From 30 September to 1 October 2025, three representatives from Lao PDR participated in a specialized training program in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This initiative was part of a supplementary experience-sharing workshop to accelerate the alignment of Lao PDR’s National Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) with the ASEAN GAP as well as to enhance Lao PDR’s capacity required for peer reviews among AMS.

The training, conducted by Thai counterparts, provided an excellent and tailored training program in response to the specific requests from Lao PDR. It enabled the participants to deepen their understanding of best practices in the GAP certification system and apply this knowledge to enhance their own system. Equipped with this new knowledge, the Lao participants plan to reassess their own GAP standards in October, targeting alignment with ASEAN GAP standards and subsequently submitting the peer review report to the ASEAN Secretariat. In addition, they intend to apply the lessons learned to strengthen the GAP certification system in Lao PDR.

Mr. Salongxay Rasabud, Director of the Division of Standards and Certification at the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Lao PDR, expressed his appreciation for the training. He stated, “Lao PDR has not yet aligned the national GAP standard with the ASEAN GAP standard. So, the training is very useful for helping Lao PDR to align the national GAP standard with ASEAN. After this training, I will utilize the knowledge to review the national GAP standard to align with ASEAN as our intention. Another is that I have learned a lot from the training, including GAP inspection and certification systems from Thailand and ISO/IEC 17065, among others, and I will use this knowledge to improve and develop GAP in my country. Also, I would like to thank AJFVC for supporting this training and Thailand for giving us valuable lessons during the training.”

This training is expected to foster mutual learning and collaboration among ASEAN Member States, leading to sustainable agricultural practices throughout the region.