Systems and services update

Capacity building

The term “capacity building” encompasses all of the GLOBALG.A.P. activities aimed at raising awareness of responsible farming practices and facilitating their implementation on the ground. This includes training from the GLOBALG.A.P. Academy, working with consultants and freelance trainers through the Registered Trainer program, projects supported by collaboration with other organizations around the world, as well as events such as GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR stops. All of the capacity-building efforts are vital to the GLOBALG.A.P. mission of fostering the global adoption of safe, socially and environmentally responsible farming practices.

The GLOBALG.A.P. Academy

The GLOBALG.A.P. Academy offers workshops and training programs to transfer our extensive certification experience, knowledge, and expertise to those who need it. Targeted, up-to-date trainings are offered in various locations around the world. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most recent trainings have been held online.

The GLOBALG.A.P. Academy offered workshops on the following topics in 2021:

59
workshops
+
compared to 2020
70 %
private
0 %
public
870
participants
+
compared to 2020
Workshops by type

Capacity building projects

Farm Assurers

Farm Assurers* are independent, GLOBALG.A.P. trained and approved consultants who provide expertise to producers. With first-hand knowledge about the GLOBALG.A.P. system and the latest industry developments, they make the standards easier to understand and provide professional, personalized guidance which enables producers to make more informed commercial decisions and learn about new market opportunities that GLOBALG.A.P. certification can bring.

*In January 2022 the Farm Assurer program was succeeded by the Registered Trainer program. For this reason, our website now refers to Registered Trainers rather than Farm Assurers. For more information, please see here.

licensed Farm Assurers in 2021
licensed companies
countries
Number of Farm Assurers per region in 2021

Hover over the dots to see the number of Farm Assurers.

New Farm Assurers in 2021

Hover over the countries to see the number of new Farm Assurers.

Silver Seal Farm Assurers in 2021 (5+ years of service)

Those who achieved silver seal status for the first time in 2021 are highlighted in yellow. 

FA Consultant Country
Indiana Mendilaharzu  Argentina
Stephan Imbery Austria
Kliment Petrov Bulgaria
Gaowen Liu China
Jell (Guancheng) Shu China
Beatriz Arrieta Colombia
Lis Soerensen Denmark
Manal Saleh Egypt
Fikre Dessie Mekonnen Ethiopia
Seble Eshetu Ethiopia
Yordanos Fekade Ethiopia
Victor Koblah Avah Ghana 
Carlos Palacios Guatemala
Edwin Guzman Guatemala
Hector Carrillo Guatemala
Josue Teo Guatemala
Marwin Garzona Guatemala
Patricia Obichukwu Nigeria
Per-Otto Hjertenes  Norway
Alexandra Pinto Portugal
Iain Bennett-Hobbs Portugal
Maria Niculiu Romania
Isidor ByeongDeok Yu South Korea
David Contreras Spain
Francisco Guillen Spain
Jenna Wijngaarde Suriname
Seda Kizilok Turkey
Fazal Hamid United Arab Emirates
Qamar Zia United Arab Emirates
Aaron Avila United States of America
Juli Ogden  United States of America
Keith Heinrichs United States of America

GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarking

GLOBALG.A.P. recognizes other standards as equivalent. This form of benchmarking avoids the need for duplicate audits and simplifies certification for producers. In turn, this reduces costs, administration, time, and effort for producers, suppliers, and retailers – contributing to higher engagement in safe and responsible farming.

In 2021 GLOBALG.A.P. offered two levels of benchmarking recognition – equivalent schemes/checklists (full conformance to GLOBALG.A.P. requirements) and resembling schemes (incomplete but substantial conformance). By achieving GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarking recognition, the benchmarked schemes and checklists also enjoy international acknowledgement – a valuable advantage in a highly competitive global market.

The role of the Benchmarking Committee
The Benchmarking Committee is composed of independent technical experts representing the agricultural industry and supply chain. The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat appoints members for each scheme/checklist applying for benchmarking. The Committee is responsible for evaluating the benchmarking process results report and recommending a recognition level for each applicant scheme/checklist.

2021 benchmarking figures:
Benchmarked product categories
Scheme Name Scheme Owner Country Sub-Scope(s) Category Version
AGROCALIDAD BPA Agencia Ecuatoriana de Aseguramiento de la Calidad del Agro – AGROCALIDAD Ecuador FV Checklist GLOBALG.A.P. IFA V5.1 – Guía de BPA Version 1
AMAG.A.P. Agrarmarkt Austria Marketing GesmbH Austria FV Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – AMAG.A.P. version 2018
ChileG.A.P. Asociación de Exportadores de Frutas de Chile, A.G. (ASOEX) Chile FV Checklist GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – ChileG.A.P. version 5.2
EHPEA Code of Practice for Sustainable Flower Production (Silver Level) Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) Ethiopia FO, PPM Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – EHPEA version 5.1
IKB Varken Varkenshouders Kiwa VERIN B.V. Netherlands Pigs Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version  5.2 – IKB version  22
KFC Flowers and Ornamentals Sustainability Standard Kenya Flower Council Kenya FO Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – KFC version  June 2019 
MPS-GAP MPS Milieu Programma Sierteelt Netherlands FO, PPM Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – MPS-GAP version 11.1
naturane ANECOOP S. COOP. Spain FV Checklist GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – naturane version 5.2
New Zealand GAP Horticulture New Zealand Inc. New Zealand FV Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – New Zealand GAP version 6.2 October 2019
QS-GAP QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH Germany FV Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA 5.2 – QS-GAP version 2021 & QS-GAP version 2022
SwissGAP Hortikultur Verein SwissGAP Switzerland FO Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – SwissGAP Hortikultur Version2017-V2
Scheme Name Scheme Owner Country Sub-Scope(s) Category Version
OHAS Grower Standard  Ornamental Horticulture Assurance Scheme (OHAS) United Kingdom FO Scheme* GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – OHAS Grower Standard version 4
Florverde Sustainable Flowers (FSF) Asocolflores Colombia FO Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – FSF version 7.1
IKB Nederland Varkens De Groene Belangenbehartiger (DGB) subsidiary Varkenspost.nl Netherlands Pigs Scheme* GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – IKB Nederland Varkens version 12.0 and 13.0
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms Fresh Produce Scheme Assured Food Standards Ltd / Red Tractor Assurance United Kingdom FV Scheme* GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version  5.2 – Red Tractor Fresh Produce v5.0 (Nov2021)
SwissGAP Früchte, Gemüse und Kartoffeln (FGK) Verein SwissGAP Switzerland FV Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. IFA version 5.2 – SwissGAP FGK version 2017-V2
Vegaplan Standard for primary Crop Production Vegaplan vzw Belgium GLOBALG.A.P. CfP Scheme GLOBALG.A.P. CfP V1.0 – Vegaplan V3.0
Scheme Name Scheme Owner Country Sub-Scope(s) Category
ChinaGAP Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA) China FV, FO, CC, Tea Scheme
EHPEA Code of Practice for Fruit, Vegetable and Herb Production (Silver Level) Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) Ethiopia FV Scheme
FlorEcuador Asociación Nacional de Productores y Exportadores de Flores del Ecuador EXPOFLORES Ecuador FO Scheme
SaudiGAP Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia FV Checklist

Integrity program

The Integrity Program, the first of its kind in food certification, has been closely monitoring GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs and their activities since 2008.

With over 2000 auditors working for more than 185 accredited CBs certifying over 600 products and more than 200,000 producers spread across 132 countries on 5 continents, keeping the confidence of our stakeholders is our top priority.

The Integrity Program is designed to ensure the consistent delivery and implementation of GLOBALG.A.P. standards worldwide. It also acts as a feedback mechanism that serves the continuous improvement of all aspects of the GLOBALG.A.P. system.

The role of the Integrity Surveillance Committee
Integrity Surveillance Committee members are industry experts with a local legal background. The members are appointed by the Advisory Board but work independently and meet at least twice a year. The Integrity Surveillance Committee assesses integrity issues and CB non-conformances and proposes correctional measures and sanctions.

Integrity Program 2021 in Numbers:
days of integrity assessments covering 29 countries
certification body trainings
244
complaints processed
15524
customer service requests resolved

The Integrity Program publishes its own activity report each year. Find the 2021 Integrity Report here.

GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems

GLOBALG.A.P. farm assurance products rely on a network of interconnected IT systems with which users interact on a daily basis. These systems create a framework for producers, CBs, and supply chain members and ensure that each GLOBALG.A.P. claim can be verified. Learn more about our systems below.

Certification Body Administration Tool (CB-AT)

The GLOBALG.A.P. tool for managing auditor qualifications

GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs must register their auditors and their respective qualifications in this system so that the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat can (re)approve them for auditing duties as appropriate. The connection between CB-AT and AOH means that only registered and approved auditors can conduct audits and share the relevant data, strengthening the integrity of the GLOBALG.A.P. system.

Audit Online Hub (AOH)

The digital hub for GLOBALG.A.P. audits

As part of the goal of simplifying the audit process and continually improving GLOBALG.A.P. standards, AOH was developed to help CBs collect audit data information in a modern, efficient, and uniform way. AOH is currently in use for a limited selection of standards and is being further developed for our new era of smart farm assurance solutions.

1000000
page visits in 2021

The GLOBALG.A.P. database

An information bank of producers with certified production processes around the world

The GLOBALG.A.P. database contains all producers worldwide with a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate and lists their unique 13-digit GLOBALG.A.P. identification number, e.g., a GGN or an LGN. All of the relevant product, certification, and assessment information is stored here, providing instant, complete accessibility for retailers and traders to confirm the registration and status of producers and the validity of their certificates. To ensure traceability and transparency, any GLOBALG.A.P. identification number not found in the GLOBALG.A.P. database is considered immediately invalid.

Validation Service

The smart way to issue certificates

Validation Service is a tool that GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs use to create and issue certificates and letters of conformance for GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons. The system was built in 2020 and is currently in use for a limited selection of standards and add-ons. It is being further developed for our new era of smart farm assurance solutions.

Impact Driven Approach (IDA)

Collecting data for continuous improvement

As part of the efforts to improve sustainability within the responsible farming practices outlined in GLOBALG.A.P. standards, a new approach to data is underway. This approach consists of collecting data from producers, processing the data in a way that respects data ownership and confidentiality, and transforming it into information which has a variety of uses such as improving efficiency at farm level, improving the GLOBALG.A.P. standards and their impact, as well as giving buyers a stronger sense of trust in a certification system based on data.

The project began with the IDA add-on for flowers and ornamentals, but will eventually include all producers in the GLOBALG.A.P. network, with farm management systems acting as the interface for data exchange between producers and GLOBALG.A.P., so that producers are not required to adapt to a new GLOBALG.A.P. IT system. The first producer was audited against IDA in April 2021 and, as of June 2022, 44 producers have completed the IDA audit and are transmitting data via IDA. Many more have already begun submitting data.

IDA marks the start of a journey that will continue with IFA v6 in 2022 and beyond.

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