Cologne/ Paris – The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat is proud to announce that the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standards, version 6 GFS, published in 2022, have received official recognition from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). This recognition highlights the organization’s unwavering dedication to upholding the highest standards of food safety across the entire supply chain.
Scope of recognition
The GFSI has formally recognized version 6.0 GFS of the Integrated Farm Assurance standards for plants and aquaculture. This recognition ensures that responsible production processes certified according to the GLOBALG.A.P. standards adhere to globally acknowledged food safety and environmental sustainability standards.
Effective from 6 August 2024, these standards meet the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements v2020:
- Integrated Farm Assurance Smart/GFS version 6.0 – Principles and criteria for aquaculture (finfish, crustaceans, molluscs and seaweed)
- AII: Farming of fish and seafood
- Integrated Farm Assurance GFS Plants version 6.0 – Principles and criteria for fruits and vegetables
- BI: Farming of plants (other than grains and pulses)
- BIII: Pre-process handling of plant products
Transition information
For stakeholders currently certified under IFA v5.4-1-GFS, their certifications remain valid and GFSI-benchmarked for the duration of the certificate. Audits for IFA v5.4-1 may continue until 31 December 2024, with issued certificates remaining valid for their full lifecycle. Starting from 1 January 2025, all IFA audits for aquaculture and fruit and vegetables will be conducted against IFA v6 Smart or IFA v6 GFS, the latter being necessary for GFSI recognition. Audits to IFA v5.4-1 will no longer be possible after this date.
“We are excited about maintaining the recognition by GFSI and look forward to continuing to uphold the highest standards of food safety in collaboration with our stakeholders”, explained Dr. Elmé Coetzer-Boersma, Managing Director at GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS.
About GLOBALG.A.P.
GLOBALG.A.P. is a brand of smart farm assurance solutions developed by FoodPLUS GmbH in Cologne, Germany, with cooperation from producers, retailers, and other stakeholders across the food industry. These solutions include a range of standards for safe, socially and environmentally responsible farming practices. The most widely used GLOBALG.A.P. standard is IFA, applicable to fruit and vegetables, aquaculture, floriculture, and more. This standard also forms the basis for the GGN label – the consumer label for certified, responsible farming and transparency.
The GLOBALG.A.P. brand began its journey as EUREPGAP in 1997. Now, over twenty-five years later, more than 200,000 producers are under GLOBALG.A.P. certification in 132 countries. Nearly 150 team members around the world are dedicated to the mission of spreading responsible farming practices to ensure safe food for future generations.
About the GFSI Benchmarking Process
Benchmarking is a procedure by which a food safety Certification Program Owner (CPO) is compared to the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements. The process is designed to be executed in an independent, unbiased, technically proficient and transparent manner. A program is ‘recognised’ by GFSI when it has been verified that it meets every single GFSI benchmarking requirement, both in procedures and in operations. An independent benchmark leader, supported by the GFSI Technical Manager, assesses whether the application meets GFSI requirements, followed by a public consultation period that is open to all GFSI Stakeholders. The benchmark leader and GFSI Technical Manager then make a recommendation to the GFSI Steering Committee regarding recognition of the programme. The full process is defined in the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements document.
About the Global Food Safety Initiative
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI; the Coalition) is a CEO-led Coalition of Action from The Consumer Goods Forum, bringing together 34 retailers and manufacturers and an extended food safety community to help oversee food safety standards for businesses and help provide access to safe food for people everywhere. As one of the world’s largest networks to help achieve safe food , GFSI is committed to making food safety everyone’s business and the Coalition members are addressing challenges facing food safety systems in their supply chains and the markets they operate in, and are helping to raise the food safety bar globally. Its ambition is to strengthen and harmonise food safety systems so they are able to feed the growing, global population and develop markets that can deliver food safely, no matter where in the world the consumer is. To learn more, visit www.mygfsi.com
