CanadaGAP is one of several food safety programs recognized internally by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
CanadaGAP offers GFSI-recognized certification to fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers. If you are in the fresh produce industry, CanadaGAP is a good option for your business to achieve certification to a GFSI-recognized program.
If you are producing a different product than fresh fruits or vegetables, visit the GFSI website to find recognized certification programs that fit your scope of activity. Additional information on GFSI benchmarking and recognition is also available.
Yes, CanadaGAP certification options B, C and D have been officially recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Therefore, an operation certified to option B, C or D would meet the requirement for GFSI. Through a formal benchmarking process, GFSI recognizes these CanadaGAP certification options as meeting their international requirements for food safety programs. For more information about GFSI, the benchmarking process, and the scopes of recognition, visit www.mygfsi.com.
Possibly, depending on the choice of Certification Body. One of the benefits of third party certification is the increased flexibility for those who are meeting different customer requirements and need multiple certifications, but who would like to avoid the cost and inconvenience of multiple audits. In addition to certifying a food safety program, some CanadaGAP Certification Bodies may have the capacity to offer multiple certifications within a single visit, for instance if an operation also needs certification to customer-specific requirements, or to GLOBALG.A.P., BRC, organic certification or other programs in which the Certification Body’s auditors are qualified.
CanadaGAP, through GFSI recognition, is working to eliminate the need for multiple food safety certifications in the future. To assist Canadian suppliers to foreign markets, CanadaGAP certification options B, C and D are benchmarked to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). GFSI has officially recognized options B, C and D as meeting international food safety requirements.
Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments have developed a mechanism to provide oversight to industry-developed food safety programs. This two-stage approach is led by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with participation from provincial and territorial governments. The first stage takes a look at the technical requirements of the program. This involves bringing together a team of government experts in food safety to review the generic HACCP models that form the basis of the standard. To ensure that food safety hazards have been appropriately identified, the review proceeds to examine the corresponding manuals to ensure that the food safety hazards identified in the HACCP models have been adequately addressed. The second step in government oversight entails an examination of the effectiveness of the delivery and management of the program. The CanadaGAP program has received full Government Recognition by completing all steps in the process.