NaturaCert offers verification services in the programs:
Additionally, it performs second-party audits or also called verifications, for entities that request it in products such as coffee, bananas, gold or for agribusiness processes.
GLOBALG.A.P Risk Assessment for Social Practices
It is a voluntary module, developed to evaluate social practices on the farm, addressing specific issues related to the health, safety and well-being of workers.
GRASP helps producers to establish a good social management system on their farms. It offers buyers an additional guarantee. It also helps protect one of the most important resources from exploitation: your people.
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Product Safety Rules (PSR)
In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires that specific manufacturing practices be implemented and followed , manipulation and importation of food products. In order to support producers in the implementation of these practices, GLOBALG.A.P. offers its FSMA PSR add-on to address the control points found in the FSMA Product Safety Rule (FSMA PSR).
Sustainable Program for Irrigation and Groundwater Use (SPRING)
SPRING is a farm-level add-on that helps growers, retailers and traders demonstrate their commitment to sustainable water management, and can be applied in conjunction with the GLOBALG.A.P. IFA for Crops. SPRING incorporates a large number of criteria to assess whether sustainable water management is being carried out on the farm. Some of these criteria are as follows:
Legal compliance of water sources and withdrawal rates
Monitoring of water consumption
Impact of producers in the sustainable management of hydrographic basins
Best practices in water management
Protection of water sources
Measures that demonstrate continuous improvement of water management
R4T biosafety
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense – tropical race 4 (R4T), also known as the “Foc 4”, is the most imminent threat to the Cavendish banana industry and the economic livelihood of those who depend on banana production and consumption for their livelihoods. There is currently no effective treatment to control this disease that affects Cavendish crops. Therefore, the only viable option is to take preventive measures.
For this reason the GLOBALG.A.P. has developed the R4T Biosecurity Add-on, a tool that offers producers a risk mitigation plan with the intention of preventing the introduction (and/or further spread) of the R4T pathogen to, within and from GLOBALG certified farms. AP
Furthermore, the add-on is innovative in the sense that it was designed with informative annexes to raise awareness of the seriousness of this disease on a global scale. Therefore, the add-on is the contribution of GLOBALG.A.P. to the fight against this threat that afflicts the banana sector.
NURTURE
The NURTURE Module is based on GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Agricultural Assurance (IFA) Standard in its currently applicable version and adds additional rules and control points. Tesco developed Tesco Nature’s Choice, renamed the Tesco Nurture Scheme (TN), which has been implemented through a code of practice since 1991. This scheme identifies the key principles and practices that, when followed by producers and suppliers of fresh produce of Tesco (fruit, vegetables, flowers and ornamentals), will ensure that its production and product handling systems are sustainable, environmentally friendly and responsible.
In 2016, Tesco decided to restructure the scheme in a way that is based on the current version of the IFA standard. Many of the producers that participate in the TN also have the GLOBALG.A.P. To increase efficiency in the evaluation process, Tesco identified the overlap of both schemes and decided to evaluate control points that are specific to the Nurture Program such as the Nurture module together with the IFA standard for fresh produce.
GROW
AH-DLL GROW is a plugin that assesses growers risk management regarding hygiene, pesticide residues and foreign bodies. The module was developed in order to better meet the growing demands of consumers for quality and food safety and aims to increase the awareness of producers on both issues. Based on the content of the AH Waste Protocol version 2 (AHP v2), the ah-DLL GROW Assessment Checklist consists of a fixed number of checkpoints and compliance criteria and can be implemented in conjunction with inspection or GLOBALG.AP audit Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA).
The AH-DLL GROW assessment is required for both individual growers and grower groups supplying fruit and vegetable products directly or through their suppliers to Albert Heijn in the Netherlands or Delhaize in Belgium.
SECOND PART AUDITS
The second-party audit is an external evaluation that is performed at the request of a client. The second-party audit verifies that the audited organization or farm does what is expected, in accordance with the guidelines requested by the marketing company or whoever requires compliance with the contracted obligation.
C.A.F.E. Practices
NaturaCert verifies the processes for coffee crops. Starbucks Coffee Company formed C.A.F.E. (Equidad del Cafe y los Cafeterias) Practices to evaluate, recognize and reward farmers of high-quality sustainable coffee.
COFFEE. Practices is an environmentally friendly coffee sourcing guideline developed in collaboration with SCS Global Services, an independent testing and certification firm. COFFEE. Practices seeks to ensure that Starbucks suppliers grow and process coffee sustainably by assessing the economic, social, and environmental aspects involved in coffee production against the set of criteria detailed in the C.A.F.E. Practices Guideline. Starbucks defines sustainability as an economically viable model that addresses the social and environmental needs of all participants in the supply chain, from the farmer to the end consumer.