What is SAI Platform and the Farm Sustainability Assessment?

About SAI Platform

The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform) is a global food and drink value chain initiative that aims to accelerate the widespread adoption of sustainable agriculture practices and the transformation to sustainable food systems. One strategy for achieving this is the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) tool.

FSA by SAI Platform

The FSA enables producers to assess and measure on-farm sustainability in line with global best practices. Built around a set of 109 simple questions to farmers, the FSA addresses 11 sustainability topics:

• Farm management and community

• Plant material selection and propagation

• Soil management

• Nutrient management

• Chemical control

• Integrated pest management

• Waste management

• Water management

• Biodiversity

• Air quality and emissions

• Labor conditions

Producers can either use the set of questions as a self-assessment to analyze their level of sustainability and use it as a basis to improve upon, or they can undergo an assessment to verify their FSA Claim. With this approach, the farm or group can choose to include it in the scope for a third-party audit by a certification body only when they feel confident in the results of the self-assessment.

Who should use GGFSA?

The GGFSA add-on has been designed for any producer that wants to combine GLOBALG.A.P. certification for the plants scope, i.e., Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) or Crops for Processing (CfP), with FSA verification in the most streamlined way possible.

Farm types

GGFSA must be audited together with IFA or CfP and is therefore applicable for the following types of farms:

• Fruit and vegetables

• Combinable crops

• Plant propagation material

• Hops

The producer or producer group may select exactly which crops are audited against the GGFSA, as long as these crops are also within the scope of the IFA or CfP standards. GGFSA cannot be applied to the production of aquaculture, livestock, or flowers and ornamentals.

Certification options

As with IFA, GGFSA is applicable to both individual producers (Option 1) and producer groups (Option 2). For producer groups, there are additional requirements for the quality management system (QMS), including making sure that systems are in place to accurately account for FSA volumes and scores (traceability) and to deliver continuous improvement after the first audit.

How does GGFSA work?

• The GGFSA add-on is a way to bridge the gap between GLOBALG.A.P. certification and FSA with minimal extra effort.

• It may be used as a self-assessment to analyze sustainability efforts or as an audit checklist to verify an FSA claim.

• If choosing to undergo a verification audit, compliance with the GGFSA requirements is checked by an accredited and independent third-party certification body (CB).

• Producers have the freedom to choose which CB they use (although it must be the same CB conducting the IFA/CfP audit and GGFSA audit.

• A successful audit to GGFSA results in a letter of conformance which is valid for three years.

IFA v6 for fruit and vegetables already covers many of the 109 FSA questions. The remaining questions form the principles and criteria in the GGFSA checklist.

Standard content is formed of principles and criteria (P&Cs). are graded in three levels: Essential, Intermediate, or Advanced.

Principles

• Fundamentals that set the foundation of a GLOBALG.A.P. requirement

• Written in statement form

• Describe the outcome to achieve in the corresponding criteria

Criteria

• Methods that producers can use to demonstrate a principle to be true

• Compliance can be demonstrated in different ways, e.g., data, record of procedure

• Evidence must demonstrate that the outcome is achieved

Read more about the audit process and compliance requirements.

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.

Which industry challenges does GGFSA address?

• There is a growing awareness of the interaction between the environment and agriculture and the potential challenges that arise.

• Producers, manufacturers, and retailers are facing increasing pressure to make agri-food supply chains as sustainable as possible – and provide proof of this.

• Buyers are therefore seeking a growing range of assurances about responsible practices, and producers are met with an increasing number of audits to satisfy them.

• Duplication of farm assurance between the different schemes must be reduced, and the synergies between them promoted.

• GGFSA is the result of a unique partnership bringing together key partners who strive for more sustainable production and supply chains.

Follow our five steps to GGFSA to get started today.

Implementation and CB audit process

How does the GGFSA audit process work?

• Designed to complement existing GLOBALG.A.P. certification, GGFSA compliance is audited every three years by accredited and independent third-party CBs in combination with an Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) or Crops for Processing (CfP) audit.

• The same CB must complete both parts of the audit (GGFSA and IFA/CfP).

• A successful CB audit to GGFSA results in a letter of conformance valid for three years.

• The CB is responsible for uploading the audit report and maintaining the accuracy of producer data in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems.

Which documents are required?

• General rules: Rules that define how the audit process works, from the scope of the respective standard to the audit process and audit requirements.

• Principles and criteria: Principles are the fundamental requirements for each standard and add-on. They describe the outcome to achieve and are accompanied by corresponding criteria that detail the various ways in which a producer can demonstrate compliance.

• Checklist: The full list of add-on criteria as used by CB auditors, enabling producers to perform a self-assessment in preparation for the CB audit.

Which version of GGFSA is currently valid?

GGFSA is currently in transition from v2.1 to v3. The new version (v3) is required for audits taking place after April 2023, however letters of conformance and FSA Claims for v2.1 remain valid for their full three-year cycle, which may last until 2026.

GGFSA v3 may be audited in combination with IFA v5 for as long as IFA v5 continues to be valid. Once IFA v5 is replaced by IFA v6 on 1 January 2024, GGFSA must be audited in combination with IFA v6.

Which version of GGFSA is currently valid?

GGFSA is valid in v3. This has been required for all audits taking place after April 2023, however although letters of conformance and FSA Claims for v2.1 remain valid for their full three-year cycle, which may last until 2026.

V3 may be combined with IFA v6, IFA v5.4-1-GFS (until v6 GFS becomes obligatory), IFA v5.2 (for combinable crops/plant propagation material), and CfP v1.1.

The FAQ contains more information on versions, documents, and FSA Claims.

What are the GGFSA add-on requirements?

In the full FSA by SAI Platform, there are three levels of questions: Essential, Intermediate, and Advanced. The more questions to which a farmer can respond positively, the better their performance level.

The same scoring weighting applies to GGFSA: There are 28 principles and criteria, of which 6 are “Essential”, 12 are “Intermediate”, and 10 are “Advanced”.  To achieve the gold level and be able to make an FSA Gold Claim, producers must therefore demonstrate compliance with all 18 of the Essential and Intermediate principles and at least 8 of the Advanced principles.

Producers who undergo an audit to GGFSA will receive a letter of conformance which states their performance level.

How much does a GGFSA audit cost?

The GGFSA add-on is designed to save producers time and money by permitting combination audits, but it is important to remember that the extra time it takes to audit the GGFSA add-on in addition to IFA or CfP will be factored into your CB’s audit fees.

Please note that each farm is unique, and the total costs depend on a combination of factors such as farm size, number of sites, location, necessary preparation measures (such as establishing new procedures), and more. GGFSA contains three cost elements:

1. Implementation costs: Incurred by the producer to prepare for the CB audit

2. CB service fees: Determined and invoiced by the CB to cover audit time and travel costs

3. GLOBALG.A.P. registration fee: Calculated based on farm size and invoiced by the CB

The GLOBALG.A.P. fee table contains full information on the fee structure for each standard and add-on.