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 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be in alignment with the PSR.
“We are pleased that the FDA now officially recognizes IFA as a reliable basis for food safety,” said managing director Elmé Coetzer-Boersma.
“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 Inc. Roberta Anderson.
Right: Roberta Anderson
The United States is the world’s leading importer of fresh fruits and vegetables, bringing in produce 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. 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.
“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,” said Coetzer-Boersma.
“We believe 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.
In October 2020, the FDA announced a voluntary pilot program to evaluate the alignment of third-party food safety standards with FSMA rules. The FDA designed this program to reduce redundancy and streamline auditing by recognizing private standards satisfying the FDA’s Preventive Controls for Human Food and PSR requirements.
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.
On 17 July 2023, the FDA recognized IFA v5.4-1-GFS plus the FSMA PSR add-on v1.3 as aligned with the technical requirements of the PSR. Click here for more details.
By adopting IFA plus the FSMA PSR add-on, producers who produce in/export to the United States can become “FSMA-ready” and importers of their products can be assured of alignment with the PSR.
For more information:
Roberta Anderson
GLOBALG.A.P. North America
[email protected]
https://www.globalgap.org/
https://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/
