An impromptu round of applause marked the unveiling of the name change from EurepGAP to GlobalGAP last week, with members overwhelmingly welcoming the decision as the start of a new phase for international farm assurance.
The new name - revealed exclusively on freshinfo last week - was unveiled by chairman Nigel Garbutt and secretary Kristian Moeller on the second day of the GlobalGAP conference, in Bangkok, last Friday.
To the genuine surprise of members, Garbutt and Moeller lowered a EurepGAP banner to reveal the GlobalGAP logo, complete with new slogan - the Global Partnership for Good Agricultural Practice.
Garbutt told those present that the EurepGAP name had lost its relevance as progress moved the scheme onto a new and wider plane. “Today, you are all witnesses to a major milestone in the development of EurepGAP,” he told delegates. “It is not that we are leaving EurepGAP behind, but the baby has grown up into an adult, into GlobalGAP.”
Members immediately gave this coming of age the thumbs up. “[They] have told me that the word ‘global’ is very appropriate,” Moeller told freshinfo after making the announcement. “We want to be a one-stop shop, or one auditor through the farm gate, for businesses all over the world, and that is what we are working towards.”
Professor John Humphrey, research fellow and team leader for globalisation at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, said while there could be some confusion in the short term, this would be outweighed by the clarity that the name change would bring in the long term.
Mark Proctor, managing director at assurance service SAI Global, agreed that the name change “better reflects what GlobalGAP is trying to achieve”.
“People always assumed it was a European standard and not appropriate for other parts of the world, other than those exporting to Europe,” he added. “Now people will consider it as a standard appropriate for global use.”
The decision to retain the distinctive green branding, with the addition of a new strapline, was also backed by members. Stephen Skillman, global technical manager for insecticides at Syngenta Crop Protection, told freshinfo: “People associate the green letters with EurepGAP, so by changing the name and keeping the branding, GlobalGAP will still be clearly recognisable.”
There was a mixed reaction on the freshinfo poll, which asked readers - is the production world ready for truly harmonised standards? At the time of going to press, 51 per cent of respondents had said yes, and 42 said no.
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