Good agricultural practices in Ecuador
In 2019, the “Resolución 108. Guia de Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas” (BPA) was launched as a national standard in Ecuador. BPA stands for “Buenas Prácticas Agropecuarias” or “Good Agricultural Practices.” BPA certification in Ecuador generates incentives for small producers to be more competitive, and allows them to produce quality goods, differentiate themselves from others in the market, or achieve access to new markets because they comply with sustainable agriculture practices. BPA is managed by Agrocalidad, The Agency for Regulation and Control of Animal and Plant Health in Ecuador.
GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarked status
The Ecuadorian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Xavier Lazo Guerrero, the Executive Director of Agrocalidad, Patricio Almeida, and Angelo Lazo, Ignacio Antequera, and Kristian Moeller from GLOBALG.A.P., signed an agreement has been signed between the Government of Ecuador and GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS. The agreement officially recognizes the Resolución 108. Guia de Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas standard as a GLOBALG.A.P. Approved Modified Checklist, equivalent to GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance for Fruit and Vegetables v5.2. It is the first public sector standard benchmarked to GLOBALG.A.P. IFA standard in Latin America.
Approved Modified Checklists (AMC) are checklists with their own G.A.P. requirements that are recognized by GLOBALG.A.P. as fully conforming with the GLOBALG.A.P. control points and compliance criteria. AMCs use the GLOBALG.A.P. General Regulations as scheme management rules for certification.
“The GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarked status will be seen positively by producers," said Minister Lazo Guerrero, “since it is an efficient certification solution for food safety issues.”
Ignacio Antequera, Technical Key Account Senior Manager at GLOBALG.A.P., notes that with the benchmarking of BPA, "Ecuador is taking a very big step to help small-sized producers.” Meanwhile Kristian Moeller, Managing Director at GLOBALG.A.P. stressed that rapid solutions can be found when the interests of the public and private sectors come together: "It is important to find appropriate, innovative solutions that benefit producers, especially in these pandemic times.”