2023 year in review

Changes in management

In May 2023, Kristian Moeller announced his resignation from his roles as managing director of GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH and president of GLOBALG.A.P. North America Inc. (GGNA) in order to pursue new career endeavors. Managing directors Elmé Coetzer-Boersma and Markus Philipp, both appointed in 2021, remained in their roles after Moeller’s departure. Roberta Anderson was appointed as the new GGNA president, following six years as vice president alongside Moeller.

Progress on the smart path to sustainability

The Environmental Sustainability Working Group was established in May in order to develop a new environmental sustainability solution – in the form of an add-on or standard – ready for launch in 2025. While GLOBALG.A.P.’s flagship standard, Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA), already includes core requirements for various topics relating to environmental sustainability, the working group was set up to discuss how the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat can further embrace environmental sustainability in a cost-effective way while maintaining harmonization with existing sustainability programs and avoiding duplication at farm level in terms of certification.

The first round of public consultation on the environmental sustainability solution was held from 25 September to 27 October. At the same time, we held the first public consultation on the upcoming workers’ well-being standard.

The first and second rounds of public consultation covering two product categories of the IFA standard v6 – plant propagation material and combinable crops – were also hosted in 2023. The first round opened in January and the second in late summer.

TR4 Biosecurity Standard launch

The standalone TR4 Biosecurity Standard launched in July. In response to the Tropical Race 4 fungus, or Foc TR4, one of the most destructive diseases in banana and plantain crops, the standard outlines a risk mitigation plan to minimize the spread of the disease to, within, and from farms.

SPRING v2 launch

The updated Sustainable Program for Irrigation and Groundwater Use (SPRING) add-on version 2 was launched on 5 September 2023, covering a wide range of topics such as water use and extraction rates, legal compliance and protection of water sources, and sustainable watershed management.

The launch was announced along with recognition from both the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Spain and the Sustainability Initiative Fruit and Vegetables (SIFAV). Following a long-running collaboration with the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat, WWF Spain rated the SPRING v2 add-on as the top farm-level water certification option available to producers in Spain. SIFAV benchmarked and recognized the SPRING add-on as part of its “Basket of Water Standards,” a selection of standards that satisfy specific legal, environmental, and sanitation criteria.

GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR stops

Every year, we embark on TOUR stops to visit different locations and reinforce our commitment to capacity building in regional markets. In 2023, we held four total TOUR stops.

Almería, Spain │ 14–15 March │Partner: Agrocolor & Coexphal

Athens, Greece │ 17 March │ Partner: TÜV HELLAS (TÜV NORD)

Nairobi, Kenya │ 28–30 March │ Partner: Rootooba

São Paulo, Brazil │ 30–31 October │ Partner: PariPassu

Widespread adoption and recognition of GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons

In May, the first IFA v6 GFS certification across the Americas was achieved when Mexican producer Contreras Avocados y Ganado S.P.R. de R.L. de C.V. became certified to IFA v6 GFS for fruit and vegetables.

Certification to SPRING increased by over 70%.

Certification to the Chain of Custody (CoC) standard increased by over 20%.

IFA v5.4-1-GFS for fruit and vegetables plus the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Product Safety Rule (PSR) add-on version 1.3 was recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July to be in alignment with the PSR.

The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) signed a Scheme Endorsement Agreement with GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH in recognition of the Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) standard under the Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA).

Compound Feed Manufacturing (CFM) version 3.1 received European Accreditation (EA) recognition.

New GLOBALG.A.P. website unveiled

Taking a significant step forward into the smart era, we launched the new globalgap.org website on 24 October – offering a faster, smarter, and more intuitive user experience, plus new key features, including the Smart Checklist Builder, IFA v6 transition tools, and GLOBALG.A.P. document center. Stay tuned as we continue to develop the website and add new features in 2024 and beyond.

Explore the website for yourself and watch our celebratory LinkedIn video to learn more!

We welcomed 27 new GLOBALG.A.P. Community Members

• Acadian Plant Health

• Italcol SA

• Samunnati Agro Solutions Private Limited

• AGrodTech – Inovação e Resultados no Campo

• Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A.

• SanLucar Fruit S.L.U

• AGROSOFT S.A.C.

• Kubota Corporation

• SBC-Serviço Brasileiro de Certificações Ltda

• Andfjord Salmon

• Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia

• Sidelsa

• Azzule Systems

• Moleaer Inc.

• Sierra y Selva Exportadora

• Certis – Controlo e Certificação, Lda. (Portugal)

• Phytomonitor

• TIMB

• Farmable

• Polmip Colombia sas

• U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC)

• Green Crypto Corporation OÜ

• Pomona Farming Llc – Trinitas Farming

• Vega Salmon A/S

• INAQ Consulting

• Q_cert Algeria

• Viveros Fall Creek México S. de R.L. de C.V.<br>

Capacity building

GLOBALG.A.P. experts visited Luanda, Angola, to present on GLOBALG.A.P farm assurance solutions as part of a forum hosted by the International Finance Corporation and the Angola Agriculture Association.

The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat held several awareness-raising events for supply chain members in Uzbek towns of Andijan, Fergana, and Namangan.

GGN label news

Kaufland became the first retailer to carry fruit and vegetable plants in pots with the GGN label. The first product available from the new category was potted Italian herbs.

The first aquaculture products with the GGN label launched at Lidl Italy, Lidl Spain, and Lidl Greece.

The cross-category GGN label launched on fruit and vegetable products at AEON across Japan and in Germany at GLOBUS.

Chile joined the GGN label initiative with the first Chilean producer – Agricola Teruel – offering fruit and vegetable products with the GGN label for the first time.

A new fruit and vegetable product category became eligible for the GGN label – cut/mixed, frozen, and washed – for items such as fruit bowls, salad mixes, and frozen veggies.

Aquaculture products with the GGN label more than doubled, from 330 to 700 products!