Ensuring top quality organic agriculture in Thailand

“Audit planning is vital for an efficient and effective audit. Planning ensures that the auditor will be able to collect relevant data to make sound recommendations. This training will help improve my audit planning skills,” says Pongpon Chanta, Agricultural Research Officer. His responsibilities also include inspecting organic rice production system.



“Auditors should be able to ask intelligent questions and since I work on GAP certification, this course gave me an opportunity to practice asking the right questions, especially for on-site audits, to obtain timely information,” says Kaesinee Thanomkwan. She works at the Office of Certification Body, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research.  



Pongpon and Kaesinee participated in a Lead Auditor Course on ISO 9001, certified by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) and the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA). The course is an internationally recognized qualification.



The training was organized by the International Trade Centre in collaboration with the National Bureau of Agriculture Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS) and conducted by the Management System Certification Institute (MASCI).



As part of effort to support the promotion of enhanced and improved organic agricultural practices in line with EU standards, the International Trade Centre is assisting departments of the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives as well as private certification bodies in training quality management system auditors. 



Competent auditors skilled in planning, conducting, reporting and following-up an audit of a quality management system play a pivotal role in assessing conformity with internally recognized standards such as ISO 9001.



A business can benefit from improved performance when introducing a quality management system and buyers will be ensured of a consistently produced product that meets their requirements. It is thus the foundation for producing organic products that will facilitate the compliance with organic export requirements.



The training was carried out virtually and it is planned to conduct a similar training for more participants as an “in person” session in December 2021. 



About the project



The ARISE Plus Thailand project supports sustainable trade growth in the country through promoting a transparent, predictable and competitive business environment, improving the efficiency of public expenditure and service delivery, as well as enhancing organic agriculture practices in Thailand and disseminating them within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).



The three-year project is funded by the European Union and part of its national ARISE Plus projects portfolio to support greater connectivity and economic integration in ASEAN.

Original article published by ITC News.