4.2. Stakeholder engagement in regulatory practices
In the case of ostensibly private regulation relevant to the
Philippine export banana industry, buyers make frequent visits to
Philippine plantations to communicate requirements and audit
chemical use practices. However, there was little evidence that, to
date, they are demanding certification to any standard other than
the International Organization for Standardization’s generic series
on the development of quality systems (ISO9000). These demands
were consistent with government requirements in the Philippines
that all export fruit meet stringent chemical residue limits, that
exporters be accredited by the Bureau of Plant Industry, and that
exporters employ quality assurance officers. Consequently, virtually
all businesses involved in the export fruit industry are certified to
ISO9000. Any other certifications are undertaken in addition to
ISO9000, not in place of it.
At the same time, the Philippine government has attempted to
encourage producer and exporter engagement with more
comprehensive private standards. The Philippine Bureau of Agricultural
and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS)was established in
1997 with responsibility for ‘formulating and enforcing standards
of quality in the processing, preservation, packaging, labelling,
importation, exportation, distribution and advertising of fresh and
primary agricultural and fisheries products’ (BAFPS, 2013). The
Bureau has developed over 100 product standards in addition to a
small number of cross-product standards including the Specification
for Organic Agriculture (2003) and the Code of Good Agricultural
Practices for Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Farming (PhilGAP-VF)
(2007). The Bureau is also involved in attempts to harmonize
standards such as the ASEAN GAP Project. Product standards
address matters such as cosmetic attributes, varieties and
maximum pesticide residues. The GAP-VF addresses a broader
range of issues associated with food safety, the farm environment
and traceability. While the Bureau has been directed to benchmark
PhilGAP-VF against GLOBALG.A.P. (Revision of Administrative Order
25), PhilGAP-VF is comparatively limited in both scope and detail.
For example, occupational health and safety and environmental
guidelines are included in PhilGAP-VF only to the extent that they
contribute directly to food safety (e.g. contaminated runoff shall not
be stored for use in irrigation).
To encourage certification to PhilGAP-VS, the Bureau of Agricultural
and Fisheries Product Standards has been mandated to
meet most costs of inspection and testing on behalf of applicants.
Despite this, by 2012, only five businesses were certified (including
one export fruit company, the Floirendo-owned Tagum Agricultural
Development Company (TADECO)). While multinational buyers
have reputedly been asking producers to begin ‘alignment’ to
GLOBALG.A.P. standards this appears to have led to little interest in
PhilGAP-VS. One plantation operator, Davao Agricultural Ventures
Corporation (DAVCO) undertook GLOBALG.A.P. certification in 2009
and at least two other plantations certified parts of their operations.
On the whole, producers and buyers appear to have been monitoring
the development of GAP standards and to be incorporating
GAP requirements within existing quality systems in order to preempt
future market or government demands. They have not been
engaging with GLOBALG.A.P. proactively or demonstrating any
motivation other than a readiness to accommodate requests for
GLOBALG.A.P. certification should they arise. According to third
party certifiers active in Mindanao, exporters were more actively
pursuing accreditation against ISO22000 food safety requirements
than against GLOBALG.A.P.
The two exceptions to this pattern have been buyers, NGOs and
producers involved in certified organic banana production and
trade3 and the multinational company Chiquita which, as detailed
above, has been requiring since the 1990s that suppliers begin
certifying against the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture
Standard. On Mindanao, Chiquita has supported training and certification
against the Rainforest Alliance standard for a small
number of farmer cooperatives. However, beyond La Frutera
(described in Section 4.1 above) and Mount Kitanglad Agri-
Ventures (operators of a 600 ha plantation in Lantapan, Bukidnon)
interest in Rainforest Alliance and other eco-standards has
been limited.
It is certainly the case that certification to Rainforest Alliance
standards has imposed costs on La Frutera and Mount Kitanglad
Agri-Ventures that other plantation operators may consider
onerous; most notably, the removal of land from banana cultivation
in order to establish vegetated buffer zones and wildlife habitat.
However, compliance costs such as these cannot fully explain the
more widespread lack of interest in Rainforest Alliance certification.
To begin, the La Frutera plantation in Datu Paglas is reputed to
be the most profitable in Mindanao (International Alert, 2006).4
Further, all plantations are required under Philippine law to
secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate which requires,
among other things, that treed buffer zones be maintained between
banana plants, waterways and populated areas such as houses and
public roads. In this respect, Rainforest Alliance standards largely
replicate state requirements. Additional costs arise, as the next
section explains, not through certification and legal requirements
per se but through compliance with and enforcement of those
requirements.