From WATTAgNet:

The Philippines Department of Agriculture says that, despite good-quality corn that is being produced in the Bicol region, it believes it is not good enough to compete in the world market.

“There is a need for our corn farms to be Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)-certified so that they qualify as source of safe and quality products for both the domestic and world market, especially that the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is set to be integrated this year,” Abelardo Bragas, the DA regional executive director, said.

The united aim of ASEAN is to achieve a single, open market for the products and services of its member countries. Understanding the need for manufacturing and production efficiency to make this work in practice, the agribusiness industries in each country are currently investing to improve their ability to compete with regional rivals.

The ASEAN region will have free flow of capital and movement of goods, services and investments and skilled labor. GAP certification gives farmers the ability to sell corn and other agricultural products to other member states.

GAP certification is voluntary in the Philippines, and only a few farmers have responded to it. However, in other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Japan, GAP certification is mandatory.

GAP requires that corn must have 14 percent moisture content and that the aflatoxin content is lower than 20 parts per billion for human food and 50 parts per billion for animal feed ingredients.