MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday said it wants to have its own testing process for several vaccines, saying that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to approve jabs against African Swine Fever (ASF).

Some suppliers of ASF vaccines from Vietnam are “more than 100 percent” interested in selling products to the Philippines, but have yet to file an official application with the Food and Drug Administration, Agriculture Undersecretary Roger Navarro told reporters.

“Vietnam has successfully put up vaccines for ASF… We in the Philippines have to get the stocks,” he said in a press conference in Malacañang.

“Mayroon nang nagdadala dito, nagsarili sila, nag-experiment sila at success. They bought for their own risk. We would like it to be approved,” he said.

“Unfortunately in the country, we have vaccines already but it is not being approved by FDA,” he said.

Agriculture officials “talked to different suppliers of ASF vaccines” last month during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Vietnam, and “really encouraged them to apply [for permits] and get in touch with authorities” in the Philippines, Navarro said.

“Sana magkaroon na lang kami ng sarili naming testing for agriculture na hindi na kasama yung FDA,” he said.

When asked why he wanted the DA to have a separate testing and approval for vaccines related to the agriculture industry, Navarro said: “There are tedious process in government, not only in vaccines but also in agricultural supplies.”

“These are government processes that we need to respect,” he added.

The FDA earlier said that there are still no ASF vaccine manufacturers that have formally lodged permits before the agency.

“We are waiting for the applications to come in… Wala kaming currently ineevaluate na avian flu or ASF vaccines,” said Jesusa Cirunay, FDA director for Center for Drug Regulation and Research.

“If they do not lodge the application, we cannot say there is a process of application,” she said.

Navarro declined to elaborate why ASF vaccine-makers from Vietnam have yet to apply for permits in the Philippines.

“I cannot speculate answers for this,” he said.

“I just hope and pray that these companies from abroad will have themselves registered with the FDA,” he added, noting that Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel has “already put forward the intention to help them in this regard.”

Marcos Jr. held separate meetings with DA and FDA officials in Malacañang of February 13 to discuss the fast-tracking of permits for generic drugs and other health-related items, among other topics.

“There was a discussion this morning. We hope that with the discussion this morning, we will fast track the approvals,” Navarro said.

The FDA “cannot act if there are no applicants,” said Samuel Zacate, director general of the agency.

“We cannot proactively tell them to apply because we have a zero contact policy,” he said.

“We cannot tell them to go ahead and apply here because it will be a conflict of interest,” he said.

The FDA said it has also “released a media announcement encouraging all possible importers to apply for these veterinary vaccines.”