The
Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP),
a Philippine-based organic certification body, unveiled
its new seal for organic products last 28 November 2006
at Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City.
OCCP’s seal for organic products guarantees integrity of
the production, post-harvest and marketing processes
used to produce the certified commodity.
Certification is a procedure where a third party
provides written assurance that products and processes
comply with the organic standards.
Farms producing the certified commodities have been
inspected by independent inspectors who have the
technical capacity in determining the veracity of the
information provided by those applying for
certification, said OCCP Coordinator Lani Limpin.
To
date, OCCP is the only accredited organic certifying
body by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Gilberto Layese, director of the Bureau of the
Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) of
the DA shared that products labeled as organic must have
this seal otherwise products are termed as mislabeled.
He
added that with the approval of the Executive Order 481
on the Promotion and Development of the Organic
Agriculture in the Philippines, violations on
mislabeling can be sanctioned under the Philippine
Consumer Act of 1995.
This particular provision was enacted to protect the
consumers from unscrupulous use of the “organic” label,
which now commands premium price in the market. It
separates products that are grown using chemical-based
production systems from those that are
organically-grown.
Organic producers targeting the mainstream market are
advised to secure third party certification.
But
for those targeting local or nearby markets, OCCP
suggests maximizing other guarantee systems such as the
first and second party, where consumers directly attest
the production system’s conformity with the consumers’
preference and requirements.
According to the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), global market value of
organic products in 2005 reached almost US$
36.7 billion from US$ 23 billion in 2002,
and consumer demand for organic products is increasing
by 20-30 percent every year.
For
the Philippines, the organic market is estimated to
increase by 10-15 percent annually, faster than any
traditional export commodity.
In
1999, organic exports were estimated to be USD 2.5
million growing to USD 6.2 million in 2001, and by 2003
have exceeded USD 10 million.
