Standards are promoted through the conduct of seminars, development of various knowledge products (e.g explanatory manuals, infographics, comics, audiovisual presentation), and online academy modules. Through these efforts, it is expected that DA regulatory agencies like BAI, NMIS, BPI, BFAR, PCA, PhilFIDA, etc will better understand the requirements of standards and adopt them through the issuance of a regulation.

A standard that is used as the basis of regulations becomes mandatory. The regulatory agencies are mandated to monitor the implementation of the referenced standard.

Currently, out of the 307 total PNS (as of December 2020), 53 (17%) have corresponding technical regulations from relevant regulatory agencies. Thirteen (13) are food quality standards whilst 40 are food safety-related standards.

Below are some of the standards that have corresponding certification and registration schemes referred to in the existing regulations:

• AC 1 Series of 2018– Guidelines on the Certification of Philippine Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for Crops
• DC 7 Series of 2017- Guidelines on the Certification of Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP)
• Fisheries Office Order 205 Series of 2019: Registration of Farms for Good Aquaculture Practices
• DC No. 01, Series of 2018 – Revised Guidelines for the Official Accreditation of Organic Certifying Bodies
• DC No. 05, Series of 2015 – Revised Rules and Regulations on the Registration of Organic Fertilizer Producers

RA 11511 provides BAFS  three (3) major mandates: (1) develop standards on organic agriculture; (2) accredit organic certifying bodies (OCB), which covers both 3rd party OCBs and Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) groups; and (3) register integrated organic farms and organic inputs (soil amendments and bio-control agents).

The accreditation of PGS groups is a new feature of the amended Organic Agriculture Law, which intends to address the issue of high certification costs. PGS is viewed as a mechanism by which small farmers/fisherfolks shall be certified as engaged in organic agriculture.

In consonance with the formulation of the IRR of RA 11511, BAFS in collaboration with the ATI came up with a draft Training and Extension Plan for the PGS formation to regulatory phase (pls see separate document). 

Organic Certifying Bodies (OCBs) implement their own certification fee structure in accordance with the requirements of the Organic Certification Scheme (Department Circular No. 01, Series of 2018). Although following a prescribed fee structure, the amounts therein are designed by the OCBs to cover the costs required for their operations and ensure the stability of their business. A certification cost includes the following: application/administrative fees, inspection fees (including professional fee per day, food, traveling expenses, and accommodation, if necessary), certification fees; and laboratory analysis fees.

A certification fee ranges from Php 25,000 – Php 130,000, and varies according to the number of scope/s applied for certification, size and location of the farm, required laboratory tests, and other factors such as risk-level of the operations.

There are two initiatives that address the issue of costly third-party certification. These include the following:

1. Certification assistance is offered by the Department, through the Regional Field Offices (RFO), to qualified organic agriculture entities (specifically the MSMEs). The assistance covers both technical and financial aspects towards certification. Technical assistance refers to the pre-assessment activities conducted by the RFOs, while financial assistance refers to the payment for certification and inspection services of the OCBs.
2. BAFS Accreditation of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) groups in accordance with Republic Act No. 11511, otherwise known as “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010”. The PGS provides a more affordable and alternative certification scheme for small farmers as it relies on a community-based control system.

PGS offers a complementary, low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a heavy emphasis on social control (through guided peer review), support, and knowledge building. By bringing more farmers into a system of committed organic production, and linking that to direct and local sales, PGS offers much wider access to organic produce and products to consumers. PGS proponents believe that we must start with a foundation of trust and that organic farmers make a declaration to uphold the principles of organic agriculture. PGS initiatives are effective when local stakeholders have ownership and a direct hand in the certification mechanisms. This requires locally based and non-hierarchical certification structures and mechanisms appropriate to the group and the community. With this, there are six (6) key elements that drive PGS as a quality assurance system:

• Shared vision
• Active participation
• Transparency
• Trust
• Learning process
• Horizontality

Third-party certification is a process where an independent body or certifying body provides written assurance that the farming system and/or processing system of a farmer or producer is compliant with the applicable Philippine National Standards for organic agriculture. Certification under PGS, on the other hand, is provided by the group itself. Both certification systems allow the use of the term “organic” in the labeling of their produce and products. However, there will be different marks of conformity. Third-party certified organic produce and products shall bear the Philippine Certified Organic mark, while the produce and products certified under PGS shall bear the Philippine PGS Guaranteed Organic mark.

PGS primarily helps small farmers and fisherfolk by getting organically certified at a low cost.  PGS also empowers groups of small farmers and fisherfolks by allowing them to operate as a certification body, ensuring that they maintain the quality of certification services, and the integrity of products being certified as organic.

A group of farmers may formally establish a group as PGS supported by concerned members of the community such as the consumers, suppliers and other stakeholders. The PGS group must be registered with the municipality or city where the group is predominantly located through a Business Permit (Mayor’s Permit).

Primarily, PGS is composed of farmers (crop and livestock), and other agriculture sectors (e.g. fisheries). Other stakeholders such as non-government organizations, peoples organizations, consumers or buyers of organic products, suppliers of organic inputs, and other interested stakeholders may be involved in a PGS group as long as they all live or operate within the province and regularly interact with the concerned PGS group.

The core PGS group is a group of farmers within the PGS group assigned by the group itself. They will serve as the peer reviewers to verify the compliance of the farmer members with the internal standards, policies and procedures of the PGS group.

Prior to getting certified, a farmer must be a member of the PGS group. Once accepted as a member, he/she can directly apply for certification or get assistance to ensure he/she will meet the requirements of the standards of the group, policies, and procedures for certification. The procedure flow for the participatory certification process is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Participatory certification process

Yes. Once a farmer member gets certification following the participatory certification process of the accredited PGS group, he/she can now label and sell the produce and products as guaranteed organic. He/she can also use the Philippine PGS Guaranteed Organic mark.

At the minimum, a farmer must first join the PGS group and ensure that he/she signed the Farmer’s Pledge as proof of commitment to follow the standards, procedures, and policies of the PGS group. He/she must submit the farm profile, declare the farming management practices to the PGS group, and allow the conduct of peer review in his farm.

One of the criteria for accreditation of the core PGS group by BAFS is the certification of five (5) farmer members. The certification in this case is for the purpose of accreditation. Endorsement letter from the municipality or city where the PGS group is registered endorsing the 5 farmer members for certification, copy of the Mayor’s Permit of the PGS group, accomplished application form, Farm profile, and the organic management plan are the minimum requirements required for certification. The BAFS shall conduct inspection and evaluation activities to verify the compliance of the 5 farmer members to the applicable Philippine National Standards for organic agriculture. Once the 5 farmer members are certified, the accreditation process shall proceed where the operations of the PGS group as certifying body will be assessed to ensure that the group is competent, consistent, and impartial in its participatory certification activities. This will be determined through the evaluation of the Manual of Operations of the PGS group and witnessing of the conduct of peer review by the group’s peer reviewers.

The certification by BAFS is a 7-step process (from application to issuance of compliance certification). The accreditation that follows is also a 7-step process (from application to issuance of accreditation certificate) subject to annual surveillance of BAFS. The process of certification and accreditation is shown in Figure 2 and 3, respectively.

This is done through the implementation of the following technical regulations:

BAFS monitors registered organic input producers and products, as well as integrated organic farms, at least once, within the validity of their Certificate of Registration. The following references are used to verify the continued compliance of registered organic operators:

• Article 6 of the Republic Act (RA) No. 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines) mandated the DA, Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to develop product quality and safety standards.
• RA No. 10611 (Food Safety Act of 2013) further delineated the mandates on the development of food standards between the DA and DOH.
• The specific agencies and scope of work on PNS development are as follows:
  • DA-BAFS: primary and postharvest foods.
  • DOH-Food and Drug Administration (FDA): pre-packaged and processed foods.
  • DTI-Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS): industrial and other consumer products not specified above
• BAFS is the sole standards development agency of the DA as mandated by relevant laws.

As defined in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT) Agreement, standards are not mandatory; therefore, compliance is voluntary. Consonant to this, the PNS developed by BAFS are voluntary in nature.

PNS are used as basis for technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, and mutual recognition agreements, which make the requirements of the PNS mandatory. Further, PNS are also adopted and implemented through knowledge products such as explanatory brochures, training modules, webinars, among others.

BAFS promotes the adoption of PNS by creating, using, and sharing knowledge and information and endorsing policy recommendations related to PNS

The PNS are adopted and implemented by the DA Regulatory Agencies, Regional Field Offices (RFOs), and partner agencies through the following:

• Technical regulations; and
• Knowledge products and Learning and Development activities.

The adoption of PNS to technical regulations is monitored annually

As of August 2023, 121 out of 327 PNS are adopted into technical regulations.