Mission
The BAFS commits to develop and promote agricultural and fishery standards, and enforce organic agriculture regulations ensuring customers’ safety and product quality, contributing to environmental protection, worker’s welfare and enhanced market access
Vision
By 2025, the BAFS envisions to be the trusted agency for the development of agricultural and fishery standards within ASEAN, and in the enforcement of the agriculture regulations
Mandates
- Formulate and enforce standards of quality in the processing, preservation, packaging, labelling, importation, exportation, distribution and advertising of Agricultural And Fisheries Products;
- Conduct research on product standardization, alignment of local standards with international standards; and
- Conduct regular inspection of processing plants, storage facilities, abattoirs, as well as public and private markets to ensure freshness, safety and quality of products.
- Issue accreditation to: (a) third-party organic certifying bodies, (b) PGS groups, (c) private group or organization actually engaged in organic agriculture as direct farm producer, promoter/advocate, or as marketer of organic agriculture produce—collectively called as “organic certifying bodies (OCBs)” to provide certification to organic management system (farms, etc.);
- Certify five (5) individual farms as a core PGS Group;
- Conduct inspections on compliance of PGS groups with the Philippine National Standards for Organic Agriculture;
- Issue registration on integrated organic farms, organic input producers, and organic inputs such as organic soil amendments (OSA) and organic biocontrol agents (OBCA);
- Rule on the appeal of farm/farmowner/core PGS groups on decision made by organic certifying bodies;
- Conduct monitoring and post-market surveillance of registered organic input producers, organic farms, and organic inputs to ensure enforcement of the labeling requirements of the law;
- Conduct random inspections to ensure that PGS groups are all compliant with the Philippine National Standards on organic agriculture;
- Maintain national database of core PGS groups (from submitted registry of municipal/city PGS groups);
- Develop guidelines for certification of farms under PGS, guidelines for accreditation of PGS groups, guidelines for sanctions on non-compliances of certified PGS members; and
- Perform such other functions, duties, and responsibilities as may be necessary to implement the law.
- Develop standards, specifications and test procedures of agricultural and fishery machinery and equipment, together with DTI, DOST, Board of Agricultural Engineering (BoAE) – PRC, and Agricultural Machine Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC).
- Develop food safety standards including those for organic agriculture; and
- Establish Mechanisms for the development of science-based food safety standards for fresh plant, animal, fisheries and agriculture food.
- Develop the Philippine National Standards for Halal for primary and post-harvest food.