GlobalG.A.P. releases social risk assessment 2.0

Farm assurance and food safety certifier GlobalG.A.P. North America has unveiled the second version of its social risk assessment add-on to its Integrated Farm Assurance standard.

According to GlobalG.A.P., these certification standard updates were completed to better support North American users, along with the existing 117,000 producers in 99 countries that use the standard add-on to verify social responsibility across the supply chain.

Additionally, GlobalG.A.P’s combined IFA plus GRASP standards were benchmarked against the International Fresh Produce Association’s Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices.

“GRASP is widely utilized in the European market, with the adoption by major retailers for managing social risk on farm,” Roberta Anderson, executive vice president of GlobalG.A.P. North America, said in a news release. “As a standard benchmarked to IFPA’s Ethical Charter, we anticipate GRASP’s increased uptake in the North American market as endorsers of the Ethical Charter seek an efficient and independently verified means to demonstrate alignment.”

The flagship Integrated Farm Assurance standard, paired with the updated Global Risk Assessment on Social Practice module, creates a comprehensive certification standard that encompasses both worker health and safety as well as social responsibility and supply chain issues at a farm level. Both standards can be verified with a single audit.

According to the news release, the benchmark to IFPA’s Ethical Charter enables producers to show third-party verified evidence of compliance demonstrating Ethical Charter practices, either voluntarily or in response to buyer requirements. Producers who have GlobalG.A.P. IFA certification along with GRASP compliance demonstrate they have effectively adopted the Ethical Charter.

How the GRASP add-on works

As an add-on to GlobalG.A.P.'s main Integrated Farm Assurance standard, the GRASP module goes deeper into social responsibility, building on the IFA standard foundation of workers’ health and safety topics. According to the release, the GRASP module:

• covers all social criteria in the U.N.’s International Labor Organization core labor conventions.
• relies on country-specific guidelines, specific to local legislation.
• identifies areas of greater risk, allowing producers and retailers to direct attention and resources to those priorities.
   

GRASP is designed for farms of all farm sizes, including smallholder. The standard is designed to support farmer, producers and retailers to transparently produce, source and partner with operations aligned with similar corporate social responsibility policies.