Implementation walkthrough
How to get GLOBALG.A.P. certified: video walkthrough
A walkthrough of preparing for GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance certification, for individual producers, multisite operations and producer groups.
Key takeaways
- IFA covers food safety, environment, worker welfare and traceability at farm level.
- Criteria are Major Musts, Minor Musts or Recommendations.
- Smart edition fruit and vegetables: all Major Musts and at least 95% of Minor Musts.
- A self-assessment or internal audit comes before the certification body's audit.
- Certificates are valid for twelve months and traced by a 13-digit GGN.
Good agricultural practice at farm level
GLOBALG.A.P. is the organisation and the certification system; Integrated Farm Assurance, IFA, is its core standard for primary production. An IFA certificate tells a customer that an independent certification body has audited the farm or aquaculture site against published principles and criteria for food safety, the environment, workers' health, safety and welfare, production processes and traceability. For plants the scope runs from before the crop is in the ground to the unprocessed product; for aquaculture it takes in hatchery, grow-out, harvest and postharvest work by the same legal entity.
Certification belongs to a producer or a producer group, and every certificate holder carries a 13-digit GLOBALG.A.P. number. This short film walks through how a producer prepares.
Preparing for the annual audit
Decide what the certificate will cover: the products or species, the production sites, any product handling, whether the holder is an individual producer, a multisite operation or a producer group, and which edition applies. IFA version 6 comes in two editions, Smart and GFS, the latter recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative for fruit and vegetables and for aquaculture.
A gap analysis then checks every applicable criterion. Criteria are graded by level, and for fruit and vegetables under the Smart edition a farm passes only when it meets all applicable Major Musts and no less than 95% of the applicable Minor Musts. Implementation puts the required documentation in place, completes a documented self-assessment or internal farm and quality management audits before the certification body's visit, plans improvements, and brings resources, training, outsourced activities, suppliers and stock under control alongside the agricultural practices themselves. Only certification bodies approved by GLOBALG.A.P. and accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 may audit and certify; audits are annual and certificates are valid for twelve months.
Sterling's expert and experienced consultants prepare the farm, group or site and implement the system with your team under Sterling OS™. The approved certification body audits and decides.
GLOBALG.A.P. at a glance
- Purpose
- Independent assurance of good agricultural practice at farm level: food safety, the environment, workers' health, safety and welfare, and traceability
- Relevant to
- Producers of fruit and vegetables, flowers and ornamentals, combinable crops, plant propagation material, tea and hops, and aquaculture farms; individual producers, multisite operations and producer groups, including smallholders
- Edition
- IFA version 6, in two editions: Smart, which replaced version 5.2 on 1 January 2024, and GFS, recognised by GFSI for fruit and vegetables and for aquaculture, which replaced version 5.4-1-GFS on 1 January 2025
- Certification
- Audited 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 GGN
- Sterling's role
- Gap analysis against every applicable Major and Minor Must, the self-assessment or group QMS, records in Effivity, training, internal inspections and audit readiness, then Sustain™
- Cost and timing
- Total investment for a GLOBALG.A.P. farm assurance system depends on the current maturity of your processes, the scope, locations and number of employees. The process typically takes 3 to 9 months
GLOBALG.A.P.: questions people ask
What is the difference between GLOBALG.A.P. and IFA?
GLOBALG.A.P. is the organisation and brand behind a family of farm and supply-chain standards; Integrated Farm Assurance is its core farm standard, with principles and criteria for each production scope. When a customer asks for "GLOBALG.A.P. certification" it usually means an IFA certificate for the product you supply, sometimes with an add-on such as GRASP. The certificate is issued by a certification body GLOBALG.A.P. has approved, not by GLOBALG.A.P. itself.
Do we need IFA v6 Smart or IFA v6 GFS?
Follow the customer. GLOBALG.A.P. positions Smart as the edition for most producers and GFS for producers who need certification recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative. If a supplier requirement requires GFSI recognition for fruit and vegetables or aquaculture, GFS answers it; if it simply says GLOBALG.A.P., confirm with the customer before you choose.
Is GLOBALG.A.P. recognised by GFSI?
The GFS edition is. At the time of writing, September 2026, GFSI's list of recognised programmes names IFA GFS version 6.0 for plants, covering fruit and vegetables under GFSI scopes BI (farming of plants) and BIII (pre-process handling of plant products), and for aquaculture under scope AII (farming of fish and seafood), benchmarked against GFSI's 2020 requirements. GLOBALG.A.P.'s Produce Handling Assurance and Harmonized Produce Safety Standard are on the list too; the Smart edition is not. Check the list, or ask us, when a contract depends on it.
What is a GGN, and how does a customer check our certificate?
The GGN is the 13-digit GLOBALG.A.P. Number that your certification body generates in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT platform when it confirms your registration. It identifies you and your certified product, it goes on delivery notes and sales invoices, and a customer can validate your certificate online with it. The GGN label, GLOBALG.A.P.'s consumer label, is a separate step, for which IFA certification is one of the requirements.
Can smallholders be certified together as a group?
Yes, under Option 2. The producer group is the certificate holder and runs a quality management system; its internal audits cover the QMS and every member's farm at least once a year and before the certification body arrives. The certification body then audits the QMS and a sample of at least the square root of the registered producers. For farms not yet ready for IFA, GLOBALG.A.P. also offers Primary Farm Assurance, an entry-level assessment of good agricultural practices designed for developing economies and emerging markets.
Keep exploring
Related to this video
The complete guide
Everything on GLOBALG.A.P.
Start with the GLOBALG.A.P. page, or go straight to the guide you need.
On the GLOBALG.A.P. page
- What are the main GLOBALG.A.P. requirements?
- How do you get GLOBALG.A.P. certified?
- How much does GLOBALG.A.P. certification cost?
- How long does GLOBALG.A.P. certification take?
- Who needs GLOBALG.A.P. certification?
- How GLOBALG.A.P. wins listings, protects the crop and keeps the farm audit-ready all season
- Frequently asked questions about GLOBALG.A.P.
More videos: Food safety and agriculture
- How to implement IFS FoodImplementation walkthrough · 3 min 15 s
- IFS Food requirements explainedTwo-minute brief · 2 min
- How to implement SQFImplementation walkthrough · 3 min 15 s
- SQF requirements explainedTwo-minute brief · 2 min
- How to implement HACCPImplementation walkthrough · 3 min 24 s
- HACCP requirements explainedTwo-minute brief · 2 min
- How to implement ISO 22000Implementation walkthrough · 3 min 24 s
- ISO 22000 requirements explainedTwo-minute brief · 2 min
- How to implement FSSC 22000Implementation walkthrough · 3 min 24 s
Talk to a consultant
Plan your GLOBALG.A.P. certification with confidence.
Tell us your goals, locations and target date. We’ll help you define the scope, timeline and next steps.
hello@sterling-grc.com+1 201 263 4443 (global headquarters) · your nearest office and its number are at the top of this page
What would you like to achieve?
Choose a starting point. The enquiry form takes about a minute.
Book my free discovery callContinue to the enquiry form to share your details. Please do not include passwords, sensitive personal information or confidential files. A Sterling consultant replies within one working day. Privacy notice