Government developing national standard for coconet coir fiber

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is developing the national standard for coconet coir fiber to boost local and international trade of the product.

The agency is seeking comments from stakeholders on the draft Philippine National Standard (PNS) for coconet from Dec. 4 this year to Feb. 2, 2024.

It has also tentatively scheduled a public consultation on Jan. 16, 2024 to gather more comments.

The PCA said the standards would lay down specifications on the minimum requirements and grading quality of coconet for local consumption and international trade.

“This standard specifies the minimum requirements and establishes a system for good quality coconet intended for coconut bio-engineering solutions for soil erosion, irrigation, flood control, landfill, rehabilitation of mined areas, slope protection, riverbank and mangrove stabilization,” the agency said.

The PCA said the woven netting shall be made from 100 percent high strength coir twine.

In the draft, it has classified three types of coconet, based on mass per unit area at moisture content between 18 to 24 percent wet basis and on applicability.

The agency has also specified the packaging and labeling of the coconet for warehousing, storage, retail and export.

The PCA said major contents of this PNS are based on the Department Order 142, Series of 2016: Amendment to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Standard Specification for Coconet Bio-Engineering Solutions and Administrative Order 01 Series of 2016: PCA-National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Coconet Standard Generic Specification for Irrigation.

The development of a coconet PNS was first conceptualized in 2017 led by the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) the PCA.

In 2019, the BAFS turned over the standard development to the Bureau of Philippine Standards of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-BPS).

However, with the recognition of PCA as a Standard Development Organization the activity was again transferred to PCA in 2021.