GLOBALG.A.P Arrives in North America

On September 9, 2009, GLOBALG.A.P celebrated the opening of their newest office in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area, to provide local support to retailers, food service providers, and primary producers in the U.S. and Canada. To mark the occasion, GLOBALG.A.P held a presentation session, luncheon, and round table discussion with farm certification stakeholders from across the U.S, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Global G.A.P.

With presentations by Jorge A. Hernandez, Senior Vice President for Food Safety & Quality at U.S. Foodservice and GLOBALG.A.P Board Member; Dr. David E. Gombas, Senior Vice President for Food Safety and Technology at United Fresh Produce Association; and Dr. Kristian Moeller, President of GLOBALG.A.P North America, the session identified growing interest in third-party food safety certification in North America and how GLOBALG.A.P can play an active role in these developments.  Specifically, GLOBALG.A.P's globally harmonized solutions have been tailored and calibrated to address North American conditions and circumstances.  Further, with the new office in the Washington, D.C., area, GLOBALG.A.P is in prime position to interact with the federal government regarding complementary developments in food regulation.
In the round table discussion, attendees brainstormed challenges and solutions to key issues surrounding U.S. farm certification, namely what role the USDA will play regarding both regulatory and third-party audits; how to better educate retail and foodservice buyers about the importance of food safety, environmental and social certification; and the value proposition of farm certification for the North American market.

Dr. Moeller invited the participants to continue the discussion on the newly launched Farm Certification Blog (http://nablog.globalgap.org ). Please join us here to continue this discourse!