The IFA standard is an internationally recognized standard for agricultural production. It is our core product and the result of years of intensive research and collaboration with industry experts, producers, and retailers around the globe. Our goal is safe and sustainable agricultural production to benefit farmers, retailers, and consumers throughout the world.

Production processes are inspected/audited and certified against strict standards covering aspects such as food safety and traceability; environment, including biodiversity; workers’ health, safety, and welfare; and animal welfare. These inspections and audits are undertaken by independent certification bodies. In order to be awarded a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate, farms must be managed in a manner which ensures food safety and safeguards the environment and social welfare. This is what makes the GLOBALG.A.P. system unique and ensures greater sustainability in production processes. It also helps improve business performance and reduce waste of vital resources. The result is a general farming approach that lays the foundation for best practices for generations to come.

In addition to agricultural production certification, GLOBALG.A.P. also offers chain of custody certification. The chain of custody is the process of tracking a certified product throughout the supply chain – from the farm through the various stages of trading, sorting, packing, and warehousing to the end consumer. This chain of custody is monitored through the invoicing and other sales documentation processes. The final product label has a code which confirms that the item is genuinely GLOBALG.A.P. certified.

Any product sold with the GLOBALG.A.P. claim needs to be traceable from the farm to the final consumer. For this to work, every company along the supply chain needs to be certified according to the CoC standard. The CoC standard ensures a continuous chain throughout which certified products are identifiable, segregated, and traceable.

If your company receives products from a GLOBALG.A.P. certified source and wants to sell them as such, you need CoC certification.

There are exceptions. You do not require CoC certification if your company …

• buys certified products but does not wish to sell them as GLOBALG.A.P. certified. In this case the chain is broken, and you and your customers may not make any claim about the product being GLOBALG.A.P. certified.
• is a freight forwarder who does not have ownership of the certified products but merely transports them.
• only provides contracted services for certified companies and therefore can be covered by your customer’s CoC certification as a subcontractor.

Yes. If you take legal ownership of the products and wish to give your customers sales documents with a GLOBALG.A.P. claim, you need to have CoC certification.

In addition to GLOBALG.A.P. agricultural production certification, GLOBALG.A.P. offers the CoC standard that ensures traceability of the certified product through every stage in the supply chain, from the farm to the final consumer. This is monitored through the invoicing and sales documentation process, and the final label on the product has a code (GGN/CoC Number) that confirms that the item is genuinely GLOBALG.A.P. certified.

No, but you must make sure that you have implemented systems for segregating GLOBALG.A.P. certified and non-certified products.

Yes. The certification body will, however, want to come for a brief visit once you start handling or processing GLOBALG.A.P. certified products to make sure your systems are working properly.

No, not if a client requests you not to. However, for the chain of custody to be maintained, the products must be sold with the GGN/CoC Number and GLOBALG.A.P. claim in the sales documents. Only GLOBALG.A.P. certificate holders can use the GGN on packaging or invoices. 

If you want another company to carry out part of the process, such as storage or packing, then they can be included in the scope of your ChoC certificate – but only if you retain ownership of the products. You will need to contact your certification body to include your subcontracted companies within the scope of your certificate.

No, IFS Food audits have a slightly different focus and would require a few additional control points related to GLOBALG.A.P. certified products in order to be equivalent to the CoC standard. However, if you have already been audited according to IFS Food (or another programme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative), it is worth checking with your certification body if they can introduce the CoC inspections/audits into your existing inspection/auditing schedule. IFS auditors who have received additional CoC training can inspect and audit against the CoC standard in a combined inspection/audit with the IFS Food, IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale, IFS Logistics, and/or IFS Broker audit. The inspection/audit will result in two separate certificates.

No, BRCGS audits have a slightly different focus and would require a few additional control points related to GLOBALG.A.P. certified products in order to be equivalent to the CoC standard. However, if you have already been audited according to BRCGS (or another programme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative), it is worth checking with your certification body if they can introduce the CoC inspections/audits into your existing inspection/auditing schedule. In the framework of this module, the BRCGS auditor would inspect/audit the CoC standard in addition to the BRCGS audit in the produce packaging company. The inspection/audit will result in two separate certificates.

Please see our Quicklinks for more information on scope and certification options.

To find out about our services for retailers, go to GLOBALG.A.P. for buyers.

Simply follow the five steps to certification listed at www.globalgap.org/getcertified, and you are on your way!

You can find information on certification bodies that can conduct the required assessment process at GLOBALG.A.P. approved certification bodies.

A certification body will inspect/audit your company to ensure that …

• you are purchasing GLOBALG.A.P. certified products from a certified supplier;
• certified products are clearly identifiable;
• certified products are separated from non-certified ones;
• certified products are traceable and volumes recorded; and
• you have an effective management system in place.

The costs for CoC certification consist of the following:

- Costs of implementing the standard: Each company is unique, so depending on their specific situation, some companies may need to implement new policies, processes, and installations to comply with the standard.

- GLOBALG.A.P. registration fee: This fee is charged by the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat via certification bodies. Click here to see our current fee table.

- Certification body service fees: Costs for the inspections/audits (time, travel costs) and services provided by the independent certification body are negotiated directly between the company and the certification body. These fees depend on individual price policies, the duration of the inspection/audit, travel costs, time needed for preparation, and follow-up. To find a list of all certification bodies, go to  GLOBALG.A.P. approved certification bodies.

Please note: Certificates are issued per scope (Crops/Livestock/Aquaculture) and are valid for one year.

There are a number of other farming certification schemes, but they do not have the same strict environmental, social, and food safety standards, nor such a rigorous chain of custody standard to track the products from farm to customer.