PORTLAND, OR - Are you looking to boost your production efficiency and safety? Well, you’re in luck, as the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard version 5.4-1-GFS for fruit and vegetables, plus the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR) add-on version 1.3, is now officially recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be in alignment with the PSR.

“We are grateful to the National Technical Working Group USA and the global stakeholders that have shaped the development of the FSMA PSR add-on since 2016,” said President of GLOBALG.A.P. North America Roberta Anderson. “We are a stakeholder-driven organization, and this milestone is evidence of the value of our collaborative approach.”

The United States imports fresh fruits and vegetables from over 125 different countries. Buyers, importers, and receiving facilities in the United States often use third-party audits to assess product quality and safety and may make purchase agreements contingent on the results of these audits.

Stakeholders in the produce supply chain who handle produce sourced from local and international farms that are certified to officially recognized third-party solutions can have confidence that their suppliers satisfy applicable FDA food safety rules, noted the release. This efficiency extends to government vigilance as well, as FDA investigators will have more reliable indicators of importers’ compliance with FSMA requirements based on private third-party audit results and can allocate oversight resources accordingly.

“We are pleased that the FDA now officially recognizes IFA as a reliable basis for food safety,” said Managing Director Elmé Coetzer-Boersma. “FoodPLUS GmbH expects this new recognition to make food safety auditing more efficient and to streamline supply chain operations among producers and U.S. importers who rely on GLOBALG.A.P. farm assurance solutions. Foreign producers adopting IFA plus the FSMA PSR add-on will also be demonstrating their commitment to supplying trustworthy, safe food for export to the United States.”

FoodPLUS GmbH submitted a comparison between the PSR and IFA v5.4-1-GFS plus the FSMA PSR add-on v1.2, which was reviewed by an FDA subject-matter expert. Discrepancies were addressed, and the resulting revisions were published in the FSMA PSR add-on v1.3, which became obligatory in December 2022.

“We believe that the FSMA PSR add-on is not just valuable for importers but also for producers in the United States who are seeking a streamlined approach to meeting regulatory and market needs,” said Anderson.

By adopting IFA plus the FSMA PSR add-on, fruit and vegetable producers who produce in or export to the United States can become “FSMA-ready,” and importers of their products can be assured of alignment with the PSR.

Click here for more information on the newly recognized standards.

AndNowUKnow will continue to report on the latest developments, so keep a tab open.

GLOBALG.A.P.