Photo from Board of Investments
MANILA – The Board of Investments (BOI) has opened the accreditation for companies manufacturing products that are related to the government’s effort to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
On its Facebook page, BOI said it started to accept accreditation on April 15.
Under the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2020-02 of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the government offered incentives to accredited enterprises, including exemption from import duties, taxes, and other fees.
The JMC identified four types of enterprises that can apply for BOI’s accreditation. These are the manufacturers of medicine identified as critical and necessity by the Department of Health; medical equipment and devices such as helmets, masks, goggles, gloves, foot cover, face shields, gowns, and other garments or equipment to protect the user against health or safety risk; surgical equipment and supplies; and laboratory equipment and its reagents; support and maintenance for laboratory and medical equipment.
Companies producing the following products can also register with the BOI: medical supplies, tools and consumables such as alcohol, sanitizers, tissue, hand soap, detergent, sodium hydrochloride, cleaning materials, povidone iodine, and common medicines like paracetamol tablet and suspension, mefenamic acid, vitamins tablet and suspension, hyoscine tablet and suspension, oral rehydration solution, and cetirizine tablet and suspension.
Other enterprises that are covered by the JMC include suppliers of raw materials of these products; manufacturers of packaging materials; and suppliers of raw materials for packaging materials.
Full details of the accreditation process can be accessed through http://boi.gov.ph/
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said there are around 10 companies that have re-purposed their manufacturing operations to produce the critical products needed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We will continue to encourage more manufacturers to produce medical products which would now be part of our basic necessities even after lifting the enhanced community quarantine,” Lopez said in a text message. (PNA)
