About GLOBALG.A.P.

National Technical Working Groups

National technical working groups (NTWGs) facilitate the implementation of GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons in specific countries. Led by GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members, NTWGs bridge the gap from global to local by identifying adaptation and application challenges at a national level and developing national interpretation guidelines (NIGs) – supporting fit-for-purpose solutions and cost-effective audit processes around the world.

Thinking globally, acting locally

What are national technical working groups?

National technical working groups (NTWGs) consist of GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members, qualified experts, and relevant stakeholders in a specific country. Participants may include producer organizations, certification bodies (CBs), retailers, supply chain members, and more. Together, NTWG members work to identify adaptation and implementation challenges based on local legislation or structural conditions. They then develop national interpretation guidelines (NIGs), helping producers and CBs to apply and audit against GLOBALG.A.P. principles and criteria (P&Cs) at a local level.

Infographic with a world map identifying the number GLOBALG.A.P. national technical working groups per region

Why do we have NTWGs?

NTWGs are currently active in more than 50 countries, helping the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat to tap into national networks of experts and gain extensive knowledge about the different legal and operational contexts that exist around the world. They represent the technical entry point into a new market and form the local contact point for the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat when feedback is required.

This expertise helps to ensure that the GLOBALG.A.P. smart farm assurance solutions are fit for purpose in different global conditions, improving the efficiency of the audit process.

Interested in joining the NTWG in your country? View the list of NTWGs.

What are the responsibilities of an NTWG?

Translation 1, Translation, national interpretation guideline, NIG, local, support
Providing assistance

with the proofreading and translation of official GLOBALG.A.P. standard/add-on documents into the languages of the NTWG host country

Document 8, Document, location, national technical working group, NTWG, national interpretation guideline, NIG
Developing NIGs

for GLOBALG.A.P. standards/add-ons in collaboration with the technical committees

Document 4, Document, national interpreatation guideline, NIG, NTWG
Supporting the technical committees

with expertise on country-specific conditions and revision proposals for GLOBALG.A.P. standard/add-on documents

Meeting 2, Meeting, discuss, exchange, dialogue, presentation, panel
Organizing meetings,

a minimum of two per year, providing the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat with meeting minutes, participation lists, and insights on relevant issues

Certification Body 1, Certification body, CB, auditor, audit, assessment
Participating in the peer review

process of GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarking activities concerning schemes operating in the NTWG host country

Contact 3, Contact, address, network
Updating the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat

with information on names, companies, and email addresses of all NTWG members

Why join an NTWG?

  • Contribute to NIG development for the local interpretation of a GLOBALG.A.P. standard/add-on

  • Participate in the peer review process of GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarking and recognition activities in your country

  • Provide qualified input to the continuous improvement of the GLOBALG.A.P. smart farm assurance solutions portfolio

  • Help producers in your country to achieve certification and increase awareness of safer and more sustainable farming practices

  • Expand your regional and global networks by connecting with one of the largest community membership programs in the industry

  • Partner with us at GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR stop events, focusing on issues relevant to your country or region

  • Benefit from regular communication and exchange as part of the GLOBALG.A.P. governance structure

  • Gain insights on GLOBALG.A.P. technical news, standard revisions, upcoming trainings, and more

NTWGs have no fixed term and work continuously. They are always open to new members, and participation is free of charge for all groups worldwide. Following acceptance of the online registration, the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat informs the host organization who invites new members to the next NTWG meeting.

Hear from the NTWG members in the testimonials section.

Participating in a NTWG allows for profound cooperation on the local implementation of GLOBALG.A.P. standard requirements – to the benefit of producers, producers' organizations, and certification bodies.

Ann De Craene

Senior Advisor at Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcoöperaties (VBT) | Belgium

Share your experience!

Are you already part of our mission to foster the global adoption of safer and more sustainable farming practices? We would love to hear from you!

Submit a testimonial about working with GLOBALG.A.P. for a chance to be featured on our website and social media channels – with more than 80,000 followers across five platforms.

Find an NTWG

Country: Albania

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Klajdi Ceka

Company: Albinspekt bio.inspecta

Country: Argentina

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Livestock

Host/Chairman: Enrique Kurincic

Company: IRAM

Country: Belgium

Category: All IFA Sub-Scopes

Host/Chairman: Ann De Craene

Company: Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcoöperaties (VBT)

Country: Brazil North

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Daniel Velloso

Company: Santec Auditoria e Certificações LTDA

Country: Brazil South

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Host: Heidy Ferrari Silveira Milan

Company: PariPassu Aplicativos Especiaizados Ltda

Country: Bulgaria

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Kliment Petrov

Company: BULGAP Ltd

Country: Chile

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Carola Bonelli

Company: Primus Chile S.p.A.

Country: Colombia

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Carlos Suarez

Company: OCATI

Country: Costa Rica

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Flowers and Ornamentals

Host/Chairman: Martin Calderon

Company: Cámara Nacional de Agricultura y Agroindustria

Country: Cote d'Ivoire

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Konan Koffi

Company: SCB - Societé de culture de Banaière

Country: Czech Republic

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Combinable Crops, Cattle and Sheep, Pigs, Dairy

Host/Chairman: Jakub Stibůrek

Company: Czech Society for Quality (CSQ)

Country: Dominican Republic

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Teofilo Suriel/ Wilma Nuñez

Company: CEDAF

Country: Ecuador

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Wladimir Morales

Company: Agrocalidad

Country: Egypt

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Manal Saleh

Company: Blue Moon Ltd.

Country: Finland

Category: IFA F&V

Host/Chairman: Anne Piirainen

Company: Puutarhaliitto

Country: France

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Cyril Laporte

Company: CNIPT

Country: Germany/Austria/Switzerland

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Flowers and Ornamentals

Host/Chairman: Dirk Teuber

Company: CNIPT

Country: Costa Rica

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Flowers and Ornamentals

Host/Chairman: Martin Calderon

Company: Cámara Nacional de Agricultura y Agroindustria

Country: Germany/Austria/Switzerland

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Flowers and Ornamentals

Host/Chairman: Dirk Teuber

Company: CNIPT

Country: Chile

Category: Aquaculture

Host/Chairman: Jorge Rios Alveal

Company: DNV GL Chile

Country: Colombia

Category: Aqua

Host/Chairman: Santamaria Zapata Luz Dary

Company: ICONTEC

Country: Bosnia-Herzegowina

Category: IFA Crops Sub-scopes

Host/Chairman: Chairperson: Tea Zerdelic/Mirakol

Company: Eurocert S.A.

Country: Czech Republic

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Combinable Crops, Cattle and Sheep, Pigs, Dairy

Host/Chairman: Jakub Stibůrek

Company: Czech Society for Quality (CSQ)

Country: Denmark

Category: IFA Crops

Host/Chairman: Maria Teresa Fresu

Company: Baltic Control Certification

Country: Ghana

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Host: Victor Avah

Company: GAPS Consulting Ltd

Country: Greece

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: George Kravvas

Company: TUV Nord Greece

Country: Guatemala

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Irene Eduardo

Company: Agrequima

Country: Hungary

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Melinda Czegledi

Company: Control Union Hungaria Kft

Country: India

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Dr. Manish Pande

Company: QCI - Quality Council of India

Country: Italy

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Simona Rubbi

Company: Centro Servizi Ortofruiticoli (CSO)

Country: Japan

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Combinable Crops, Tea

Host/Chairman: Kazumi Oka / Sakae Shibusawa

Company: AEON

Country: Kenya

Category: Fruit and Vegetables / Flowers and Ornamentals

Host/Chairman: Host: Hosea Machuki / Chairperson: Dr. Andrew Edewa

Company: Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK)

Country: Mexico

Category: Fruit& Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Host: Jose Luis Jurado Zurita, Co-Chair: Claudette Quevedo

Company: CEMA Certificadora

Country: New Zealand

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Host: Damien Farrelly Chairperson: Kate McDermott

Company: Horticulture New Zealand

Country: Nicaragua

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Flowers and Ornamentals, Livestock

Host/Chairman: Francisco Orozco / Richardo Silva

Company: APEN

Country: Panama

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Belisario Troya Escobar

Company: SEAGRO PANAMA CORP, S.A.

Country: Peru

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Alvaro Raposo, AGAP

Company: AGAP

Country: Poland

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Maciej Majewski

Company: Fresh Mazovia

Country: Republic of Korea

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Isidor Yu

Company: Isidor Sustainability Research Institute

Country: Romania

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Cristina Andreea Vasii

Company: Stoian Land Cooperativa Agricola

Country: South Africa

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Chair: Paula Bester

Company: Citrus Growers Association (CGA)

Country: Spain

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Luis Martín

Company: FEPEX

Country: Tajikistan

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Crops, Livestock

Host/Chairman: Chairperson: Larisa Kislyakova

Company: Tajikistan Union of Professional Consultants

Country: Tanzania

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Isaac Paul Ndamanhyilu

Company: KILICCERT Agribusiness

Country: The Netherlands

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Paul Bol

Company: Groenten Fruit Huis

Country: Turkey

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Mustafa Akyüz

Company: ETKO

Country: Ukraine

Category: Fruit and Vegetables, Crops, Livestock

Host/Chairman: Host: Valentina Berezan / Chair: Slyva Yulia

Company: Quality Development Center

Country: United Kingdom

Category: Aquaculture

Host/Chairman: Nicola MacColl

Company: Marine Harvest Scotland

Country: USA

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Walter Ram

Company: Giumarra

Country: Uzbekistan

Category: Fruit and Vegetables

Host/Chairman: Host: Askarali Askarov

Company: Agency for Technical Regulation of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Harnessing regional value chain expertise

How can I establish a national technical working group?

While anyone can join a national technical working group (NTWG), founding hosts must be GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members from one of the three categories producer/supplier, retail/food service, or associate. There is no minimum number of members required, although we encourage NTWGs to integrate relevant stakeholders from across the whole value chain where possible.

Five steps to hosting an NTWG

Reach out to your network, partners, and other interested parties. Ideally, the group will include stakeholders from all stages of the national value chain.

If you are already a GLOBALG.A.P. Community Member, download the NTWG terms of reference and check the responsibilities. If you are not yet a community member, apply online to start the process.

Sign the NTWG terms of reference and send the document to ntwg@globalgap.org. The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat will countersign it and confirm the approval of the new NTWG by email. A minimum of two meetings per year are required for the group to be considered active.

Ask founding group members to register via the online registration form. The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat will inform the host about successful registrations by email. If the NTWG creation is part of a GLOBALG.A.P. capacity building project, additional guidance will be provided.

Schedule the first meeting of the NTWG and define a plan of action (to be shared with the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat). Members must also elect a chairperson – they can be chosen from any organization represented within the group, not only from the host. The roles and responsibilities of the chairperson are outlined in the NTWG terms of reference.

NTWG terms of reference

Help us to improve the implementation of GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons at a local level – advancing safer and more sustainable farming practices all over the world.

Latest news

A promotional banner for Summit 2024 - Shaping the future of farming together, 10-12 September 2024, Warsaw, Poland

27 February 2024

Join us at SUMMIT 2024: Early Bird tickets now on sale!

For the first time since 2018 in Peru, the SUMMIT event will return in September 2024 in Warsaw, Poland, to explore the latest developments in food safety and sustainability, as well as the future of the industry.

Capacity building
Animal welfare
Aquaculture
Plants
Environmental sustainability
Food safety
Traceability
Workers’ well-being
Stakeholders holding signs related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the GLOBALG.A.P. booth at Fruit Logistica 2024 in Berlin.

26 February 2024

An impactful Fruit Logistica 2024

Fruit Logistica 2024 provided the stage for tens of thousands of individuals from across the fresh produce supply chain to connect, network, and discover the latest developments and innovations in the industry.

Plants
Fruit and vegetables
Core solutions
Add-ons to core solutions
Environmental sustainability
Food safety
Workers’ well-being

Adapting to local conditions

What are national interpretation guidelines?

The primary purpose of a national technical working group (NTWG) is the development of national interpretation guidelines (NIGs) for GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons. NIGs are an interpretation of GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons based on the legal and structural conditions of the respective country. NIGs include both the translation of the documents into the local language, as well as the incorporation of national legislation that is required to complement the principles and criteria (P&Cs). The final NIG is relevant to both the implementation and the auditing process.

What is the NIG development process?

NTWGs work in close collaboration with both the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat and the technical committees in order to draft, review, and approve an NIG for a specific country.

NIG development is currently possible for all product categories in the Integrated Farm Assurance standard, the GLOBALG.A.P. Chain of Custody standard, and the GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice add-on. Further standards and add-ons are added continuously.

All NIGs for a specific country can be found in the GLOBALG.A.P. document center.

Five steps to developing an NIG

The NTWG downloads the relevant NIG template from the GLOBALG.A.P. website and completes it. Following submission, the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat has a maximum of two weeks to ensure that the information is complete and correct. 

The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat begins the internal technical review and sends comments to the NTWG. The NTWG has a maximum of four weeks to respond, and this process continues until all comments have been resolved. If a response time is longer than eight weeks, the process must be restarted from the submission stage.

The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat invites certification bodies (CBs), accreditation bodies (ABs), and GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members in the relevant country to send written feedback on the draft NIG document within a maximum of four weeks. A further four weeks are allocated for responses to peer review comments. 


The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat prepares a peer review report and sends the final version of the NIG to the relevant technical committee for approval. This process takes a maximum of four weeks. Approval can be confirmed in writing or at a technical committee meeting. 

The NIG is published on the GLOBALG.A.P. website and added to the GLOBALG.A.P. document center, and its content is integrated into Audit Online Hub. Information is provided to all GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members and approved CBs/ABs in the relevant country within a maximum of three weeks. The NIG becomes a GLOBALG.A.P. normative document and is then mandatory for use in the country. 

Upcoming events

20 Mar

2024

Flowers and Ornamentals Focus Group meeting

Location: Online
Event type: Meeting
Event format: Virtual

Flowers and ornamentals

16 Apr - 17 Apr

2024

GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR stop South Africa 2024

Location: Paarl
Event type: GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR stop
Event format: On-site

Aquaculture
Plants
Fruit and vegetables

FAQ

Image of a customer support agent advising a stakeholder

Contact us

For questions about NTWGs, please contact us at ntwg@globalgap.org.