GLOBALG.A.P. requirements explained: video brief

Principles, criteria and levels

IFA version 6 is written as principles and criteria, and every criterion is graded as a Major Must, a Minor Must or a Recommendation. In the Smart edition for fruit and vegetables, certification requires compliance with every applicable Major Must and at least 95% of the applicable Minor Musts. That edition has 33 principles; other scopes and the GFS edition have their own principles and criteria. This short film shows the structure.

The opening principles cover the farm's management: internal documentation, a continuous improvement plan, resource management and training, outsourced activities, and specifications, suppliers and stock management. They require the documentation the standard calls for and a documented self-assessment, or internal farm and quality management system audits, at least once a year and before the certification body's audit. The principles then move through site management, traceability and segregation, food safety and hygiene, workers' health, safety and welfare, the environment, and the agricultural practices of the crop or species in scope.

Editions, scopes and certification

IFA version 6 exists in two editions. Smart replaced version 5.2 on 1 January 2024, and GFS, recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative for fruit and vegetables and for aquaculture, replaced version 5.4-1-GFS on 1 January 2025. Scopes cover fruit and vegetables, flowers and ornamentals, combinable crops, plant propagation material, tea and hops, and aquaculture, for individual producers, multisite operations and producer groups, including smallholders.

Audits are carried out every year by a certification body approved by GLOBALG.A.P. and accredited to ISO/IEC 17065. Certificates are valid for twelve months and traced through the producer's 13-digit GLOBALG.A.P. number, and the scheme's integrity programme monitors the certification bodies in turn.

Integrated Farm Assurance is the core farm standard, with principles and criteria for each production scope. The Smart edition suits most producers, while the GFS edition answers customers that require recognition by the Global Food Safety Initiative. Smallholders can be certified together as a producer group that runs a quality management system and internally audits every member's farm at least once a year. Add-ons such as GRASP, on workers' health, safety and welfare, and SPRING, on irrigation and groundwater use, are audited alongside IFA.