The Fruit and Vegetables Technical Committee is aimed at advancing good agricultural practices in crop production. Members evaluate applicable proposals from focus groups, consult on standard interpretation and improvement, assess national interpretation guidelines (NIGs), and handle key issues that arise in the fresh produce sector.

The Aquaculture Technical Committee addresses all key aspects of production. As the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for aquaculture covers a range of aquatic species and influences every step of the production and distribution chain, the technical committee is also responsible for issues concerning traceability, compound feed, and the CoC standard.

The GRASP Technical Committee addresses the sector-specific interpretation and revision of the GRASP add-on, as well as participating in the peer review of its NIGs. Members also review and revise principles and criteria contained in the IFA standard on the topic of workers’ health, safety, and welfare.

The GRASP Technical Committee will also be assisting in the development of a new standard for workers’ well-being; the first-ever agriculture industry standard that will aim to provide assurance on social, ethical, and human rights principles related to labor in the value chain. This will provide an alternative to the GRASP add-on and cater to the diverse needs of the market.

The Chain of Custody Technical Committee addresses the oversight and continuous improvement of the CoC standard. It has a mandate from the GLOBALG.A.P. Advisory Board to provide rulings on interpretation questions related to the standard, as well as to evaluate stakeholder exception requests.

The Systems and Rules Technical Committee is designed to analyze, maintain, and review the GLOBALG.A.P. certification rules. The technical committee consults the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat on issues raised by the market and certificate holders during solution implementation. This includes the proposal of changes to the GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations as well as the development of supporting documents or guidelines. The technical committee also safeguards data protection compliance by governing and reviewing the GLOBALG.A.P. data policy.

There are currently five active technical committees. These primarily cover the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for fruit and vegetables, the IFA standard for aquaculture, the GLOBALG.A.P. Chain of Custody standard, the GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice add-on, and the rules and regulations that govern the GLOBALG.A.P. certification system.

Technical committees are formed of an equal number of representatives from GLOBALG.A.P. Community Member organizations around the world in the producer/supplier and retail/food service categories. Some technical committees, such as the Systems and Rules Technical Committee, also feature representatives from certification bodies.

We aim to select members that target representation from all major regions of GLOBALG.A.P. operations: Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Technical committee members must attend at least two meetings per year (in person or virtual). The frequency of meetings can depend on, for example, the status of standard revisions. More information on attendance can be found in the terms of reference for technical committees.

Member applications are only accepted from representatives of existing GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members from the categories of producer/supplier and retail/food service. Applicants must have relevant education/experience in a field related to the scope of the technical committee’s activities.

When there are open seats, the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat issues a public call for participation through the GLOBALG.A.P. website and through direct communication with GLOBALG.A.P.  Community Members.

Interested parties should first read the terms of reference for technical committees to understand the roles and responsibilities, and then submit the online application form including a letter of motivation and at least two letters of recommendation from community member peers. The GLOBALG.A.P. Advisory Board makes the final decision on acceptance.

A chairperson and vice-chairperson are elected at the first meeting of a technical committee and remain in the role for the duration of their term. Any member of the technical committee can nominate themselves for the role.  Responsibilities include: 

• Moderation of all meetings 

• Approval of agendas and meeting minutes 

• Facilitation of decision-making among members 

• Collaboration with the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat representative in monitoring member commitment through attendance and contribution 

• Participation in joint technical committee/GLOBALG.A.P. Advisory Board meetings

Technical committee members serve for fixed terms, typically of four years. They can remain in the position for a maximum of three consecutive terms, ensuring the successful retention and transfer of knowledge and expertise within the technical committee.

Technical committees are a permanent fixture of the GLOBALG.A.P. governance structure and have long-term objectives and responsibilities. While focus groups also support the review and innovation of GLOBALG.A.P. solutions through sector-specific insight, they tend to be assembled on an ad-hoc basis to provide highly targeted input on topics of interest (such as environmental sustainability in crop production).

Technical committees are comprised exclusively of representatives of GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members, whereas participation in focus groups is open to anyone with industry experience in the relevant field. There are however still a defined number of participants who must be community members, with at least one from each of the producer/supplier and retail/food service categories.