Land Use Conversion is the ac or process of changing the current physical use of a piece of agricultural land into some other use or for another agricultural use other than the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of trees, including harvesting of produce therefrom.
RA 6657 or the Comprehensive Agririan Reform Law, allows the conversion of awarded lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) after the lapse of five (5) years from the granting of the award, if they are no longer economically feasible and sound for agricultural purpose, or the locality has become urbanized giving the subject lands greater economic value for residential, commercial or industrial purposese.
RA 7916 or Special Economic Zone Act identifies areas for economic zone development and prescribe the manner of identifying such areas.
RA 7160 or Local Government Code of 1991 provides the rules for reclassification of agricultural lands at the local level in terms of authority, grounds for reclassification and limitations.
RA 8435 or the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) provides for the delineation of Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones (ZAFDZs), preparation of land use and zoning ordinance as well as penalty for agricultural inactivity and premature conversion.
DA Administrative Order No. 01, Series of 2017: Guidelines on the Issuance of Certification for Land Use Reclassification provides the principles, procedures and documentary requirements for processing and approval of and use reclassification. It derives legal bases from pertinent sections of the Philippine Constitution, relevant Executive Orders, RA 6675, RA 8435 and DA's Charter of Agricultural Lands.
DAR Administrative Order No. 01, Series of 2002: Comprehensive Rules on Land Use Conversion provides for effective means of evaluating applications for land use conversion by the DAR regional and central offices.
DAR has the exclusive authority to approve or disapprove the conversion of agricultural lands. However, there are six agencies involved in certain steps leading to land use reclassification and conversion.
| Department of Agriculture (DA) | Status of classification of subject land under the Network of Protected Areas for Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Development (NPAAAD) and Strategic Agricultural and Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZ) |
| Status of irrigation coverage | |
| Whether or not the land has ceased to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural production | |
| Eligibility/non-eligibility for reclassification of agricultural land | |
| Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) | Status of coverage under the CARP and presence of farmers, tillers or occupants |
| Recommends the grand or request for reclassification | |
| Issuance of Conversion Order | |
| Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) | Inclusion/non-includsion of subject land in the Network of Protected Area System (NIPAS) |
| Environmentally Critical Area (ECA) or will involve an Environmentally Critical Project (ECP) | |
| Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) | Allocation of lands for development of agro-industrial centers |
| Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) | Actual Zoning and classification of subject land based on Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) |
| Local Government Units (LGUs) | Reclassificaiton of lands |
Although DAR has the exclusive authority to approve or disapprove conversion of agricultural lands under RA 6657, LGUs are authorized to classify lands under Section 20 of the Local Government Code, and are mandated to exercise such authority in accordance with the Office of the President (OP) MC 54 dated June 8, 1993. Conversion in fact may be allowed even if the property has not yet been reclassified to non-agricultural use.