January 10, 2012

DA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 02-12

I. Objective

Pursuant to Section 24 of ASICDH

II. Scope of Application

Individual or organized group of farmers/producers/processors classified as micro, small and medium enterprises applying for local third-party organic certification and whose products are intended for the local market can avail of the incentive subsidy.

For products intended for the export market, subsidy shall be given only to MSMEs, indigenous people and agrarian reform beneficiaries, a DA's accredited organic local certifying body, who has an international recognition, shall be tapped for the certification work.

Only farms/establishments which have complied with the organic agriculture standards as evidenced by the actual inspection report shall be entitled to subsidy. caCTHI

The cost of certification and related expenditures of individual farms applying for subsidy should be less than 10% of the market price of the estimated total organic produce. For group certification, it should not be less than 5% of the market price. Any certification amount in excess of the said ceiling shall be borne by the applicant.

In case of funding constraints, small land and aquaculture farms, Micro and Small enterprises, indigenous people and ARBs having a less than Fifteen Million Pesos PhP15M shall be accorded the top priority for the granting of the subsidy.

Certified farms found violating the terms and conditions of the certification agreement shall no longer be entitled to subsequent subsidy. If there is an appeal, said farms, shall after verification and show proof of compliance, shall be eligible for subsidy.

III. Scope of the Incentive Subsidy

The incentive shall cover the total certification costs which includes the application and processing fees and other reasonable related costs such as traveling expenses and per diems of inspectors stationed within the major island of the country where the farm to be inspected is situated. Laboratory costs shall also be included in the subsidy, if in cases these are required by the Certification Body. The method of inspection certification should emphasize and consider diversified farms. ECTSDa

The certification cost, in case of many certifiers, shall fall within an appropriate range considering substantial variations in certification cost.

The subsidy may be availed of for three (3) times subject to annual renewal of application. Any subsidy application that has been processed regardless of the evaluation outcome shall be considered as one availment of the subsidy. Thereafter, a socialized subsidy based on the farmers income, farm size and crops grown shall be granted. Guidelines for the subsequent socialized subsidy shall be issued after two years of the implementation of this regulation.

Only farms which have complied with the organic agriculture standards as evidenced by the actual inspection report shall be entitled to subsidy.

The schedule of fees shall be issued by the Department of Agriculture in a separate Administrative Order which shall serve as the reference and guidance document for the release and provision of the subsidies. DCScaT

IV. Process of Certification

The applicant entity/farmer shall select a local certifying body from the list of the DA's accredited organic certifying bodies (CBs) through the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) to do the certification work and negotiate preferential fees for the enterprise to be certified.

The applicant may download the certification checklist from the organic agriculture website or get information from the regional organic focal persons for purposes of self assessment of his readiness for certification.

The applicant shall inform the DA Agribusiness Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) of their intent to avail the certification subsidy through submission of the following documents: CHDTEA

Letter of intent (specifying the preferred Certifying Body)

Farm/establishment/organization profile

Computation of the total certification fees

Copy of contract with the certifying body HcACTE

Copy of the pre-assessment report

A tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) shall be signed between the subsidy applicant, certifying body, and AMAS stating the total incentive amount and terms and conditions relative to the provision of certification subsidy.

The certifier must notify AMAS at least fourteen (14) working days prior to a scheduled inspection before conducting the actual inspection. A notice to proceed shall be transmitted within seven (7) days after notification.

AMAS has the right to follow up the entire process of certification application. DACTSa

The subsidy shall be paid directly to the certifier upon certification of the inspected farm and the following shall be submitted by the certifier to AMAS:

Actual inspection report signed by the inspectors

Copy of the minutes of the certification committee meeting approving the application for certification

Certified true copy of the organic certificate EcDSHT

Signed declaration of no conflict of interest

Billing statement based from the submitted computation of certification fees

Copy of CB's BIR tax exemption certificate, if applicable

All documents submitted to AMAS shall be subject for AMAS' verification in coordination with other concerned agencies. SHEIDC

In case of approved applications with conditions, re-inspection fees shall be borne by the applicant.

In case of denial of the application and upon proof of non-compliance of the "must be" complied requirements of the standard, the farmer/entity applicant shall bear the cost of certification.

If conflict of interest is present during the certification process but identified after the issuance of organic certificate, accreditation certificate of the certifier and the organic certificate of the applicant shall be revoked. In addition, the approved subsidy shall be forfeited or if payment has already been made, the certifier is obliged to hand back to DA the amount of subsidy granted for the application in question after due process.

This Order shall take effect immediately. IHTaCE

(SGD.) PROCESO J. ALCALA
Secretary
Department of Agriculture

ANNEX 1

Application Process for Certification Subsidy

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

This Memorandum of Agreement made and executed, by and between:

The DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (DA)-AGRIBUSINESS AND MARKETING ASSISTANCE SERVICE (AMAS) duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines with office address at Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City represented herein by Mr. Leandro H. Gazmin, Director, herein referred to as the "DA AMAS".

(Name of Certifying Body), a domestic (foundation/organization) duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines with office address at __________________, represented by _______________________, (Designation of Executive Officer), herein referred to as the "CERTIFYING BODY". HTSaEC

- and -

(for group of farmers/producers)

(Name of Cooperative/Organization/Foundation), a domestic (cooperative/foundation/organization) duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines with office address at ____________________, represented by ____________________, (Designation of Executive Officer), herein referred to as the "APPLICANT".

(for private individuals)

(Name of Private Individual), of legal age, Filipino and residing at ______________________, represented by _____________________, herein referred to as the "APPLICANT". cISDHE

WITNESSETH:

The parties hereby bind themselves to undertake a Memorandum of Agreement for the purpose of availing the certification subsidy incentive in support of the program of the State to promote and develop Organic Agriculture in the Philippines, under the following terms and conditions:

A. The DA AMAS shall:

1. Provide the fund necessary for the granting of certification subsidies in accordance with the approved work and financial plan for organic agriculture; CaASIc

2. Have the right to verify all documents relative to subsidy application;

3. Have the right to assess and approve the computation of certification fees applied for subsidy;

4. Have the right to follow up the entire process of certification applied for incentive;

5. Approve/disapprove subsidy applications in accordance with the approved regulations of the incentive subsidy scheme for organic certification; and ITScHa

6. Process subsidy payment to the CERTIFYING BODY in accordance with the pre-approved amount of incentive and billing statement issued by the CB.

B. The CERTIFYING BODY shall:

1. Provide AMAS the computation of certification fees to be applied of the APPLICANT for subsidy based from the fee schedule cited in the approved regulation;

2. Provide AMAS pertinent supporting documents for the applicant's availment of subsidy, including the pre-assessment report containing the appraisal of the farm and the farmer attesting that they meet the requirements for organic agriculture production; and

3. Hand back to DA the amount of subsidy granted for an application identified with non-compliances with the existing rules and regulation on granting of subsidy after due process. IADCES

C. The APPLICANT shall:

1. Provide AMAS the necessary documents to avail of the subsidy;

2. Ensure preparedness/readiness of his enterprise for certification upon application for subsidy. The applicant shall ascertain that they have the knowledge and capacity to engage in certification by submitting relevant documents (i.e., pre-assessment documents, proof of trainings/orientation on organic agriculture/ICS for groups);

3. Bear the certification costs in excess of the amount ceiling set in the approved subsidy regulations relative to market price and amount of produce; ADCEaH

4. Bear the whole cost of certification or be responsible for the payment of certification fees to the CERTIFYING BODY in case of disapproved application for certification; and

5. Abide the terms and conditions of the certification agreement.

This Memorandum of Agreement shall become effective upon signature of all parties and the implementation will begin immediately and shall continue to be valid hereafter until one (1) year or written notice is given by either party (30) days prior to the date of intended termination.

No modification or amendment to this agreement and the approved project documents shall be allowed without the written consent of all parties involved. CAacTH

In witness whereof, the parties have signed this Memorandum of Agreement at ________________ this __________ day of ______________ 20__.

For the APPLICANT

SIGNED IN THE PRESENCE OF:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
_____________________________ ) SS.

BEFORE ME, a Notary Public for and in the ________________, this ____ day of ____________ 20___, personally came and appeared:

known to me and to me known to be the same persons who executed the foregoing instrument, consisting of six (6) pages including the page on which this acknowledgement is written, which they acknowledged before me as their free and voluntary SIHCDA

WITNESS MY HAND AND SEAL, this ___th day of __________ 20__ at ___________________.

NOTARY PUBLIC

Doc. No. _____

Page No. _____

Book No. ____

Series of 2012.

National Organic Agriculture Board Resolution No. 001

Series of 2012

APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE DRAFT FEE STRUCTURE FOR THE REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION AND THE DRAFT REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS, Section 17 of CaEIST

WHEREAS, Section 17.3 of the IRR mandates the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) to develop the guidelines, rules and procedures for labelling organic products;

WHEREAS, in view of its new task, BAFPS has provided the Board with the Draft (1) FEE STRUCTURE FOR THE REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION (ANNEX A) and (2) REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION (ANNEX B);

NOW, THEREFORE, the Board hereby RESOLVES to approve and adopt the following:

(1) FEE STRUCTURE FOR THE REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION DaIACS

(2) REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION

BE IT RESOLVED FURTHER; furnish the office of Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and Department of Agriculture (DA)-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) with a copy of this resolution.

APPROVED by the following members of the Board during the 6th regular monthly meeting of the board on 10 January 2012:

(SGD.) USEC. BERNADETTE ROMULO-PUYAT
Chairman

Members:

(SGD.) DR. PATRICIO FAYLON
DOST

(SGD.) USEC. JERRY PACTURAN
DAR

(SGD.) MR. MILLER BICALDO
Luzon Small Farmer Representative

PDCI

(SGD.) MR. REY PEDROSO
Visayas Small Farmer Representative

BOFA

(SGD.) MS. EMALYN LEGAL
Mindanao Small Farmer Representative

PAKISAMA

(SGD.) DR. CHARITO MEDINA

NGO

MASIPAG

(SGD.) MR. EDWIN MARTHINE LOPEZ
Agribusiness Firm/Private Sector
Alter Trade Foundation, Inc.

FEE STRUCTURE FOR THE REGULATION OF THE INCENTIVE SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR ORGANIC CERTIFICATION

I. Objective

Pursuant to Section 24 of HCSAIa

II. Scope of Application

The fee structure shall serve as the main reference document for the granting of subsidy for certification for individual or organized group of farmers/producers/processors classified as micro, small and medium enterprises applying for local third-party organic certification and whose products are intended for the local and international market in accordance to the provisions of the Administrative Order for the Granting of Subsidy for Organic Certification.

III. Fee Structure

The fees represent the maximum amount to be given by the DA as subsidy for certification. TDcHCa

IV. Effectivity

This Order shall take effect immediately and shall be subject to periodic review by the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB). DSATCI

Footnotes

1. Annex 1 shows flow of diagram for process of certification subsidy.

Attachment: Fee Structure

1. Applies both for domestic and international certification but only covers application/processing fee, pre-assessment fee, travel expenses and per diem of inspectors.

2. Area covered by the certification (e.g., crop production = 1 scope; animal production = 1 scope; processing = 1 scope).