6 NOVEMBER 2020 — The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines would like to inform the public that the Professional Regulatory Board of Chemistry (PRBOC) of the Professional Regulation Commission is stepping up its efforts to carry out its mandate to implement the Chemistry Profession Act (Republic Act No. 10657), in particular with respect to chemical laboratories, which states:
Section 39. Penal Clause for Chemical Laboratories and Related Firms. – No chemical laboratory or firm shall undertake activities covered by this Act without a valid authority to operate the same. The president or the highest ranking officer of the corporation shall be held liable for violations of this Act. Upon conviction, these persons shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a period of not less than one (1) month but not more than one (1) year, or a fine of not less than one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) but not more than one million pesos (P1,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court.
The PRBOC has started issuing notices of violation to chemical laboratories, which to date, more than 2 years after the end of the grace period provided by law (i.e., in 2018), have not yet applied for their certificate of authority to operate (CATO), and yet continue their operations.
Notices of denial of application are likewise being issued to chemical laboratories that continue their operations without a CATO. These are chemical laboratories which have applied for a CATO and have been inspected by the PRBOC but have not fully corrected their non-compliances more than a year after their agreed compliance dates.
Non-compliant laboratories are given 30 days to explain why they should not be cited for violation of Section 39 of RA No. 10657. Failure to respond will be deemed a waiver and the Board shall be constrained to take legal action against these chemical laboratories on the basis of available records. We encourage all affected laboratories to comply with the PRBOC directive.
Thank you.