The Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC)’s CanadaGAP (On-Farm Food Safety) programme has announced the addition of a new certification body for the scheme in the form of the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ).
BNQ joins QMI-SAI Global and the Guelph Food Technology Centre in the list of available certification bodies for CanadaGAP, according to a news statement from CHC.
Third-party certification bodies are licensed by the CHC to provide audit and certification services for producers and packers of fresh fruit and vegetables who are enrolled in the programme.
Participants must comply with food safety standards outlined by the programme, and undergo and successfully complete on-farm audits in order to become CanadaGAP-certified.
Several Canadian buyers – including Loblaw Companies, McCain Foods Canada, Simplot Canada and Lamb-Weston – are requiring that growers become certified under the CanadaGAP scheme.
New participants to CanadaGAP are asked to indicate their chosen certification body on the programme enrolment form.
Producers, storage operators and packers that are already CanadaGAP-certified will be contacted to confirm their selected certification body before their next scheduled audit.
The CHC’s CanadaGAP (On-Farm Food Safety) programme consists of national food safety standards and a certification system for the safe production, storage and packing of fresh fruits and vegetables.
