The Philippines to Align Its Organic Certification System with International Standards

"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."

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