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The Department of Agriculture has ordered the mandatory registration of warehouses, cold storage facilities, and other logistics hubs handling agricultural and fishery products
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The directive gives teeth to Section 6 of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act
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Under the law, agri-fishery businesses must maintain complete, accurate and auditable records for at least five years
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Under DA Memorandum Circular No. 03 series of 2026, all facilities storing agricultural and fishery products, whether owned, leased or operated by third parties, are required to register through the DA Online Registry System for Agri Storage
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The memo spells out clear violations and sanctions
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Registration does not replace licensing or accreditation by DA-attached agencies
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has ordered the mandatory registration of warehouses, cold storage facilities, and other logistics hubs handling agricultural and fishery products.
The directive is in line with Republic Act (RA) No. 12022 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act and part of the DA’s strategy to tighten oversight of the food supply chain.
Under DA Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 03 series of 2026, all facilities storing agricultural and fishery products, whether owned, leased or operated by third parties, are required to register through the DA Online Registry System for Agri Storage ( RSAS).
The scope is wide, covering rice warehouses, onion cold storage, meat freezers, grain silos, refrigerated container vans, and agricultural storage tanks handling both locally-sourced and imported products, DA said in a statement.
The program is structured into two distinct but complementary phases: Phase 1 registration (online) and Phase 2 accreditation (by trade regulatory agencies).
Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr said the registry is a critical tool in dismantling smuggling networks, ensuring food safety and protecting domestic producers.
“We cannot stop smuggling, protect public health or safeguard our farmers if we do not know where the stocks are,” Tiu Laurel said.
“Registration gives 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,” he added.
READ: BOC intercepts P12.96M in misdeclared agri goods at MICP
The policy gives teeth to Section 6 of RA 12022, which requires agri-fishery businesses to maintain complete, accurate and auditable records for at least five years.
Facility operators must disclose storage capacity, commodities handled and inventory levels, maintain monthly operational records and submit quarterly electronic reports through the relevant trade regulatory agencies.
Violations and sanctions
More importantly for industry players, DA said the 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 Act.
Inability to present updated operational reports already submitted to regulators constitutes prima facie evidence of noncompliance, lowering the evidentiary threshold for enforcement actions.
Crimes committed using 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.
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.
It stressed 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.
READ: DA forms rice import TWG to stabilize supply, prices
Micro scale operators, including sari sari stores, wet market vendors, home-based family enterprises, itinerant peddlers, and certified barangay micro businesses with assets below P3 million, are exempt under the law’s social justice provisions.— Roumina Pablo
