Implementation Guide for Issuance of “Food Pass” Cards

Implementation Guide for Issuance of “Food Pass” Cards

 

1. Who can apply?

 

Single proprietors, cooperatives, associations, companies registered with DTI, CDA, DOLE or SEC and with business permits (mayor’s permits) that will be engaged in food supply movement (i.e., procurement, supply and/or delivery) of rice, perishable agricultural commodities such as fresh fruits and vegetables, livestock and poultry, frozen meat and processed food products, feeds, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs and fishery commodities.

In case of delivery of live animals, poultry and by-products, they must have the shipping permit issued by Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) with accompanying Veterinary Health Certificate and in case of meat (fresh or frozen), they must present a shipping permit issued by BAI with accompanying Meat Inspection Certificate issued by National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS). The DA-Issuing Office must take note of compliance to Section 3 (d) of DA Memo Circular No. 6, Series of 2020 in case of poultry and livestock and its related products.

Producers (farmers, farm workers, fisherfolk) who are not registered with DTI as single proprietors are eligible but they must be registered/enrolled in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). If they are not yet registered in RSBSA database, submission of a filled up RSBSA Enrollment Form will suffice as eligibility requirement.

2. What agriculture and fishery commodities and food products are covered?

The commodities covered are:

Classification	Commodities/Products
Perishable  commodities	Rice, all vegetables and spices, all eggs (fresh, salted and balut), all fruits including coconut and coconut by-products, milk and all dairy products
Live animals	Live hogs, carabao, cattle, goat, sheep and poultry
Fishery products	Fish and all aquatic produce (fresh, frozen, chilled and dried)
Food products  and other  commodities	All meat (pork, beef and poultry meat) products (fresh, frozen, chilled), All meat products (semi-processed like tocino, longanisa, tapa, etc and fully processed like hotdog and ham) All canned goods; Cooking oil (all forms such as vegetable oil and coconut oil); Sugar (brown sugar and refined sugar) Copra and coconut by-products including charcoal except lumber
Agricultural inputs	Agri-fishery production inputs – fertilizer (organic and chemical), pesticides, herbicides, irrigation equipment, machineries, mill supplies, fingerlings Feeds and feed ingredients for livestock, poultry, fishery, aquatic production (corn, soya, flour, rice bran, wheat, copra meal, pre-mixes, cooking oil) Veterinary medicines and biologics (including vaccines, test kits, reagents) Operations of farm and meat processing plants (disinfectants, chlorines, farm machinery and equipment and machineries and equipment for cold storage facilities)

NOTES:

1. The DTI has issued Memo Circular No. 20-08 Series of 2020 (dated March 20, 2020) on allowed enterprises to operate to ensure unhampered movement of cargo and transit of personnel of business establishments. There are overlaps on food products (e.g. water, bread, flour, dairy products, cooking oil, sugar, etc), thus it is encouraged that applicants refer to the DTI Memo Circular as to who/what establishments are covered. Thus, logistics service providers (cargo handling, warehousing, trucking, freight forwarding, shipping), manufacturing and processing plants of basic food products and delivery services (e.g. transporting only food, water) are covered in this DTI Memo Circular and therefore don’t have to apply for food pass. Nevertheless, as micro and small enterprises –though covered by these DTI circular still apply for food pass at DA issuing offices, such applications may still be processed.

2. The DA issued Memo Circular No. 6, Series of 2020, Memo Circular No. 7 and Memo Circular 9 Series of 2020 related to commodities and food items covered that must be allowed unhampered and unimpeded transit in all quarantine checkpoints provided that proper documentation is presented to DA Food Pass Issuing Offices. The circulars are available at www.da.gov.ph.

3. What are “Food Pass Cards” to be issued?

 

A “Food Pass” is a privilege given to producers, suppliers and truckers that procure and deliver agri-fishery commodities/food products listed above and that go to and from and/or pass through Metro-Manila and other regions/provinces during the effectivity of the community quarantine period to ensure unhampered flow of food supply in the country. The “Food Pass” has a validity period within the effectivity period of the community quarantine.

One “food pass” card is issued per each vehicle and is not transferable to other vehicles of the applicant. The applicant therefore must apply for each vehicle and accomplish the Accreditation Application Form and Foodlane Reference Form for EACH vehicle (see section 6 for list of requirements).

The “food pass” card contains the information on the company/applicant’s name, vehicle model, color of vehicle and plate number. This is shown to enforcers of checkpoints upon inspection.

The “Food Pass” is the substitute of the “foodlane sticker” and the “Certificate of Foodlane Accreditation” under the DA Foodlane Accreditation System which was mentioned in Memo issued by Undersecretary Cayanan dated March 16, 2020 implementing provisions of DA Memo Circular No. 6 series of 2020.

Foodlane accreditation shall resume for vehicles plying the Metro-Manila routes after the effectivity of the quarantine period. After which, the “Certification of Foodlane Accreditation” and the “foodlane sticker” can then be issued subject to the regular process of evaluation and validation (such as but not limited to vehicle inspection) as indicated in the regular Foodlane Accreditation procedures.

4. What is the “Certificate of Foodlane Accreditation”?

 

A “Certificate of Foodlane Accreditation” is a certificate awarded by the DA to suppliers and truckers for the “foodlane” privilege. The privilege allows the preferential incentives such as but not limited to (a) truck ban exemption, subject to the rules and regulations of MMDA on exemptions; (b) ease of passage at checkpoints; (c) passage in designated “foodlanes” in major thoroughfares in Metro-Manila and in the regions; and (d) immediate assistance during products delivery. The “foodlane accreditation” however does not exempt the holder from the inspection conducted in the PNP checkpoints. The foodlane project is a tie-up project among DA, DILG, MMDA and the PNP implemented since 2017.

Under the community quarantine period, the “food pass” is given to qualified applicants, instead of the “foodlane sticker” and “Certificate of Foodlane Accreditation” upon presentation of basic requirements (see list of requirements). Should the applicant wish to continue the foodlane accreditation, such process shall be resumed by DA Issuing Office after the community quarantine has been lifted.

5. How can one apply?

DA encourages applicants to apply on-line to minimize people to people contact in view of the community quarantine. The RFO-AMADs shall publish in their websites mechanics of “how to apply on-line” and publish email accounts where the interested applicants may apply. Those that will apply at DA Central Office, may view the mechanics and downloadable forms at http://agribusiness.da.gov.ph.

If the applicant wishes to apply “in person”, the applicant can go to any of the following offices; (a) AMAS in case of business permits issued in National Capital Region (NCR) or to RFO-AMADs in case of business permits outside of NCR, or (b) any of the following agencies: BAI, BFAR, NMIS.

The following are the assigned DA offices depending on the commodities delivered or where business permits of the applicants were issued:

DA Unit	Commodities/products delivered by applicant
BAI	Live animals (livestock and poultry), fresh eggs, feeds and feed ingredients, veterinary products
BFAR	Fish and fishery products
NMIS	Meat and meat products
AMAS	All other commodities, business permits issued in Metro-Manila
RFO-AMAD	All other commodities, business permits issued in their respective region

Note: In case of coconut, copra and coconut by products, the PCA authorized signatory shall initial on the “Food Pass” prior to issuance by the AMAS/RFO-AMAD issuing authority.

6. What are the application requirements of the “food pass”?

The application requirements are:

1. Scanned copy of Official Receipt of Registration
2. Scanned copy of Certificate of Registration
3. Scanned copy of Business Permit
4. Duly accomplished Foodlane Accreditation Application Form
5. Duly accomplished Foodlane Reference Form
6. Duly accomplished Statement of Commitment
7. In case of livestock, poultry and by-products, scanned copy of handler’s license and accreditation of transport carriers issued by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and accreditation of meat transport vehicle issued by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS)

“Scanned copy” means to use an electronic device to copy an image or text into a digital file. ALL of the above forms are downloadable by the issuing DA-Offices, RFO-AMADs and applicants at:

http://agribusiness.da.gov.ph/implementation-procedures-related-to-foodlane-accreditation/

 

Note: In case of processed food products, such must have FDA certification. If the applicant is the food processor, it must present scanned copy of the FDA certification. If the applicant is a delivery service provider, it must present the FDA certificate of the company of the source of its products being delivered.

7. What vehicles are allowed with “food pass”?

 

All types of delivery vehicles such as trucks, delivery vans, pick-ups, jeepneys, AUVs/MPVs and other roadworthy vehicles are allowed. However, in case of light vehicles (pick-ups, AUVs/MPVs, etc), there shall be maximum of two passengers (1 driver and 1 helper). This is to ensure limited people movement during quarantine period. Such should be noted on the Vehicle Food Pass issued.

8. What applications shall be processed?

 

Only applications with complete submitted application requirements will be processed. For online applicants shall have the option to pick-up the “Food Pass” at the issuing DA Offices, sent through a courier of the applicant’s choice but at the applicant’s expense, or the applicant may just print their pdf copy of the “Food Pass” sent by the issuing office thru their email address. Each “vehicle food pass card” issued have distinct control number and vehicle plate number. Food pass cards are not transferrable to other vehicles. The heads of DA issuing offices shall designate the authorized signatories to approve and issue the “food pass” in their respective offices.

This GUIDE has been issued by:

DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Services Assistance (AMAS)

March 22, 2020