DTI: No need to re-register business name for branches

CEBU, Philippines - Prospective local and foreign investors need not register their business names (BN) again with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) every time they open a business branch even in a region outside their address.

They will just have to declare the intended scope of their business operation—barangay level, regional or nationwide—when they register their BN for the first time with the DTI, Josh Ventura, DTI 7’s Regulatory Division Chief said.

This is one of major amendments embodied in the proposed further amendment to Department Administrative Order (DAO) 10-01 series of 2010, entitled “Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of ACT 3883, as amended, otherwise known as the Business Name law.”

“This is a major policy shift. Before, they have to register their BN every time they open a branch. Now, they will register only one-time,” Ventura told The Freeman on the sidelines of the public hearing on the DAO last Friday at the Sacred Heart Center.

She said this is in accordance with President “Noynoy” Aquino’s marching order to further make the Philippines friendly to existing and prospective local and foreign investors.

Aside from saving time, one-time registration will also help investors cut on BN registration cost, which is currently at P300 for every branch. In the new DAO, the fee for nationwide business operations is P2, 000. While those operating only in the barangays, city or municipality and region will pay P200, P500 and P1, 000 respectively.

“Before registering their BNs with the DTI, they must have already have a clear projection of the scope of operation of their businesses,” lawyer Ruth Tan of DTI’s Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (BTRCP) said.

She said during the consultation that the final DAO will be issued on October 1, 2010. The BTRCP has been conducting a series of consultations nationwide to find out the reactions of traders and local government units on the proposed amendments.

Another major feature of the DAO is DTI’s commitment to reduce processing of online BN registration to just 15 minutes from 45 minutes by reducing the number of required information to just six from 36.

Meanwhile, DTI 7’s Ventura said one dimensions of the proposed changes of BN registration is encouraging more micro entrepreneurs, especially those operating in the barangays, to register their businesses with the government.

The DTI has been encouraging, through Republic Act 9187 or the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Law, micro enterprises to register with the local government for them to gain access to government funds and assistance, among others.