CanadaGAP®, an internationally recognized food safety program for fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers, and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), The Consumer Goods Forum’s Coalition of Action on food safety, announced on the May 4, 2021 that CanadaGAP has successfully achieved recognition against GFSI’s Version 2020.1 Benchmarking Requirements.

The recognition encompasses three CanadaGAP certification options: B, C, and D (for repacking and wholesaling).

Stephanie Lariviere, Chair of the Board for CanadaGAP, notes that “GFSI recognition will allow CanadaGAP-certified companies to remain competitive and maintain access to customers who require certification to a GFSI-recognized food safety program.”

Executive Director Heather Gale adds that “CanadaGAP appreciates the rigour of the GFSI benchmarking process. GFSI recognition of CanadaGAP provides the fruit and vegetable industry the option to implement a program that is tailored to fresh produce suppliers and that meets GFSI’s high standard. Choosing a GFSI-recognized program like CanadaGAP enables the industry to satisfy the food safety requirements of customers in domestic and international markets.”

Giovanna Ordonez, GFSI Senior Technical Manager, The Consumer Goods Forum, said, “Like everything else, food safety needs to evolve over time and Version 2020.1 is our most robust set of benchmarking requirements yet. We applaud CanadaGAP for their ongoing commitment to food safety and continuous improvement.”

Scope of GFSI Recognition

CanadaGAP has been GFSI-recognized for certification options B and C since 2010. Option D (for repacking and wholesaling) was originally recognized by GFSI in 2016.

Recognition of the three CanadaGAP certification options has once again been granted for the following GFSI scopes:

• BI – Farming of Plants
• BIII – Pre-process Handling of Plant Products (includes packing/repacking and related activities such as cooling, trimming, grading, washing, storage, etc.).

About the GFSI Benchmarking Process

Benchmarking is a procedure by which a food safety Certification Program Owner (CPO) is compared to the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements. The process is designed to be executed in an independent, unbiased, technically proficient and transparent manner. A program is ‘recognized’ by GFSI when it has been verified that it meets every single GFSI benchmarking requirement, both in procedures and in operations. An independent benchmark leader, supported by the GFSI Technical Manager, assesses whether the application meets GFSI requirements, followed by a public consultation period that is open to all GFSI Stakeholders. The benchmark leader and GFSI Technical Manager then make a recommendation to the GFSI Steering Committee regarding recognition of the program. The full process is defined in the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements document.

About CanadaGAP

CanadaGAP® is a food safety program consisting of standards and a certification system for the safe production and handling of fresh fruits and vegetables. Two manuals, one specific to greenhouse operations, the second for other fruit and vegetable operations, have been developed by the horticultural industry and reviewed for technical soundness by Canadian government officials. The manuals are designed for companies implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in their fruit and vegetable production, packing and storage operations; for repackers and wholesalers implementing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and HACCP programs; and for produce brokers following supplier management and traceability best practices. The manuals are based on a rigorous hazard analysis applying the seven principles of the internationally-recognized HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) approach.

About GFSI

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI; the Coalition) is a CEO-led Coalition of Action from The Consumer Goods Forum, bringing together 34 retailers and manufacturers and an extended food safety community to help oversee food safety standards for businesses and help provide access to safe food for people everywhere. As one of the world’s largest networks to help achieve safe food, GFSI is committed to making food safety everyone’s business and the Coalition members are addressing challenges facing food safety systems in their supply chains and the markets they operate in, and are helping to raise the food safety bar globally. Its ambition is to strengthen and harmonise food safety systems so they are able to feed the growing global population and develop markets that can deliver food safely, no matter where in the world the consumer is. To learn more, visit www.mygfsi.com.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the CanadaGAP office at infocanadagap.ca or 613-829-4711, or Lee Green, Communications Director at The Consumer Goods Forum: l.green@theconsumergoodsforum.com.