Serdang, December 6, 2016 –Department of Standards Malaysia (Standards Malaysia) has revised a standard – MS 1784 – GAP on Crop Commodities; which will be referred by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MoA) for implementation and issuance of Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices (MyGAP) certification.
Deputy Minister Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), YB Datuk Wira Dr. Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah launched the standard in conjunction with the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism (MAHA) in the presence of Secretary General of MoA, YBhg. Datuk Seri Dr. Ismail Hj. Bakarand and Director General of Standards Malaysia, YBhg. Datuk Fadilah Baharin, today.
“This revised standard is one of our initiatives to support to the National Key Economic Area – Agriculture (NKEA – Agriculture). MOSTI, through Standards Malaysia, has spearheaded the Standards Component of the Strategic Reform Initiatives-Competition Standards & Liberalisation (SRI-CSL) under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). This standard will benefit farmers, growers, exporters, importers, industries, associations as well as regulators and agencies under the MoA. Ultimately, it also ensures the consumers get a wider choice of safe and quality agricultural products,” said YB Datuk Wira Dr. Abu Bakar.
To date, there are more than 6,000 Malaysian Standards across 25 sectors of the economy; and four standards for agricultural sector, aquaculture sector, seaweed cultivation and animal husbandry have being used by MoA for their MyGAP certification scheme. As of 2015, there are 4,024 farms certified under MyGAP; and the utilisation of standards in MyGAP has accelerated the products in gaining better recognition and acceptance in the local and international market.
“This standard prescribes a generic code of practice that defines essential elements for agricultural producers to adopt Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) for sustainable crop production that is legally compliant, environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically viable to ensure quality produce that is safe and suitable for consumption and/or utilisation. This new version has combined a few parts from the previous version and include certain new terms and definitions, requirements, recommendations, and references,” Datuk Fadilah said.
The first publication of this standard, MS 1784 was in 2005 and the first revision in 2015. The technical committee for developing this standard includes Department of Agriculture Malaysia, Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority, Ministry of Health, Persatuan Kebangsaan Pekebun-Pekebun Kecil Malaysia etc.
“Complying with a standard can offer a set of powerful business and marketing tools for organisations of all sizes. An example, there is a seaweed industry in Kampong Look Buton, Semporna, Sabah. This industry has been successfully developed under the MyGAP programme whereby the seaweed farmers comply with Malaysian Standards MS 2467- Code of Practice for Seaweed Cultivation; and can you imagine that just within two years, the monthly income of each participant of the programme has increased from RM 350 to RM 2,500. In a nutshell, I would like to say that #adastandarduntung,” Datuk Fadilah concluded.
