The US market has responded well to the renamed GlobalGAP, and is starting to look more seriously at the European-based standard, according to its chairman Nigel Garbutt.
Delegates at the PMA Fresh Summit, held last week in Houston, were briefed on Sunday on GlobalGAP and the latest developments in the worldwide harmonisation of Good Agricultural Practices.
Many growers across the US that supply product into Europe have already been certified, and with the importance of food safety having risen several notches in the US after a number of food scares, the time appears right for an expansion of GlobalGAP’s North American network of members and users.
Garbutt said: “I think a few US retailers are starting to look at GlobalGAP seriously. There is heightened interest in what the standards are for their imported produce in particular, and we clearly have a solution for them.
“There is no need to reinvent the wheel, but the US trade knows that it needs to provide assurance to the 95 per cent of consumers that are buying conventionally grown product, because that’s where the trade is.
“Food safety is a global issue,” he added. “Anything that happens in the States is read about in the UK and elsewhere, and it can affect us all. The GlobalGAP name has definitely made it easier to communicate with the US market, as it has moved us away from the standards being seen as principally European.”
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