May 27, 2021
California Certified Organic Farmers discusses GlobalG.A.P. services
California Certified Organic Farmers recently discussed its membership with GlobalG.A.P., an international program for various food safety and sustainability certifications.
GlobalG.A.P featured an interview with Jacob Guth, Food Safety Program Manager at CCOF on its website.
“Integrity and efficiency is our motto when we send one inspector for both USDA (National Organic Program) NOP and GLOBALG.A.P. compliances,” Guth said in the interview. “While the certifications are different, many of the practices overlap and having one inspector review the records and walk the fields all on the same day leverages efficiencies appreciated by our producers.”
GlobalG.A.P.’s Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) standard is one of several standards available to CCOF’s members, according to the interview.
GlobalG.AP. also recently announced its Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) model was able to certify companies to meet WalMart’s new pollinator health commitments.
Elmé Coetzer-Boersma, GLOBALG.A.P. Managing Director overseeing standards said in a news release that farms certified to the GLOBALG.A.P. IFA standard for crops will automatically meet Walmart’s new biodiversity requirements.
Early adopters, including farms with GLOBALG.A.P. IFA certification, will already be in compliance with Walmart U.S.’s new requirement to have IPM practices verified by a third party by 2025, according to the release. Farmers supplying Walmart U.S.and choosing GLOBALG.A.P.’s IFA standard will now have the added benefit of meeting Walmart’s food safety and biodiversity requirements with a single audit and certificate.
“GLOBALG.A.P. recognizes that meeting many different supply chain compliance requirements can put a strain on farmers,” Coetzer-Boersma said. “We are committed to working with industry to ensure our certification solutions provide streamlined options for farmers while satisfying market needs. Our IFA standard does exactly this for supply chains around the globe.”
