Other party private solution
AH-DLL GROW
AH-DLL GROW is a private add-on to the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for producers that supply the Dutch retailer Albert Heijn and/or the Belgian retailer Delhaize. It is focused on farm-level risk management for producers in the areas of hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination.
Targeted criteria for Albert Heijn/Delhaize suppliers
What is AH-DLL GROW?
Launched in 2020, AH-DLL GROW was developed to meet growing consumer expectations surrounding product quality and food safety. The add-on is designed to assess producers’ risk management and promote better awareness of issues such as unhygienic working conditions, plant protection product residues, and product contamination through foreign bodies or substances. Applicable to fruit and vegetable production and audited together with the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard, the private solution was developed by FoodPLUS GmbH in collaboration with Albert Heijn and Delhaize to reduce duplication and increase flexibility for suppliers in choosing how they want their sites to be audited.
AH-DLL GROW at a glance
Audited together
with IFA for fruit and vegetables to minimize the audit burden for producers
Focused content
on hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination
Robust integrity
through GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
Audited together
with IFA for fruit and vegetables to minimize the audit burden for producers
Focused content
on hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination
Robust integrity
through GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
Which topics does AH-DLL GROW address?
Residue monitoring
General hygiene
Product hygiene
Handling hygiene
Foreign bodies/substances
Who should use AH-DLL GROW?
AH-DLL GROW is available for only those individual producers and producer groups who supply fruit and vegetable products either directly or via their suppliers to Albert Heijn in the Netherlands or Delhaize in Belgium.
All producers must hold certification to Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) for fruit and vegetables, as the audit builds on existing IFA requirements.
Reduce audit duplication in the supply chain
How does AH-DLL GROW work?
The add-on is composed of principles and criteria (P&Cs) which are all graded as either Major Must, requiring 100% compliance, or Recommendation. The AH-DLL GROW checklist contains dedicated Albert Heijn/Delhaize requirements – 29 P&Cs – that are audited together with those in the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for fruit and vegetables.
Which documents are required?
GLOBALG.A.P. general rules specifications: Rules that define how the audit process works, from the scope of the add-on to the audit requirements.
Checklist: The full list of P&Cs as used by CB auditors, enabling producers to perform a self-assessment in preparation for the CB audit.
Checklist annex: Dutch and Belgian food authority requirements for residue sampling by product type.
How is conformance status verified?
Every producer registered in the GLOBALG.A.P. certification system is assigned a 13-digit GLOBALG.A.P. identification number (e.g., a GLOBALG.A.P. Number (GGN)). This number allows real-time verification of conformance status in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems, upholding our rigorous transparency requirements throughout the supply chain.
Producers can control data access and privacy rights for audit reports, and the reports are not shared publicly or with third parties. This process is handled via your chosen CB.
Latest news
11 April 2024
New GLOBALG.A.P. webinar series: A guide to IFA v6 transition
Hosted by GLOBALG.A.P. experts, our latest free webinar series is designed to help producers transition seamlessly to IFA version 6 for flowers and ornamentals, fruit and vegetables, and aquaculture. Find your webinar today!
26 March 2024
NSF Certification UK Ltd awards the first IFA v6 Smart certificate
Italian fruit producer Roberto Faillace is the first to receive a certificate for IFA v6 Smart. Learn more about his experience transitioning to the latest version of GLOBALG.A.P.’s flagship standard.
Looking for technical news?
Technical news updates for all add-ones can be found in our technical news libraries.
Your guide to implementation
How to prepare for an AH-DLL GROW audit
Follow our five steps to AH-DLL GROW for an overview of the audit process and find a GLOBALG.A.P. approved certification body (CB) in your area to get started.
How does the audit process work?
Compliance with the AH-DLL GROW requirements is audited annually together with the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) audit (or an audit to a benchmarked scheme/checklist) by accredited and independent third-party CBs.
Producers can choose from any GLOBALG.A.P. approved CB active in the relevant country – although the same CB which conducts the IFA audit must conduct the AH-DLL GROW audit.
A successful CB audit results in a letter of conformance valid for one year.
The CB is responsible for uploading the audit report and maintaining the accuracy of producer data in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems.
Producers will be audited annually by a CB as part of the renewal process.
Audit results are uploaded to the GLOBALG.A.P. database. Only AH-DLL GROW observers (Albert Heijn/Delhaize employees and service providers who have been granted access), the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat, and the CB which conducted the audit will be able to view your results.
Which version of AH-DLL GROW is currently valid?
There are currently two valid versions of AH-DLL GROW available for audit.
V3.1 was published on 21 August 2023 and becomes obligatory in combination with IFA v6 on 1 January 2024.
V3 was published on 10 August 2020 and became obligatory on 1 November 2020. It remains available in combination with IFA v5.4-1-GFS until IFA v6 GFS becomes obligatory.
Ready to get started?
Use our Smart Checklist Builder to easily understand which GLOBALG.A.P. smart farm assurance solutions are recommended for your production practices and generate a personalized checklist for your self-assessment.
Five steps to AH-DLL GROW
You will need the GLOBALG.A.P. general rules specifications for AH-DLL GROW, the checklist, and the checklist annex. All of the required documents are available online, for free, and in multiple languages. They are linked below and can also be found in the GLOBALG.A.P. document center.
Use the documents to guide the implementation of the add-on requirements, and then perform a self-assessment using the checklist.
Search the list of GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs by region, country, scope, and status. Contact the CB of your choice and request an audit. Note that the GLOBALG.A.P. fee table does not cover CB service fees such as audit time or travel costs to your site.
The CB will perform the on-site audit and upload the results to Audit Online Hub. Any non-compliances which are detected during the audit must be corrected within the specified period and verified by the CB before a letter of conformance can be issued.
When all requirements are met and verified by the CB, they will issue your AH-DLL GROW letter of conformance. Your conformance status is then visible in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems for transparency in the market.
Key documents
The three most relevant documents are linked below. Click ‘view more’ to see further related documents. Remember to always check with your CB that you have all necessary documents prior to audit.
AH-DLL GROW
Checklists
V3.1
English | Last updated: 09/04/2024
xlsx
Checklists are documents containing standard/add-on principles and criteria which are used during the audit/assessment to check whether compliance is achieved. They may also be used to conduct self-assessments.
AH-DLL GROW Specifications
Rules and regulations
V3.1
English | Last updated: 22/02/2024
Rules and regulations define how a specific standard must be implemented – from the certification scope to the audit requirements for certification bodies.
AH-DLL GROW Annex for all modules
Checklists
V3.1
English | Last updated: 21/10/2023
xlsx
Checklists are documents containing standard/add-on principles and criteria which are used during the audit/assessment to check whether compliance is achieved. They may also be used to conduct self-assessments.
GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
The list of GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs can be filtered by region, country, scope, and status. Click a CB to find more information and contact details.
If you do not filter your search, or filter only according to region and/or country, your search results will also show CBs that offer certification against benchmarked schemes, but which may not have approval for any GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons.
Contact us
For technical/interpretation questions, please contact us at standard_support@globalgap.org.
For questions about the audit process or GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems, please contact us at customer_support@globalgap.org.