ISO 19624:2018 is the world’s first international bamboo grading standard. It contains few prescriptive clauses and is mostly written as a recipe for a national grading standard. This paper reports the initial phases of the implementation of this standard in the context of a production plant (Kawayan Collective) exploiting Bambusa blumeana harvested in The Philippines. The team undertook the initial evaluation (i.e. characterization) of B. blumeana harvested from six sites. 123 culms were geometrically and mechanically characterised, as required by ISO 19624. Current visual grading rules used at Kawayan Collective have been recorded as well as their associated rejection rates and resulting associated cost of this rejection. Early findings from the initial evaluation are discussed.