General Guidelines for the Accreditation of Tissue Culture Laboratories for the Production of Quality Planting Materials

March 5, 2012

DA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 007-12

 

Pursuant to the provision of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 7308, otherwise known as the Seed Industry Development Act of 1992, the following guidelines for the Accreditation of Tissue Culture Laboratories are to be adopted and promulgated to ensure mass propagation and distribution of quality planting materials. DEHaTC

1. The applicant can be an individual owner/producer, cooperative/association, seed company, or government-owned/funded tissue culture laboratory which complied with the required production standards for quality planting materials.

2. The following are the requirements for accreditation:

2.1. Documents to be submitted:

A. For private-owned/funded tissue culture laboratory, the following documents must be submitted:

1. Business permit issued by city/municipal government where the laboratory is located for all private laboratories.

2. Certificate of registration from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for single proprietor applicant.

3. Certificate of registration from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for corporate-owned laboratories.

4. Certificate of registration from any legitimate government registering agencies for People's organization owned laboratories.

5. Certificate of registration from the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) for cooperative.

B. For government-owned/SCU laboratories, certificate of ownership from the head of the agency/institution must be submitted.

2.2. The following laboratory requirement must be met:

1. Qualified laboratory staff AIcaDC

2. Infrastructure design and facilities (Appendix I)

3. Minimum basic laboratory equipment (Appendix II)

4. Good tissue culture practices (Appendix III)

5. Established tissue culture protocols for specific crops

6. Provision for proper waste disposal (Refer to DENR protocol)

7. Evidence of good documentation and record keeping

8. Flow chart and procedural manual

3. Policies

1. The Bureau of Plant Industry through the National Seed Quality Control Services (BPI-NSQCS) shall be the agency responsible for the accreditation of tissue culture laboratories.

2. The BPI and other designated institutions shall provide the disease-indexing services. The BPI shall prepare a list of authorized disease indexing laboratories.

3. The Department of Agriculture (DA) shall deputize evaluators as recommended by the BPI.

4. The evaluators shall validate and submit the application to the nearest NSQCS Regional/Satellite Office for endorsement to NSQCS, Central Office for approval/denial of application.

5. Accreditation should be recommended by the concerned Regional Executive Director after the evaluator has validated the requirements stated herein and concurred by the Chief, NSQCS of the respective region.

6. Signage indicating the name of operator/owner, address, accreditation number, issuance and expiration dates, must be displayed in a conspicuous place not later than one (1) month after the approval of the accreditation with the following specification and information:

• Dimension: 1m (L) x 0.5m (W) IADaSE

• White background with black lettering

ACCREDITED TISSUE CULTURE LABORATORY

Name/Owner:

Address:

Accreditation No.:

Issuance and expiration dates:

7. Applicant must have operated the Tissue Culture Laboratory for at least one (1) year prior to application for accreditation.

8. The BPI has the right to cancel the certificate of accreditation and confiscate the signboard in case the accredited laboratory fails to maintain the standard requirements during the duration of accreditation period.

9. The Certificate of Accreditation duly approved by the Director of BPI shall be furnished to the applicant and photocopies to the Regional Executive Director and Regional/Satellite NSQCS Chiefs.

10. Accredited Tissue Culture Laboratories (TLC) will be given preference in the government procurement of certified tissue cultured planting materials.

11. Yearly monitoring and evaluation shall be done by the designated tissue culture laboratory evaluators (TCLE).

12. Accreditation period shall be valid for five (5) years from the date of issuance. The performance of the accredited tissue culture laboratory shall be evaluated before the accreditation is renewed.

4. Fees and other related charges

4.1 Applicant must pay a non-refundable accreditation fee of P2,500, both for new and renewal of application for accreditation. CHEDAc

None compliance with the above requirements shall be a ground for the denial of accreditation.

This order shall take effect fifteen [15] days upon publication in the official gazette or in one newspaper of general circulation.

Approved:

 

(SGD.) PROCESO J. ALCALASecretary, Department of Agriculture and

Recommending Approval:

(SGD.) CLARITO M. BARRON, PhD., CESO IVExecutive Director and Vice ChairmanNational Seed Industry Council

APPENDIX 1

Standard Requirements for Tissue Culture Laboratory

The laboratory must have the following basic facilities:

• General washing area

• Media preparation, sterilization and storage area

• Inoculation/transfer room

• Culture/growth room

• Waste disposal

Basic/Minimum Requirements for Tissue Culture Laboratory

Particulars		Minimum Requirements
Washing area*		Sink and water supply
Sterilization area*		Gas stove, pressure cooker, fire extinguisher
Media preparation		Laboratory table, refrigerator, weighing balance, pH meter,
		storage shelves, chemicals, distilling apparatus or source of
		distilled/deionized water
Inoculation room**		Air conditioner, laminar flow hood or improvised transfer
		hood, tools for aseptic techniques (forceps, scalpels, alcohol
		lamps), footwear and laboratory gowns, provision for
		restricted entry
Growth room**		Air conditioner, culture shelves with lights, footwear and
		laboratory gowns, provision for restricted entry
Human Resource:
	o	Technical Person	Bachelor of Science degree in Crop Science and related
		fields (at least 1)
	o	Support staff	Trained staff (at least 1)
* washing and sterilization areas can be combined.
** inoculation and growth rooms can be combined.

APPENDIX 2

List of Equipment

Item	Use	Description	Quantity
Autoclave or pressure	Sterilization	25-41Q	1
cooker
Top loading or electronic	Measuring mg quantities	0.1g-200g	1
balance
Triple beam balance	Weighing quantities	1g-2kg	1
pH meter/digital pen type	Media pH adjustment	Range 0-14	1
Laminar flow or improvised	Provide aseptic condition to		1
transfer hood	inoculate, transfer cultures
Refrigerator	Storage at low temperature		1
	for stock solution
Stove			1
Fire extinguisher			1
Air conditioning unit			1

APPENDIX 3

Good Tissue Culture Practices

1. The mother plants should have botanical name and genetic characteristics of the variety.

2. All explants for tissue culture should be taken from tested and or indexed plants. CcAESI

3. Genetic fidelity of the variety should be maintained.

4. Coding and tagging of cultures and or plantlets indicating the variety and or strain, date of propagation and other relevant information should be done.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 108, No. 23, p. 2758 on June 4, 2012.