CanadaGAP will be publishing an update to the Program Management Manual, Version 8.0 on April 1, 2020. The Management Manual is the document that explains the certification rules for CanadaGAP and is not the same document as the Food Safety Manuals that are used by program participants within their operations. The Food Safety Manuals were published last week.
With regard to the certification rules in the CanadaGAP Program Management Manual, the two most significant changes to note in advance of the 2020 season include:
Requirements for Option B Group Certification and Multi-site Operations
There will be a number of changes to the certification rules, especially those impacting Option B Group Certification, and multi-site operations.
- A “tracked changes” and clean copies of Component 3 of the CanadaGAP Program Management Manual will be available on request for program participants who would like to see the revisions in advance of final publication of Version 8.0 on April 1, 2020.
- Please contact the CanadaGAP office to request the documents.
- The audit checklist for Option B Group Certification will be revised and reissued for April 1, 2020, as will the Management System Audit Checklist for Multi-site Operations. Program participants will be informed when these documents are released.
Unannounced audits
Version 8.0 also introduces changes to the Unannounced Audit programme.
- Effective April 1, 2020 CanadaGAP certification bodies must perform unannounced audits on 10% of their clients each year.
- This is an increase from the previous requirement of 5% annually.
- The change was made as a result of new GFSI requirements for a minimum of 10% of unannounced audits each year in the primary production sector.
- There will be no other revisions to Unannounced Audit procedures; only the percentage is changing.
Please contact the CanadaGAP office with any questions.