AN ACT ENHANCING ANIMAL INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT AND COMPETITIVENESS, STRENGTHENING THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, AND CREATING FOR THE PURPOSE THE ANIMAL COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND

View printer friendly version Manila Bulletin, September 30, 2025 p.9; 121 OG No. 11324 (October 13, 2025) [ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 12308, September 25, 2025 ] AN ACT ENHANCING ANIMAL INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT AND COMPETITIVENESS, STRENGTHENING THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, AND CREATING FOR THE PURPOSE THE ANIMAL COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled; TITLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness  Act". SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy . - The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries that make full and efficient use of human and natural resources, which are competitive in both domestic and foreign markets. To this end, it is hereby declared the policy of the State to advance the animal industry through robust regulatory and development institutions, adequate resources for production support especially for small farmers and producers, sound laws and regulations, effective coordination and collaboration with stakeholders, and credible standards and measures for safety and quality of animal products. SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act: (a) Animal refers to livestock, poultry, dairy, and companion animals; (b) Animal by-products refer to materials of animal origin that are not intended for human consumption. It may include animal feeds, organic fertilizers and soil improvers, hides, horns, skins, bones, hooves, and wool; (c) Animal industry refers to the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products; (d) Animal infrastructure and facilities refer to infrastructure, facilities, machinery and equipment for the production, handling, processing, and marketing of livestock, poultry, dairy, and companion animals, and their feeds such as biosecure housing, slaughterhouse, poultry dressing plant, meat-cutting plant, feed milling, cold storage facility, farm-to-market roads connectivity, waste management facility like biogas plant, shared/common service facility, machinery, equipment, and irrigation for pasture lands; (e) Animal product refers to any material derived from the body of an animal such as fat, flesh, meat, blood, offal, milks, eggs, honey, raw meat products, and lesser known products such as rennet; (f) Companion animal refers to domestic, domesticated and captive-bred animals intended for protection, utility, companionship, therapy, values formation, and breeding; (g) Condemnation refers to the examination and judgment of meat or meat products according to approved protocols by a competent person, or otherwise determined by the controlling/competent authority, as being unsafe or unsuitable for human consumption and requiring appropriate disposal; (h) Corn refers to yellow corn, white corn, and other corn varieties utilized as animal feed in the country; (i) Dairy animal refers to any animal raised for the production of milk, butter, cheese, and other products and by-products; (j) Food refers to animal food for livestock, poultry and dairy-producing animals which includes, but is not limited to, corn, forages, and feed wheats; (k) Food animal refers to any domestic animal slaughtered for human consumption such as cattle, carabaos, buffaloes, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, deer, rabbits, and poultry; (l) Fresh milk refers to a milk product produced by local dairy farms for direct human consumption. Fresh milk is further described as a milk product from normal mammary secretion of healthy mammals such as, but not limited to, cows, goats, buffaloes, and carabaos, without either addition to it or extraction from it. It is subjected to minimum pasteurization conditions of 72 o C for 15 seconds (continuous flow pasteurization) or 63 o C for 30 minutes (batch pasteurization), has not been subjected to higher temperature, and has a shelf life of not more than ten (10) days when registered; (m) Hot meat refers to carcass or parts of carcass or food animals which were slaughtered from unregistered/unaccredited meat establishments and have not undergone the required inspection. It also includes undocumented, illegally shipped, and unregistered carcass, parts of carcass, and meat products coming from other countries and those that are classified as hot meat by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI); (n) Livestock refers to any domestic or domesticated animal that is grown, kept, or raised in captivity for food or in the production of food or other by-products, and for other purposes. It includes all domestic animals that are slaughtered for human consumption, maintained for draft animal power, dairy, and for recreational purposes such as, but not limited to, cattle, carabaos water buffaloes, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, deer, rabbits, poultry, and bees; and excludes products of hunting or fishing of wild animals; (o) Livestock agencies refer to the BAI, National Dairy Authority (NDA), National Livestock Program (NLP), National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), and the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) which are reorganized in this Act; (p) Meat refers to the fresh, chilled, or frozen edible carcass including offal derived from food animals; (q) Meat establishment refers to premises such as slaughterhouse, poultry dressing plant, meat cutting plant, meat processing plant, cold storage facility, and any other meat outlet in which food animals or meat products are slaughtered, prepared, processed, handled, packed, or stored; (r) Native animals refer to domesticated animals that contribute to food production found in a geographical location that have developed unique physical characteristics, behavior, and product attributes, adapted to the local environment and are products of selection with no infusion of exotic breeds including, but not limited to, native chicken, goats, pigs, ducks, cattle, horses, and carabaos or water buffaloes; (s) Notifiable animal disease refers to a disease listed by the BAI regulatory office, and that should be brought to the attention of the BAI as soon as detected or suspected, in accordance with national regulations; (t) Poultry refers to birds raised commercially or domestically for meat, eggs, and feathers such as chickens, ducks, turkey, geese, quails, and ostrich. It is collective term which refers to all domesticated avian species reared in captivity mainly for agricultural purposes or for the production of food or other by-products; (u) Small-hold farm refers to: (1) Tending not more than five (5) cow or water buffalo level (large ruminants: dairy and beef); (2) Tending not more than 35 does (small ruminants: dairy and meat); (3) Tending one (1) to ten (10) sow level or one (1) to 100 heads (swine, including native pig); (4) Raising 100 heads and below (rabbit); (5) Raising 500 birds and below (broiler);