PGS in Viet Nam

The VOAA is an umbrella organization – a civil society organization (CSO), of individual experts, consumers, producers and corporate entities involved in the organic agricultural movement and the entire food value chain– from organic production, processing, business, services, import and export, and organic product consumption in Vietnam. Amongst the organic cultivation approaches and systems ever introduced and applied in Vietnam, the PGS, a viable guarantee system based on the involvement of people/organisations directly involved in the organic supply chains, witnesses most positive revolutions since first introduction. The PGS certification was first developed in Vietnam under the Agriculture Development Denmark Asia- Vietnam Farmer’s Union (ADDA – VNFU) Organic Agriculture Project from 2008. The PGS involved producer groups, consumers, supporting organizations (NGOs) as well as organic trade companies. A group of IFOAM experts led by Chris May with funding of TA-8163 gave a stimulus to the process by organizing valuable technical training courses for the farmers and formulate a PGS production manual to facilitate the implementation and application. All the coordination, support and certification for the PGS value chains are facilitated by Vietnam PGS Network under VOAA. Vietnam PGS is member of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). Its PGS Organic Standards for Producers cover both crop production and animal production with separate standards developed for handling, processing, and retailing. “Together, these standards enable the Vietnam PGS to give certification service for organic fruits and vegetables produced from farm up to the final sale to consumers.” Through the PGS system, all the stakeholders have to work together. The farmers go through a rigorous three month training using IFOAM standard and are linked to committed retailers through contract farming. Today the volume of PGS organic products is about 700 tons per year. Farmers are interested in organic farming even if they have to pay membership dues to the association but they benefit more, both economically and socially. The challenge for the future will be in the policy and governance as standards have to be monitored for ongoing quality control. So far so good their quality mark is recognized by consumers and the CASP2 has given them a wonderful opportunity to display their products at Thaifex 2017. Further information can be seen in www.vietnamorganic.net.