Growers will get the reduced audit burden many have been craving under new GlobalGAP standards unveiled this week.
GlobalGAP’s fourth Integrated Farm Assurance Standard was presented by the body this week. As part of its 10th global conference in London, more than 500 delegates gathered to hear details of a reduced audit for the best producers and a move towards more pressing issues such as water usage and the microbiological safety of fruit and vegetables.
The organisation believes the new standard has clearer requirements and eradicates duplication. “Producers who consistently show high performance against the standard will be rewarded by a reduced audit in future years,” said chairman Nigel Garbutt.
“We need to make sure that we remain cutting edge,” he added. “We can learn a lot from countries such as the US, where there has been a number of significant recalls because of microbiological poison. We have opened an office in the US to keep ahead of new science in the industry and we need the standard to think ahead and make producers consider the new points of microbiological contamination in the supply chain.”
Garbutt also insisted that the issues of water usage were top of the agenda. “As water becomes more scarce it will become prone to contamination. The fourth version of the standard covers all the potential areas where contamination could happen. When spraying pesticides, for example, there are new risk assessments. We have been working with the WWF and German retailer Rewe on the reduction of water use and the legality of water use and land-titles as part of a project in Spain on strawberries.
“The industry can play a part to make the world more responsible in regards to water usage and our water resources more sustainable.”
The GlobalGAP standard is implemented on more than 100,000 farms worldwide.
No comments yet