GRASP GRASP

What Is GRASP?

Committed to workers' health, safety, and welfare

Good agricultural practices aren’t just about products; they are also about people.

That’s why we offer GRASP – The GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice. It is a voluntary, farm-level social/labor management tool for global supply chains, to be used in combination with Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA).

How it works

  • Producers can assess, improve, and demonstrate their responsible social practices through a simple but robust evaluation checklist of four main topics: Workers’ voice, human and labor rights information, human and labor rights indicators, and child and young workers protection.
  • The assessment is carried out simultaneously with an IFA audit in order to minimize the audit burden (time and costs) for producers.
  • Evidence methods are determined by the country risk classification in order to balance efficiency and flexibility.
  • Evaluation is complemented by national interpretation guidelines of local legislation to help assessors and producers to understand local compliance systems.
  • GRASP covers the main topics of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s core labor conventions

Country risk classification

  • The GRASP country risk classification uses the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) issued by the World Bank to determine the level of evidence required during a GRASP assessment.
  • The list of countries assigned to the three categories is updated every year, following the revision periods of the indicators issued by the World Bank.
  • The higher the risk level, the higher the level of evidence necessary.
  • Find out more about the methodology in the country risk classification concept.

National interpretation guidelines - harmonizing good social practice worldwide

  • Legal labor requirements such as minimum wage, age of legal employment, or working hours differ from country to country. National interpretations guidelines are developed to help implement a global assessment on a local scale.
  • Where the national requirements are stricter, local legislation overrides GRASP. Where there is no legislation (or legislation is not so strict), GRASP provides the minimum requirements for a good social management system.
  • GRASP can be assessed in every country – even in countries that do not have a national interpretation guideline yet.

Find out more about GRASP national interpretation guidelines here.

Versions and validity

  • GRASP v1.3-1-i was published in June 2020 and became  the obligatory version on 1 February 2021.
  • The interim final documents for GRASP v2 were published on 26 April 2022. On 29 September 2022 the final documents were published. GRASP v2 will replace v1.3-1-i and become obligatory on 1 January 2024.
More than 117,000 producers in 99 countries use GRASP as their social/labor management tool of choice. 

Click here to learn how GRASP can help you.

Quicklinks

Country risk classification concept
Learn more about how risk classification affects evidence methods

GRASP Technical Committee
The team responsible for the revision and maintenance of GRASP

GRASP national interpretation guidelines
Learn how GRASP can be adapted on a local level

GLOBALG.A.P. Academy trainings
Learn about GRASP in a GLOBALG.A.P. training course

Downloads

GRASP v1.3-1-i (valid until 30 September 2023):

 

GRASP v2 (final documents published 29 September 2022, obligatory from  1 January 2024):

 
Other

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GRASP?

GRASP is an assessment on labor/human rights at farm level. It helps to monitor global supply chains and can only to be used in combination with the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard  and benchmarked schemes.

How do I become a GRASP authorized assessor?

There are several requirements to become a GRASP assessor. Please refer to the latest GRASP General Rules  (Section 7 – GRASP assessor qualification requirements).

Is GRASP an obligatory add-on?

GRASP is a voluntary assessment. However, IFA v6 for aquaculture, as well as all producers that participate in the GGN label initiative, require GRASP compliance. Some suppliers/buyers and/or retailers may include GRASP as an obligatory requirement.

Can I use GRASP with other certifications, or can it be a standalone tool?

GRASP cannot be used as a standalone tool, and requires certification to the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard or a benchmarked scheme, provided the scheme owner agrees to it.

Can GRASP be assessed in any country?

Yes, as long as there is an authorized GRASP assessor in that country. See the requirements for approved assessors in the latest version of the GRASP General Rules.

What are GRASP national interpretation guidelines?

Labor legislation differs from country to country. The GRASP national interpretation guidelines specify relevant legal requirements in a country, such as national minimum wages, regulations on working hours, the minimum age of employment, etc. 

Is GRASP applicable to farms without workers?

No, GRASP is not applicable to farms without workers. In the case of family farms, if they do not employ workers, some criteria will be applicable. See definition of family farms in the GRASP Glossary

Is GRASP also applicable to produce handling units (PHUs)?

Yes, as long as the PHU is part of the certification scope and is included in all registered products and production sites.

How much does the GRASP assessment cost?

Invoices will include two cost elements:

  1. Certification body (CB) service fees: Determined by the CB to cover expenditures. The GRASP assessment is combined with the IFA audit.
  2. System participation fee: See the GLOBALG.A.P. system participation fees document for more information.
I am GRASP assessed. How can my supplier/retailer see the GRASP assessment in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems?

Please refer to the latest Data Access Rules document.

For any specific technical queries/questions related to GRASP, please contact  standard_support@globalgap.org.

GRASP Criteria

Comittee

Comittee