Background information and objective

Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) provides food safety and traceability certification of postharvest activities such as the cooling, packing, handling, and storage of crops for human consumption. 

It supports compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and can be combined with Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) or the Harmonized Produce Safety Standard (HPSS) to provide a complete certification option for producers with on-farm packing or other postharvest activities. 

The revised standard, scheduled for launch in 2026, will include key updates including: 

• Certification body audit reporting  

• Auditor criteria  

• Inclusion of the GGN label reference  

• Streamlining of supplier approval criteria  

• Addition of new topics including materials inspection and site inspections  

• Separating tool storage, mock recall, and non-conforming products into new control points 

The current PHA v1.2 is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and supports compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), both of which we aim to maintain with v2. 

Disclaimer

Please note that the dates shown are for guidance only and may be subject to change. This can occur if the public consultation process or field trials indicate that further review of the standard or add-on documents is necessary.