CanadaGAP, the national food safety certification programme for fresh fruit and vegetable operations, has announced the addition of a new certification body for the programme, SGS Canada Inc.
SGS joins QMI-SAI Global, NSF-GFTC and Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ) in the list of available certification bodies for CanadaGAP.
'SGS is pleased and excited to partner with CanadaGAP,' said James Cuff, business manager for SGS Canada. 'We welcome the opportunity of providing quality audit services to producers and packers across Canada.'
Third-party certification bodies are licensed by CanadaGAP to provide audit and certification services for fresh fruit and vegetable operations enrolled in the programme.
Programme participants must comply with food safety standards outlined by the programme, and undergo and successfully complete on-site audits in order to become CanadaGAP-certified.
Several Canadian buyers-including Loblaw Companies Limited, McCain Foods Canada, Simplot Canada and Lamb-Weston now require their growers to become certified under the CanadaGAP programme.
