FYI: For review/questions/critique and comments

IFOAM PGS Self Evaluation form

http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/pgs/PGSSelfevaluation.html

click on side column

PDF-Downloads
	PGS Self-Evaluation Questionnaire

IFOAM lists questions in the following questionnaire categories:

Shared vision and agreed upon norms

Procedures to verify producer' compliance and understanding

when is a producer eligible for membership, verification procedure and contract/basic stipulations.

Documented management systems

Horizontality - producers as primary decision makers

communication network

Consumer involvement

Systems for managing non-compliance

Mechanisms for supporting producers

Seals and labels

Questions on the sustainability of pgs programme- i.e. ongoing funding and producer membership costs

Here is an interesting article that explains Participatory Network Certification and compares it to Participatory Guarantee System.

http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/pgs/pdfs/AlternativeCertificationAndANetworkConformityAssessmentApproach.pdf

It would seem that we would want to include ideas from both Network and Guarantee:

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Network and third-party conformity assessment and controls methods

Third-party certification is based on a third-party‘s assurance that the product, service, system, process

or material conforms with specific requirements. The conformity assessment (i.e. the inspection) is

carried out by an independent certification body. It was recognised that normal third-party organic

certification is too much of a cost burden for small-scale farmers. To accommodate this problem,

smallholder group certification was developed. Whilst such group certifications lower certification costs

for small-scale producers and share some common features with participatory network certification, their

origin, main purpose and practises are different from each other.

Participatory network certification is based on an assurance by a network of people and organisations

involved in the production, distribution and consumption/use of the product/service with co-responsibility

for guaranteeing the quality system. Farmers in a group certification scheme normally have similar

production and centralised marketing. The certificate of a group certification belongs to the group.

Production in a participatory network is normally diverse, and marketing is not always centralised.

Participatory network farmers are certified as individuals, and the certificate belongs to the farmer.

Group certification, based on an internal control system, is mainly used for organic production by

smallholders in low income countries who want to export to markets in high income countries. Income is

believed to be the primary objective of farmers joining a group certification scheme. Participatory

network certification, on the other hand, is based on peer review visits and social control, and is for

domestic marketing for the time being. Participatory network farmers’ objective for organising

themselves include food security and food sovereignty, as well as a fair price.

Group certification schemes focus on the managers and field officers/inspectors to ensure compliance

through the internal control system. Participatory network certifications focus on training everyone

(farmers, workers, consumers) involved in the process of production, distribution and consumption of

organic food. They conduct ‘peer reviews’ instead of inspections. Peer review visits are carried out by

extension workers and farmers that have practical knowledge in organic production and include support

activities. Consumers also take part on the visits and share responsibility for the quality guarantee system.

The certification decision-making is decentralised.

Participatory networks also rely on ‘social conformity’, enhanced through procedures and social

conventions, such as common group purpose, group standards setting, co-responsibility of certification,

membership codes, interaction, interdependence and long term relations. Trust is engendered within the

social construction and processes of the participatory network built over time between all participants

within the network. A trusting relationship, however, does not eliminate opportunities for deliberate

violations, but neither are third party systems 100% fraud free.