The GLOBALG.A.P. Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) standard provides stand-alone food safety and traceability certification of post-harvest activities, such as cooling, packing, re-packing, handling, and storage of crops for human consumption.
The PHA standard may be used in conjunction with the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance standard for Fruit and Vegetables, Combinable Crops, Hops, or with the Harmonized Produce Safety Standard. It can be combined with these GLOBALG.A.P. field audits to provide a complete certification option for a producer with on-farm packing or other post-harvest activities. The PHA standard does not cover processing activities that significantly transform crops from the original whole state, such as cooking, slicing, or juicing.
The PHA standard is available for open-shed operations globally, and closed-shed operations globally with the exception of geographical Europe and Russia.
PHA v1.2 meets Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI v2020) requirements. GLOBALG.A.P. is seeking GFSI benchmarking of the PHA standard for late 2020/early 2021.
The PHA standard incorporates United States Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements from both the Produce Safety Rule and the Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule, where applicable. PHA audit reports and certificates can be provided to importers, retailers, and other value-chain participants as evidence of an operation’s efforts toward FSMA implementation. PHA audits help operations in identifying FSMA requirements that must be addressed at the post-harvest level. The PHA certificate is not an assurance or guarantee of FSMA compliance, as legal compliance can only be determined by a regulatory authority, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration.
United Fresh Produce Association has published the Food Safety Programs & Auditing Protocol for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain (Tomato Metrics) after comparison with the latest Produce GAPs Harmonization Initiative content, the foundation standard for our PHA standard. Those items that remain are either unique to the tomato industry, or not necessarily unique, but not currently in the PHA standard. The revised Tomato Metrics requirements may be combined with the PHA standard as an addendum. Click here for more information from United Fresh.
A Guide to Our Documents
- The GLOBALG.A.P. PHA checklist is the document needed by the operation to complete the internal audit.
- The control points and compliance criteria (CPCCs) list all points covered by the standard and give additional guidelines for fulfilling the requirements.
- The general regulations (GR) define how the certification process works.
Benefits of GLOBALG.A.P. PHA Certification
- Independent third-party verification of safe and traceable handling practices
- Accepted by local and global markets, suppliers, and retailers
- Meet compliance expectations with export market requirements
- Reduced exposure to food safety and product safety reputational risks
- Food safety practices specific to fruit and vegetable and combinable crops handling
- Designed by industry – for industry
Please contact standard_support@globalgap.orgfor more information about PHA.