GlobalG.A.P. (formerly Eurepgap) is the globally recognised standard specifically designed for farms seeking to provide evidence for their commitment towards sustainable development. The products covered by this standard include crops, commodities, and foods of animal origin, so the Good Agricultural Practices can be applied both on the crop farm and wherever animals are reared.

Consumers are more and more concerned with food safety and quality, as well as with the environmental and social impact of the food production processes. Sustainability is the key word for the agriculture development.

GlobalG.A.P. is a “pre-farm gate standard”: it covers the primary production intended for human consumption of combinable crops, fruit and vegetables, green coffee, tea, cattle and sheep, dairy, pigs, poultry and aquaculture (salmon and trout) products. It also includes a specific module for flowers and ornamentals.

The scheme covers the whole agricultural production process of the certified product.
From when the animal enters the production process or when the plant is in the ground (origin, and seed control points) to non-processed end products (no manufacturing, slaughtering or processing is covered).

In specific cases such as aquaculture, green coffee and tea sub scopes, The Chain of Custody (CoC) scope covers all activities once products are sold off the farm and the legal ownership over the product is taken over by a different party (trading, storing, collecting, transport, and processing to the point of final customer selling to the end-consumer). The CoC scope consists of a management system with an appropriate combination of segregation and identification to ensure that certified and uncertified materials are not mixed.

The objective of GlobalG.A.P. certification is to include parts of global practices in the production chain; it links up with among others, BRC and IFS, to cover the supply chain.

GlobalG.A.P. is a modular standard including an overall module (all farm based), three main scopes (crop base, livestock base and aquaculture base) and several specific sub scopes, ranging from fruit and vegetables to dairy, from combinable crops to salmon & trout. New sub scopes (e.g. cotton, pangasius and shrimp) are at the moment under development.

The GlobalG.A.P. standards promote:

• High priority to farmers’ and consumers’ safety and wellness

• Traceability

• Reduction to the minimum of pesticide use

• Animal welfare

• Minimisation of agrochemical and medicinal inputs

• Integrated Crop Management (ICM)

• Efficient resources utilisation

• Environmental awareness

All food chain operators – from farm to fork (from stable to table) – need to improve their capability to compete in the global food market, by offering, first of all, confidence to the consumers about food safety and food quality.

GlobalG.A.P. was originally developed by a European group of representatives from all stages of the fruit and vegetable sector with support from producer organisations outside the European Union (EU). It is the globally recognised pre-farm-gate standard and is often a mandatory requirement to enter the supply chain. Most of the European retailers, responding to consumer expectations, ask for “sustainable” products.