RP to align organic food certification system with international standards

[S.Annadana]

By MELODY M. AGUIBA

The Philippines has to align its organic certification system with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) accreditation if it has to capture a growing market for health food in Europe, US, and Japan.



The Department of Agriculture (DA) – attached Bureau of Agriculture, Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) has been designated by Executive Order (EO) 481 to look after a standard for organic food in the Philippines.

BAFPS has accredited only one institution, the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP), for this function. But OCCP is not recognized by international organic food certification systems.

This compels the Philippines to make its accreditation system compliant particularly with the ISO 65 which is recognized as a certification for safe organic food, according to Organic Producers and Trade Association (OPTA) Trustee Pablito M. Villegas.

“Our certification system is not fully in place. There’s an international task force on equivalence and harmonization of standards (with which we’re trying to work). If we have an internationally-recognized certification system, then we can export to Europe, US, Japan, and Korea,” he said.

At present, if a company say, in US or Japan, wants to import organic food from the Philippines, then the company will have to ask its country-based certification agency. This may be the US National Organic Standards Board Japanese Agricultural System.

“But this is very costly for us, imagine having to pay for the air fares of inspectors,” said Villegas.

OPTA is pushing for government’s funding assistance for the harmonization of Philippines’ organic certification with international standards.

“Government should invest in because it should be treated as a public good,” he said. “There’s a social cost for our health and our dying soil,” he said.

The organic group has conducted a study showing that given adequate investment for a supply and demand facility for organic food in the Philippines, the country can capture in three years to million in organic food market internationally. This dollar earnings can reach to million to 0 million in five to 10 years thereafter.

The country’s potential products are coconut products like virgin coconut oil, organic banana, muscovado or organic sugar, organic rice like the famous brown rice in the Cordillera.