Amsterdam/ Cologne: At its SUMMIT 2016 in Amsterdam, celebrating 20 years of global partnership and 15 years of good agricultural practices certification, GLOBALG.A.P. set the course to prepare itself for future challenges.

The bi-annual SUMMIT, which took place in Amsterdam on 27-28 September, looked 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.

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 that is listed in the online portal GGN.ORG. The label includes the GGN (the unique GLOBALG.A.P. Number), which every consumer can use with immediate effect on GGN.ORG to get to know 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," said Hofstede at the SEG 2016 in Brussels. “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."

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. 

For more  news and  farm profiles, please visit our new online portal GGN.org.

GLOBALG.A.P. Announces 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 revolutionizes 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.

See news release here.

Website: http://www.greenfence.com

GLOBALG.A.P. Supports Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations

GLOBALG.A.P. already incorporates a number of practices in line with the SDGs. On 26 September the GLOBALG.A.P. Board decided to formally visualize 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 delegates of the SUMMIT had the possibility 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,” said GLOBALG.A.P. CEO Kristian Moeller 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 GLOBALG.A.P. SUMMIT 2016. A total of 37 abstracts were submitted from around the world and evaluated by the jury.

The winning piece with the title “Assessment of irrigation water quality and microbiological safety of leafy greens at GLOBALG.A.P. and non-GLOBALG.A.P. certified production systems” was submitted by Gape Jongman from the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Being the finalist, he was invited to the SUMMIT, where he was able to present his research.

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.

GLOBALG.A.P. Good Agricultural Practice Awards

The G.A.P. Awards merit producers who have achieved outstanding results through their commitment to GLOBALG.A.P. principles.
This year´s awards went to the Ranadi Plantation Partnership from Fiji, Varcli Pinares S.A. from Costa Rica, Muviwapasi Association c/o Africado Ltd. from Tanzania, and Goshogawara Agricultural and Forestry High School from Japan.

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


About the GLOBALG.A.P. SUMMIT 2016

The GLOBALG.A.P. SUMMIT fosters dialogue among global community members. Taking place every two years, the conference is the perfect setting to discuss the latest developments in food safety and sustainability as well as Good Agriculture and Aquaculture Practices and the future of the industry. The GLOBALG.A.P. Summit 2016 took place in Amsterdam on 27-28 September 2016 with 400 delegates from 57 countries representing 260 companies from around the world. 74 speakers and panelists took to the stage to inform the audience about what has been achieved so far and the challenges that lie ahead.


About GLOBALG.A.P.

GLOBALG.A.P. is one of the world`s leading farm assurance systems that offers a clear focus on food safety paired with other significant elements of Good Agricultural Practices, a transparent and robust integrity system equipped with an increasing flexibility to respond to market requirements, and modular and customized solutions for certification, farm assessments, and capacity building. Today, over 160,000 primary producers are under GLOBALG.A.P. Certification in 124 countries. GLOBALG.A.P. Schemes primarily focus on product safety, environmental impact and the health, safety and welfare of workers and animals. For more information, visit www.globalgap.org.

Please download the press release here (PDF, 215 kb).

For media enquiries contact  

GLOBALG.A.P.
Claudia Meifert
Public Relations
T: +49 (0) 221-57993-997
Email: meifert@globalgap.org