DA orders mandatory registration of agri storage facilities

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Saturday it is tightening its oversight over warehouses pursuant to the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act.

In a news release, the DA said that it has ordered a mandatory registration of warehouses, cold storage facilities, and other agricultural logistics hubs through the issuance of "Guidelines for the Registry System for Agri Storage."

Under the guidelines, all facilities storing agricultural and fishery products—whether owned, leased or operated by third parties—are required to register through the DA Online Registration System.

The mandatory registration covers rice warehouses, onion cold storage, meat freezers, grain silos, refrigerated container vans, and agricultural storage tanks handling both locally sourced and imported products.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the registry is a "critical tool in dismantling smuggling networks, ensuring food safety and protecting domestic producers."

"Registration gives the government clear visibility over the supply chain so we can move quickly against hoarding, illegal imports and abusive practices that undermine Filipino producers and harm consumers," said the Agriculture chief.

The DA said its latest policy "gives teeth" to Section 6 of Republic Act 12022 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, which requires agri-fishery businesses to maintain complete, accurate, and auditable records for at least five years. 

The rule also directs facility operators to disclose storage capacity, commodities handled and inventory levels, maintain monthly operational records and submit quarterly electronic reports through the relevant trade regulatory agencies.

The DA said its guidelines spell out clear violations and sanctions. 

Failure or refusal to produce required documents or records upon lawful demand is considered a violation of the law, according to the Agriculture Department. 

The agency added that the inability to present updated operational reports already submitted to regulators constitutes prima facie evidence of noncompliance, lowering the evidentiary threshold for enforcement actions.

Moreover, the DA said crimes committed through the use of information and communications technologies, including digital concealment or manipulation of records, fall under the Cybercrime Prevention Act, exposing violators to additional criminal liability. 

"Subject to due process, licenses, registrations and accreditations may be suspended, revoked or cancelled by the appropriate trade regulatory agencies, with preventive suspension allowed in cases involving imminent public danger," it said.

The DA said the unified digital registry is designed to strengthen traceability, improve food safety oversight, and generate reliable data to detect unusual stock accumulation that often precedes price manipulation and artificial shortages. 

The agency clarified that registration does not replace licensing or accreditation, which remain the exclusive mandate of regulators such as the Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, National Meat Inspection Service, Sugar Regulatory Administration, and National Tobacco Administration.

"Micro scale operators, including sari-sari stores, wet market vendors, home-based family enterprises, itinerant peddlers, and certified barangay micro businesses with assets below three million pesos, are exempt under the law's social justice provisions," it said.

"For medium and large operators, the signal is unmistakable. Registration is now mandatory, enforcement is data driven, and opacity in agricultural storage is becoming a legal and commercial liability," it added. — VDV, GMA Integrated News