GlobalG.A.P. North America says in a news release that its U.S. national interpretation guideline for Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) v6 GFS for fruit and vegetables has been published.
Integrated Farm Assurance promotes responsible farming practices and takes a holistic approach, addressing the key topics of good agricultural practices including food safety, environment, production processes, traceability and workers’ health, safety and welfare in one audit.
GlobalG.A.P. says its IFA v6 GFS edition achieved GFSI recognition and it supports this adoption of v6. The guideline details the specific requirements, clarifications and best practices for IFA v6 implementation, and provides examples, direction and resources to support verification and compliance.
Highlights of the guideline include:
- For the principles and criteria on continuous improvement, relating to self-defined targets and progress, the guideline points to free tools such as the Cool Farm Tool or Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops (SISC) calculator, etc,. to establish baseline metrics and track improvement indicators of sustainability over time. These tools can help the producer “measure to manage” on topics such as water, energy, habitat and biodiversity, nitrogen and phosphorus use, soil organic matter and food loss. It also lists low-cost and no-cost examples of worker training, integrated pest management, recycling and more.
- For biodiversity, the guideline points to existing Natural Resource Conservation Service or Farm Service Agency programs as evidence of compliance.
- References national or local licensing as evidence of competencies, such as pesticide applicators’ licensing.
- Explains the difference between subcontractors and service providers in the context of the U.S.
- Considering common industry practice in the U.S., it clarifies the use of GlobalG.A.P. identification numbers, logos and mass balance to maintain producer confidentiality.
- Provides direct references to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) throughout.
- Elaborates on water testing laboratories and acceptable accreditations.
- Contains an explanation of spill containment, which applies to most farms that store fuel on site.
GlobalG.A.P. says its U.S. National Technical Working Group (NTWG), which consists of GlobalG.A.P. Community Members, certified producers and producer groups, experts, buyers, certification body representatives and other supply chain actors, helped develop this guideline.
The organization says Walter Ram of Giumarra and U.S. NTWG Chair, led extensive conversations with the working group and addressed challenges to present the guideline updates for peer review and final approval by the GlobalG.A.P. Fruit and Vegetables Technical Committee.
“The guideline provides U.S. producers support and clarification, especially on topics that might be new to some producers like biodiversity and environmental metrics,” Ram says. “This is a resource that can help them make the connection between what regulations already require them to do, and what needs extra attention for GlobalG.A.P. certification.”
