Work is being done on a new accreditation program to certify farms in Singapore that meet the national guidelines of producing pesticide-free and sustainably grown vegetables. This new program – to be drawn up by the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC), which ESG oversees, together with the Singapore Food Agency – will ensure that independent certification bodies can competently assess and recognize clean and green farms.
In March of this year, guidelines to ensure produce from local vegetable farms are grown sustainably & free from pesticides were launched. They are known as the Singapore Standard (SS) 661: Specification for Clean and Green Urban Farms and contain criteria that urban farms have to meet in terms of minimizing contaminants in the food production process, as well as sustainable practices on resource and waste management.
ESG’s director-general of quality and excellence, Choy Sauw Kook: “You will also know that local farmers have implemented management systems to optimize the use of resources, such as water and electricity, in the farming process. With this information in hand, consumers know that locally-produced vegetables are grown without chemical pesticides and responsibly.”
This is where the accreditation program comes in to provide ‘an additional layer of checks’. “The accreditation program that the SAC is developing will ensure that conformity assessment bodies are qualified to assess farms’ compliance with the clean and green standard. This is how quality and standards build trust among consumers,” Ms. Choy told channelnewsasia.com.