GLOBALG.A.P. enters the future of farm certification

The GLOBALGAP biannual summit took place in Amsterdam September 27-28, attracting 400 delegates from 57 countries.

The event was an opportunity to look back on what has been achieved so far and set the course for the challenges that lie ahead due to the digital transformation of the agribusiness and food sector, and the need for more transparency for consumers and governments, the organisation said in a press release.

First product with consumer label on German retail shelves

With its rainbow trout by the brand Sea Pride, the specialist food trader Clama presented the first product in the German market with the new GGN.ORG consumer label, which is listed in the web site http://ggn.org/en/.

The label includes the GGN (the unique GLOBALG.A.P. number), which consumers can use on the site to learn about the farm of origin of the frozen trout through an individual farm profile.

Clama CEO Martin Hofstede was one of the initial supporters of the idea with GLOBALG.A.P. “Today the majority of consumers expect a product to meet high social, environmental and ethical standards, even for the mass market.”

“The GLOBALG.A.P. standard is undisputed in the B2B area and in this respect a GGN label is logical and very welcome in communicating this quality to the consumer,” he said at the SEG 2016 in Brussels.

Consumers can now buy the first products from aquaculture with GGN just 4 months after the initial presentation of the concept in Brussels. This is good news on the path towards more transparency and sustainability in aquaculture.

Adoption of greenfence platform technology

GLOBALG.A.P. announced the introduction of the novel platform technology, and greenfence representatives explained to delegates how their platform adds efficiencies and value for farmers, improves transparency and data access for buyers throughout the food supply chain, and benefits certification bodies during GLOBALG.A.P. audits.

This move revolutionises GLOBALG.A.P.’s ability to offer services around farm assurance and certification that will add efficiencies and value for farmers, and improve transparency and data access for buyers throughout the food supply chain.

Support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations

GLOBALG.A.P. already incorporates a number of practices in line with the SDGs.

On September 26, the GLOBALG.A.P. Board decided to formally visualise its current alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.

Contributing to the SDGs is a collaborative effort, which is also part of GLOBALG.A.P.’s principles, and working towards GLOBALG.A.P. certification is already an important milestone towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

For the first time, all summit delegates had the opportunity to offset the carbon footprint of their journey to the summit with carbon credits sponsored by the Gold Standard.

“As a global organisation, GLOBALG.A.P. is aware of the impact of all our activities and thank the Gold Standard for this collaboration,” GLOBALG.A.P. CEO Kristian Moeller said on the eve of the summit.

Young academics awarded for research efforts

GLOBALG.A.P. invited young researchers to submit original and/or relevant research pieces on subjects related to Good Agricultural Practices for presentation in the form of a poster at the 2016 GLOBALG.A.P. Summit.

A total of 37 abstracts were submitted from 26 universities in 21 countries around the world, underlining the truly global reach of the GLOBALG.A.P. Young Academics Award.

The winning piece, “Assessment of irrigation water quality and microbiological safety of leafy greens at GLOBALG.A.P. and non-GLOBAL.G.A.P. certified production systems,” was submitted by Gape Jongman from the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

As the finalist, Jongman was invited to the summit, where he was able to present his research.

GLOBALG.A.P. Good Agricultural Practice awards

The G.A.P. Awards recognise producers who have achieved outstanding results through their commitment to GLOBALG.A.P. principles.

This year´s awards went to:

• Ranadi Plantation Partnership from Fiji,
• Varcli Pinares S.A. from Costa Rica,
• Muviwapasi Association c/o Africado Ltd. from Tanzania,
• Goshogawara Agricultural and Forestry High School from Japan.

GLOBALG.A.P.’s Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Richard Yudin, Fyffes plc, and Willem Hofmans, Ahold Delhaize, for their unceasing efforts in the area of Good Agricultural Practices in the past decades.

The National Technical Working Group Award went to the Netherlands for their efforts to help adopt GLOBALG.A.P.’s universal standard on a local scale.