Starting next April, Canada Good Agriculture Practices (CanadaGAP) will make it more difficult for companies to pass its audits. This change will affect approximately 3,000 retailers and companies that handle produce.
Currently, grocers need 80 per cent to pass—next year, this number will increase to 85 per cent. As of now, the average score on a CanadaGAP audit is 92 per cent. Additionally, about five per cent of companies score between 80 per cent and 85 per cent, meaning that they must increase their scores before next spring.
“To maintain program integrity and credibility, we felt it was time to move in the direction of a higher passing score,” says Jack Bates, chair of CanAgPlus, the non-profit operator of CanadaGAP.
The organization works with certification inspection agencies to check farms, packing houses and storage facilities for employee training, hygiene facilities, cleanliness of buildings, among other factors. CanadaGAP was born in the 1990s after bacteria outbreaks shook several U.S. producers.
If your business is subject to CanadaGAP audits, make sure your standards are up to date so that you may pass next year’s inspection.
