To be able to adopt and comply with the PGS requirements and be accredited as an Organic Certifying Body, the ATI-Cordillera extended its arm and trained the LOPRACO (Lamut Organic Practitioners Cooperative) as one of the aspiring cooperative to be certified as PGS Groups towards Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body on February 26 to March 1, 2024 held at Payawan and Assessment Training Center, Lamut, IFugao. Juamars Training and Assessment Center, Payawan, Lamut, Ifugao.
The training aimed that after the training, the participants are expected to adopt and comply with the PGS requirements and be accredited as Organic Certifying Body (OCD).
The resource persons properly highlighted all the steps, procedures/processes, and other requirements for them to internalize. They also prepared the participants for several workshops for them to draft their Manual of Operations, and Internal Standards of their organization. An actual farm inspection was done for them to fully embrace the practical way of ensuring that the farm truly practiced what was in the standard.
The Participatory Guarantee System (PG) is a quality assurance initiative that follows the production-to-consumption approach in providing guarantees on the integrity and quality of organic products. PGS are locally relevant and adapted where product distribution priorities local food availability for local people. As a guarantee system, it is widely used and accepted as a quality assurance system in the Organic Agriculture (OA) sector, wherein farmers could provide direct assurance to the consumers.
Initially, the ATI and BAFS developed the training of trainer’s modules to form and capacitate core PGS groups and assist the PGS group in complying with the applicable Philippine National Standards for Organic Agriculture and the regulations. This training resulted in the installation of the PGS Manual of Operations and the establishment of the Internal Standards of the PGS group in preparation for their accreditation as an organic certifying body.
To achieve the end goal of accreditation as an organic certifying body, the core PGS group has to undergo inspection towards certification of the 5 core PGS group members, and assessments towards accreditation of the PGS group. After certification, the PGS group has to comply with accreditation within one year. Recognizing that PGS groups are primarily composed of small farmers and fisherfolks, there is a need to upgrade their capacity and capability to operate as an organic certifying body.
During the closing program, Mr. Pablo Dante said in his impression that he “realized that strictly monitoring organic farms is one way to ensure that organic products meet the national standards.” “We should have a clean record keeping for easier access, especially during the inspection,” he exclaimed.
A total of 22 member participants completed the training.
