THE Department of Agriculture (DA) in Davao Region urged agribusinesses to secure accreditation for food lanes for the smooth delivery of agricultural products and supplies across the provinces.
Based on the information from DA-Davao, food suppliers, farmers' cooperatives or associations, truckers, logistics, and distribution entities of agricultural goods are eligible for the accreditation.
DA-Davao information officer Noel Provido said for agricultural suppliers outside Davao City, they can get accreditation from their respective municipal or provincial agriculture offices.
"Ang mahitabo man gud mag issue mi og sticker. Naa man guy mga cases like pareha atong sa Davao Oriental or Davao del Sur, muadto pa diay sila sa regional office just to get the sticker (We will issue a sticker. Before, those from Davao Oriental or Davao del Sur have to go to the regional office to get the sticker)," he said.
"Syempre, highly perishable man ang mga agricultural supply like mga gulay so muadto na lang sila sa ilang mga municipal agricultural officer in the case of fruits and vegetables, fruits, and rice (Since the most of the agricultural supply are highly perishable, they can go to their municipal agricultural offices)," he added.
Provido added that for those that are transporting meat products and live hogs, they will be given a certification signed by their respective city, municipal, or provincial offices.
"Mao to ang ipakita sa mga checkpoints para dili sila mabara (They will just show the sticker so that they can easily pass through)," he said.
The agricultural suppliers applying for the accreditation are required to furnish scanned copies of the official receipt of registration, certificate of registration, and business permits.
They will also accomplish the Foodlane Accreditation Application Forms, Foodlane Reference Form, and Statement of Commitment, which can be downloaded on the agriculture department's website.
For livestock, poultry, and by-products, additional requirements include a scanned copy of the handler's license, accreditation of transport carriers from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), and accreditation of meat transport vehicles from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
Provido said the suppliers of meat products and live hogs should continue to comply with veterinary certificates and shipping permits as required in the close monitoring of the African Swine Fever (ASF).
In a text message, Hog Farmers Association of Davao Inc. (Hogfadi) president Eduardo So said although there was a delay in the transport of live hogs, it is still manageable.
He said the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) negatively affected the meat consumption of the public.
"Medyo naapektuhan ang market kay nabawasan ang consumption. Mas dako ang epekto to consumers market (There was a reduction in public consumption of pork)," he said.
"Sa karon, we are just trying to survive. Hindi pa kami naka compute sa losses ng industry (We cannot determine the losses of the industry yet)," So added.