Consumers, whilst purchasing products, often wonder whether or not the products have been produced in accordance with organic standards. They can rely on an outside agency (either private or governmental) to provide assurance that what they buy is indeed organic, or rely on the people and organizations involved in the production process, the distribution and the use of organic products in order to be sure of the provenance of the product.

Some countries in the world such as the U.S., Japan and some European ones, have advanced organic agriculture developments in that they have associations that certify organic products. This is the case, for example, in the U.S. with the certified organic farmers of the U.S. Ministry of Agriculture. In Vietnam, currently there is no official organic certification for products by the State.

However, there is also exists another system. The Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), certifies organic products with the different mechanisms of the state system introduced above. The farmers will be receive a certified code and permission to use the logo of the PGS system. Consumers can rely on this logo to identify organic products. In Vietnam, the PGS system is being improved and developed by the Organization for Agricultural Development Denmark (ADDA).

After a period of implementation, through rigorous inspection processes, organic vegetable projects to help farmers reduce poverty by Action for the City and coordinate the implementation of ADDA, the organic vegetable production team in Bai Thuong village, Thanh Xuan ward, Soc Son district (Hanoi) was very glad to receive a PGS Certification.

On the farm tour of 30 Jan 2010, Ms. Tu Tuyet Nhung of ADDA and Mr. Nguyen Van Tao - the chairman of the Farmer Union in Thanh Xuan ward awarded a PGS certificate to 10 members of Bai Thuong group. A very large number of customers came and shared that day, and they were all happy and congratulated the group.

Bai Thuong farmers are proud to be the first vegetable production group in Viet Nam to have received the PGS certificate.