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Josiah Antonio - The Philippine Star
February 15, 2026 | 12:00am
The DA ordered the mandatory registration of warehouses, cold storage facilities and other agricultural logistics hubs while backing the mandate with “tougher enforcement and penalties.”
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture has rolled out its implementation of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act with “significantly tightened oversight of the food supply chain.”
The DA ordered the mandatory registration of warehouses, cold storage facilities and other agricultural logistics hubs while backing the mandate with “tougher enforcement and penalties.”
Under the newly issued Guidelines for the Registry System for Agri Storage, the DA said 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.
This 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 Sec. 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,” he added.
The DA said the policy gives teeth to Section Six of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, 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,” the agency said.
“More importantly for industry players, 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,” it added.
Subject to due process, the DA added that 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.
“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 said.
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.
The DA said that 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.
It noted that for medium and large operators, registration is now mandatory as “enforcement is data driven, and opacity in agricultural storage is becoming a legal and commercial liability.”
