Local agriculture departments chosen to issue organic certificates

A vegetable farm that meets the organic standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - PHOTO: NGOC HUNG

HCMC - Municipal and provincial departments of agriculture and rural development will be responsible for issuing certificates for organic produce, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) at a conference on organic agriculture development in HCMC on August 22.

This is part of MARD’s effort to boost the development of organic agriculture, a farming method that eliminates the use of synthetic inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics and growth-promoting hormones.

MARD is also drafting a Government decree on organic farming.

According to the draft, organic farmers and producers can choose to apply the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) or other international systems that meet U.S. or EU organic standards.

MARD said PGS is similar to CODEX standards and will be used for small-scale production that targets the domestic market.

Meanwhile, agricultural producers that target foreign markets should apply the international systems of the U.S. or EU. For this case, an authorized organization will issue certificates for organic goods, instead of local departments of agriculture and rural development.

Both PGS and international standard certificates will use Vietnamese organic product logos registered and managed by MARD.

According to MARD, over 160 countries embrace organic farming, with many of them having issued organic standards and regulations such as the U.S., the EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, China and South Korea. The ASEAN countries that have their own organic standards include Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and East Timor.