{"id":108,"date":"2026-07-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T22:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:37:25","slug":"what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Participatory Guarantee System?"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>\u201cPGS is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Participatory Guarantee Systems, or PGS, are starting to appear around Australia. They are often associated with local, slow, sustainable and organic food groups, community gardens and farmers\u2019 markets.<\/p>\n<p>PGS is used by some farmers\u2019 markets to certify the local origin and\/or organic provenance of food, to guarantee that it is what it claims to be. PGS is always local and community owned, and therefore can avoid the high cost and much of the bureaucracy of third-party certification.<\/p>\n<p>PGS is empowering because it is participatory, and hence community building.<\/p>\n<p>Most jobs are shared by members, and any necessary small expenditures contribute to local employment. It can encompass producer, seller, health, environmental and consumer interests. It is designed to encourage the sharing of information between producer members \u2014 something that existing certification systems cannot do \u2014 so it can encourage the growth of organic and sustainable agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>PGS is a local strategy. To work well it creates a community of people who know each other and can work together. Confidence, trust and shared knowledge arising from PGS can only encourage local development and food sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>PGS is a genuine form of certification, but it does not comply with government accreditation, so PGS produce cannot be exported. It is ideal for direct and local sellers via farmers\u2019 markets, local shops, box delivery systems or internet sales.<\/p>\n<p>PGS schemes supported by OCAA use the same organic standard and practices, but the \u2018verification\u2019 costs of major certifiers are replaced by the participation of local stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SCPA \u2014 South East Producers<\/strong> is a not-for-profit incorporated association located in the south-east of NSW. Members are mainly smallholders and backyard gardeners, and SCPA runs the longest-established PGS in Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PGS is a low-cost, community-owned alternative to third-party organic certification &mdash; and it is spreading across Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organic-standards-certification"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is a Participatory Guarantee System? - Organic Consumers Association of Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Participatory Guarantee System is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a Participatory Guarantee System? - Organic Consumers Association of Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Participatory Guarantee System is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Organic Consumers Association of Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T22:37:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e82e5c230f1e717d71cfee44cc7a821f\"},\"headline\":\"What is a Participatory Guarantee System?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-11T22:37:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":313,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Standards &amp; Certification\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/\",\"name\":\"What is a Participatory Guarantee System? - Organic Consumers Association of Australia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-11T22:37:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"A Participatory Guarantee System is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/11\\\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is a Participatory Guarantee System?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Organic Consumers Association of Australia\",\"description\":\"The official website of the Organic Consumers Association of Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Organic Consumers Association of Australia\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/cropped-OCAA_Logo_V-sm.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/cropped-OCAA_Logo_V-sm.png\",\"width\":199,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Organic Consumers Association of Australia\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e82e5c230f1e717d71cfee44cc7a821f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d0380e89ae344f088e699aaee4b19138a6eed27c5e5f9881258b4a2fa8b17205?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d0380e89ae344f088e699aaee4b19138a6eed27c5e5f9881258b4a2fa8b17205?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d0380e89ae344f088e699aaee4b19138a6eed27c5e5f9881258b4a2fa8b17205?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/organic-consumers.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/organicconsumers\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is a Participatory Guarantee System? - Organic Consumers Association of Australia","description":"A Participatory Guarantee System is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is a Participatory Guarantee System? - Organic Consumers Association of Australia","og_description":"A Participatory Guarantee System is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.","og_url":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/","og_site_name":"Organic Consumers Association of Australia","article_published_time":"2026-07-11T09:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-11T22:37:25+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e82e5c230f1e717d71cfee44cc7a821f"},"headline":"What is a Participatory Guarantee System?","datePublished":"2026-07-11T09:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-11T22:37:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/"},"wordCount":313,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Standards &amp; Certification"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/","url":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/","name":"What is a Participatory Guarantee System? - Organic Consumers Association of Australia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-11T09:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-11T22:37:25+00:00","description":"A Participatory Guarantee System is a low-cost, locally-based system of quality assurance, with a strong emphasis on social control. A PGS is based on diffused technical knowledge, inclusion and collective accountability.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-is-a-participatory-guarantee-system\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is a Participatory Guarantee System?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/","name":"Organic Consumers Association of Australia","description":"The official website of the Organic Consumers Association of Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#organization","name":"Organic Consumers Association of Australia","url":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cropped-OCAA_Logo_V-sm.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cropped-OCAA_Logo_V-sm.png","width":199,"height":200,"caption":"Organic Consumers Association of Australia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e82e5c230f1e717d71cfee44cc7a821f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0380e89ae344f088e699aaee4b19138a6eed27c5e5f9881258b4a2fa8b17205?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0380e89ae344f088e699aaee4b19138a6eed27c5e5f9881258b4a2fa8b17205?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0380e89ae344f088e699aaee4b19138a6eed27c5e5f9881258b4a2fa8b17205?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/organic-consumers.com"],"url":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/author\/organicconsumers\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organic-consumers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}