21 July 2025
IFA v6 standards for combinable crops and plant propagation material published
Following a comprehensive development process, two new product categories under the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) version 6 plants scope were published in July 2025.
Following a comprehensive development process that began in 2023, the new Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) version 6 Smart standards for the product categories of combinable crops and plant propagation material were published in the GLOBALG.A.P. document center on 8 July 2025.
Access the IFA v6 Smart for combinable crops documents
Access the IFA v6 Smart for plant propagation material documents
What’s new in v6
IFA for combinable crops covers all stages of production and a wide range of machine-harvested crops such as grains, pulses, fodder, and extracts for either cooked or processed consumption by humans or animals, or for use in industry. In v6:
There is general alignment with the existing IFA v6 standards, in particular with IFA v6 Smart for fruit and vegetables.
This includes topics such as environmental responsibility and workers’ health, safety, and welfare, as well as elements on food safety, production processes, traceability, and more.
Principles and criteria (P&Cs) specific to the postharvest handling and long-term storage of combinable crops have also been addressed to preserve the equivalent control points and compliance criteria (CPCCs) from the existing v5 standard.
IFA for plant propagation material aims to promote the responsible farming of propagation material for plant nurseries. In v6:
There is general alignment with current IFA v6 standards in updated environmental topics and metrics, and workers’ health, safety, and welfare.
The product category has been delinked from the topic of food safety, with no related P&Cs in v6. As a consequence, products certified as plant propagation material cannot claim food safety.
In addition to good agricultural practices, there is specific focus on the traceability of propagation material and the plant health of the propagation material obtained.
Validity and transition
The IFA v6 Smart standards for combinable crops and plant propagation material will become valid and available for audit on 1 December 2025. There will be no GFS edition of these product categories.
The normative documents will be available in the GLOBALG.A.P. document center in English, and Spanish translations will follow soon. The new standards must be combined with the latest add-on versions, which are aligned with IFA v6.
IFA v6 Smart for combinable crops and plant propagation material will then replace v5.2 on 1 May 2026. Audits to IFA v5.2 will therefore remain possible until 30 April 2026, with certificates valid for their full one-year cycle.
