International GAPs
Introduction
Most international Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) manuals that have been published have concentrated heavily on the food safety component of GAP. Some have only addressed the microbiological contamination issue. The reason for this is that chemical contamination is covered extensively by
Codex requirements. Food safety is an important component of GAP and some consider it the minimum basis for GAP recognition. A number of relevant GAP documents are included in this section as examples of what has been produced by
a range of countries.
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Individual Countries
The following documents can be used by growers, trainers,
facilitators, auditors and customers as a reference for on-farm
food safety of fresh produce. Although specific for Australia,
their contents have universal application.
Guidelines for on-farm food safety for fresh produce
Document produced by the
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)
Edmund Barton Building
Broughton Street
Barton, GPO Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: +61 2 6272 3933
Website: www.daff.gov.au
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Forestry has kindly given permission to use this document. They are
the copyright owner of this document and the document is not to be sold for profit.
The Australian chemical residue standards are described in the following document prepared by Food Standards Australia New Zealand
(FSANZ). It provides the maximum levels (MLs) of specified metal and non metal contaminants and natural toxicants and maximum residue limits
(MRLs) of agricultural chemicals in various foods including fresh produce.
Food
Standards Code Part 1.4 - Contaminants and Residues
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
55 Blackall St
Barton ACT 2600
PO Box 7186
Canberra BC ACT 2610
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: + 61 2 6271 2222
Facsimile: + 61 2 6271 2278
Website www.foodstandards.gov.au
Guidelines
for the management of microbial food safety in fruit packing houses
Document produced by the
Government of Western Australia, Department of Agriculture
3 Baron-Hay Court
South Perth WA 6151
Locked Bag 4
Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6883
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: +61 8 9368 3333
E-mail: enquires@agric.wa.gov.au
Website: www.agric.wa.gov.au
The Government of Western Australia, Department of Agriculture has kindly given permission to use this document. They are the copyright owner of this document and the document is not to be sold for profit.
The purpose of the following guide is to identify important hazards and control measures for risks in the fresh produce supply chain. Topics covered include physical, chemical and biological risks at all stages of production from growing to dispatch to customers. Although specific for Ireland, much of its contents have universal application.
Code of
Practice for Food Safety in the Fresh Produce Supply Chain in Ireland
Food Safety Authority of Ireland
Abbey Court,
Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1
Ireland
Telephone: + 353 1 8171 300
Facsimile: + 353 1 8171 301
Email: info@fsai.ie
Website: www.fsai.ie
Malaysia has developed a GAP based QA system, the Farm Accreditation Scheme of Malaysia
(SALM).
Department of Agriculture, Malaysia
agrolink.moa.my/doa/
Singapore has different approach in that it is concerned about
the safety of produce coming into the country. It has developed a
food safety QA system which is being introduced to Indonesia, a
supplier of green vegetables to Singapore.
Information about the ‘Singapore certification scheme on good
agricultural practices for vegetable farming’ can be obtained from
the
Agri-food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore website.
Thailand has developed a GAP based QA system (Q system). A
modified manual can be accessed below.
Inspection
manual for certification quality management system: good
agricultural practise (GAP)
Department of Agriculture, Thailand
www.doa.go.th/en/
The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has produced a GAP document to minimise and control microbial contamination of fresh produce. The guide identifies and advises on GAPs to reduce the main microbiological risks from fresh produce occurring from manure, water, workers, harvesting, sorting, packing and distribution.
Guide to
Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and
Vegetables
USFDA
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville MD 20857 0001
USA
Telephone: +1 888 463 6332
Website: www.fda.gov
Other
In addition to the official government published GAP documents there are a number of GAP documents that have been prepared by private organisations including educational and industry bodies.
Codex Alimentarius Commission
In addition to the above GAP documents there are the requirements of
Codex Alimentarius. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (codex alimentarius means 'food code' in Latin) was created by FAO and WHO under the United Nations to protect the health of consumers, ensure fair food trade practices, and promote coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international organisations. The quality standards produced by Codex also cover food safety. Codex has produced many quality standards for ASEAN produce. These food safety standards can be obtained from
www.codexalimentarius.net
EUREPGAP®
The term EUREPGAP is derived from the "Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group"
(EUREP) and "Good Agricultural Practices" (GAP). EUREPGAP standards are used widely in Europe and around the world for the certification of Good Agricultural Practices. More information can be obtained from
EUREPGAP.
As a general introduction to EUREPGAP please read the FoodPLUS document. EUREPGAP documents about fruit and vegetables can be downloaded by clicking on the following links. Updates to these documents should be routinely checked for by visiting the
EUREPGAP Website.
General regulations, January 2004
Control points and compliance criteria, October 2004
Checklist, October 2004
Benchmarking checklist
Introducing EUREPGAP benchmarking procedure, May 2003
EUREPGAP benchmarking procedure, May 2003
Jas-Anz fee schedule, December 2004
FoodPLUS fee schedule, January 2005
Sublicense and certification agreement, November 2004
Update:
MRL, crop protection product, water quality and traceability information sources, January 2005
Interpretation guideline to control points and compliance criteria version 2.1, October 2004
Guidelines for implementing EUREPGAP for Australian Fresh
fruit and vegetable producers, December 2004
First inspection timing guideline fruit and vegetables, September 2004
EUREPGAP fee table, 2005
Annex 7.3 EUREPGAP product crop list, February 2005
These documents are copyrighted to
EUREPGAP c/o FoodPLUS GmbH
Spichernstr. 55
D-50672 Köln (Cologne),
GERMANY
Telephone: + 49 221 57993 25
Facsimile: + 49 221 57993 56
Website: www.eurep.org
Permission to use these documents here was kindly provided by the EUREPGAP Secretariat.
University of California (Davis) GAPs
The following document describes many principles for producing safe fruit and vegetables, and allows growers to gauge their GAPs competency via a series of questions and explanations. Not all the links work but the document’s utility is unimpaired.
Good
Agricultural Practices - A Self Audit for Growers and Handlers
Permission to use this document was kindly provided by
Dr. Trevor Suslow
Department of Plant Sciences
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, California 95616,
UNITED STATES
Telephone: + 1 530 752 1011 (main campus)
Website: www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu
US Department of Agriculture
The Pathogen Modelling Program or PMP estimates the growth, inactivation or survival of several bacterial pathogens in various environments. The effect of changing variables such as temperature, pH and initial pathogen level can be determined, and so this software is useful as a teaching aid and for assessing Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems. The producers of the PMP state that its output is strictly for the environment specified, and updates should be regularly checked for via
http://www.arserrc.gov/mfs/Download.htm.
To obtain the program whilst online, please familiarise yourself with and carryout the following instructions:
- Click on the link below.
- When the ‘File Download’ Box appears, click the ‘Save’ Button (not the ‘Open’ Button).
- Then in the ‘Save As’ Box, select your desired ‘Save in’ location and click the ‘Save’ button.
- Open the downloaded folder, usually by clicking the ‘Open’ Button in the ‘Download complete’ Box.
- Then run either ‘PMP7 Installer.msi’ or the ‘Setup.Exe’ Programs and follow the onscreen prompts.
Please note that the initial file is over 8 Mb and could take some time to download.
The Pathogen Modelling Program 7, Version number 1.1.1433.15425
The PMP is produced by the
US Department of Agriculture,
Agriculture Research Service,
Eastern Regional Research Centre,
600 East Mermaid Lane,
Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania 19038, USA.
Telephone: + 1 215 233 6400
Website: http://www.arserrc.gov/www/ContactUs.htm
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