Harmonized Produce Safety Standard Harmonized Produce Safety Standard

GLOBALG.A.P. Harmonized Produce Safety Standard

The GLOBALG.A.P. Harmonized Produce Safety Standard (HPSS) is a robust food safety standard that includes verbatim the Produce GAP Harmonization Initiative’s Harmonized Standards .

What is HPSS?

  • HPSS is benchmarked to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) for the primary production of fruits and vegetables (GFSI scope B-1: Farming of Plants Other than Grains and Pulses) and is comprised of the Combined Harmonized Standard from the International Fresh Produce Association, with GLOBALG.A.P. backed integrity.
  • HPSS is a streamlined, food safety-only, good agricultural practices standard.
  • The standard is designed by and for producers in the United States (U.S.) or those selling into the U.S. market.
  • HPSS offers food safety certification for fruit and vegetables and combinable crop production. HPSS certification for fruit and vegetables is GFSI recognized. Producers growing pulses, grains, and other crops that are machine harvested (classified as "combinable crops" by GLOBALG.A.P.) are able to pursue certification to HPSS, but the resulting certificate is not GFSI recognized.

Why choose HPSS?

  • HPSS is benchmarked by GFSI for fruit and vegetable farming (primary production) and accepted by retailers seeking GFSI certified sources in the U.S. and beyond.
  • The HPSS general regulations allow group certification (Option 2) in the GLOBALG.A.P. system.
  • Facilitated by the International Fresh Produce Association, the Produce GAP Harmonization Initiative’s Technical Working Group has aligned its harmonized standards to the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR). The HPSS control points help producers identify FSMA requirements that must be addressed at farm level.
  • HPSS certificates can be issued to importers, retailers, and other value-chain participants as third-party verified evidence of a producer’s efforts toward FSMA implementation.

The HPSS certificate is not an assurance or guarantee of Food Safety Modernization Act compliance, as legal compliance can only be determined by a regulatory authority, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration.