North American retailers seeking packhouse-level food safety certification for suppliers in Latin America now have the option of GLOBALG.A.P.’s Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) standard.
Fairtrade-certified banana importer Equifruit, which sources fruit from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua, recently worked with Ecuadorian banana grower, Asoguabo, to be the first operation outside of the U.S. with PHA certification.
PHA provides food safety and traceability certification of postharvest activities such as the cooling, packing, handling and storage of crops for human consumption. It is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and supports compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). PHA can be combined with GLOBALG.A.P.’s Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) or Harmonized Produce Safety Standard (HPSS) to provide a complete certification option for producers with on-farm packing or other postharvest activities.
“We recognize that some buyers prefer a stand-alone food safety certification that addresses HACCP for packing operations,” said Roberta Anderson, president of GLOBALG.A.P. North America. “The GLOBALG.A.P. PHA standard is specifically developed for operations doing packing, cooling and storage - whether on the farm or at an independent facility. We work closely with sector stakeholders to ensure we are setting robust, yet realistic and cost-efficient standards while meeting the needs of buyers.”
“When we were first approached by a North American retailer about certification at the packhouse level, we were delighted to collaborate with Asoguabo,” said Jennie Coleman, president at Equifruit.
“Asoguabo already holds GLOBALG.A.P.’s Integrated Farm Assurance certification for the farming operations, so it just made sense to add PHA for the packing facilities,” said Lianne Zoeteweij, CEO at Asoguabo. “The certification standards are trusted worldwide with a large network of certification bodies that could support us in Latin America.”
Once prepared for the audit, Asoguabo selected Control Union as the certification body to conduct the GLOBALG.A.P. audit and issue the certificate. “Control Union provides auditing and certification services for GLOBALG.A.P. standards around the world,” said William Izurieta Pincay, operations manager - Ecuador at Control Union. “We are excited to be the first to bring GLOBALG.A.P.’s PHA standard to Latin America to complement their farm-level standards. This streamlines food safety certification for fresh produce destined for the USA and Canada.”
Packing facilities owned by Victor Marquez were the first to achieve PHA certification. A total of 15 Asoguabo packing operations are aiming for certification over the next year. “We are grateful for Equifruit’s partnership in helping us meet the needs of North American retailers,” said Zoeteweij. “We pride ourselves on our progressive approach to certifications that benefit everyone along the supply chain.”
For more information:
Roberta Anderson
GLOBALG.A.P. North America
[email protected]
https://www.globalgap.org