The July/August issue of the Global PGS Newsletter published the English version of the report of a study by IFOAM PGS Committee member, Janet Villanueva. The study investigated the inclusion of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) within the legal framework of Latin American countries.

Seventeen countries were considered in the study, all of which have an organic farming regulation. Of these countries, seven actually include PGS in their law or resolution. These countries are Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay. However, conditions for acceptance differ between the seven countries. For example:

• Only El Salvador and Mexico have a national certification system for PGS included in the law.
• In Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay the PGS status is the same as other guarantee systems.
• PGS recognition extends into external markets in Brazil and Costa Rica.

From the seventeen studied countries, PGS exsits in twelve of them. Curiously, this does not include El Salvador, one of the countries where PGS are recognised. However, the governments of some countries do not recognise the constituted PGS groups  as an alternative certification system. These countries include Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru.

In Chile, for example, the group ‘Tierra Viva’ considers itself a PGS, but although the government approves it under the group certification scheme, it does not recognise it as a PGS.

Nuria Alonso

Both the English and Spanish versions of the document can be found here