IN PHOTOS | Five organic certified core members of the Bohol Participatory Guarantee System Association (BPGSA) underwent the annual monitoring conducted by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (DA-BAFS), with the DA-Central Visayas’ Organic Agriculture Program (DA7 OAP), at their respective farms in Bohol Province, on April 16-18, 2024.

These BPGSA core members who had received their Participatory Organic Certificate (POC) from BAFS last May 15, 2023, with a validity of three years, were monitored, as they (team) conduct farm walkthrough and inspection, interview, and review of records in order to evaluate and generate findings. These findings can be classified as Major and Minor Non-Compliance (NC), and Observation.

Whatever the findings of the team, the core members are required to submit their Correction and Corrective Action Plan (CCAP) within five working days. They also need to provide pieces of evidence within the agreed timeline. These are requirements in order for their POC to still be valid until the date indicated in their certificates.

The monitoring aims to verify the compliance of the certified core PGS group with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) and validate the implementation of the correction and corrective action plan based on the findings from the previous inspections.