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, pursuant to Section 3 para. 3, Chapter 1, Title IV, Book IV of the Executive Order No. 292 hereby:

1. Require all offices of the Department of Agriculture (DA), including its regional field units, service units, bureaus, attached agencies, and corporations to adopt and comply with the thirty five (35) standards as Philippine Agricultural Engineering Standards, Volume 1, Series of 2000 (attachment 1)^[1]

2. Direct the National Agriculture and Fisheries Mechanization Program Committee (CAFMech) under the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) to promulgate the implementing guidelines, and submit the same to the Office of the Secretary. All inquiries related to these standards shall be directed to CAFMech.

This Administrative Order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its filing with the UP Law Center.

Adopted: 19 April 2002

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^[1] Text Available at Office of the National Administrative Register, U.P. Law Complex, Diliman, Quezon City