GLOBALG.A.P. presents new sustainable solutions at IPM Essen

Experts from GLOBALG.A.P. presented a comprehensive range of new sustainable solutions for the floriculture sector at the horticulture trade fair IPM Essen, the world's leading trade fair for horticulture. Climate change and sustainability were major themes at this year's trade fair, setting the stage for representatives from GLOBALG.A.P. to share the updated sustainability solutions in their trusted farm assurance products for the flowers and ornamentals industry.

A floriculture standard for the smart era
GLOBALG.A.P. representatives introduced IPM attendees to the new version of GLOBALG.A.P.'s widely used Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard – IFA v6. This version includes new and updated principles and criteria in the key areas of environmental sustainability and workers' well-being. Published in late 2022, IFA v6 draws on over 20 years of experience in the field and was developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders around the world. The updates to IFA v6 respond to the need for a dedicated floriculture standard with simpler, smarter, and more focused sustainability solutions.

IFA v6 remains closely aligned with international frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and features updated environmental principles and criteria in areas such as energy efficiency, eutrophication risk mitigation, and input optimization. The new version of the standard adopts an outcome-oriented approach that focuses on results rather than prescriptive requirements, giving producers of flowers and ornamentals greater flexibility to demonstrate their compliance.

GRASP v2: Protecting the people behind our flowers and plants
GLOBALG.A.P. expert Alexandre Garcia-Devís Flores also informed IPM attendees about important updates to the GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice (GRASP) version 2, a farm-level social/labor management tool for global supply chains that producers can voluntarily add to the IFA standard. "GRASP v2 contains much more efficient principles and criteria for forced labor risk indicators, the protection of human rights, and potential exposure to worker discrimination," Flores explained. "The principles and criteria in GRASP were adapted to the reality of migrant labor flows, short-term contracting, and subcontracted labor risks. Producers now have access to better processes to provide social compliance to complicated labor resources. GRASP can now be applied to small family farms without hired labor. This opens up the opportunity for smallholders to participate in the international market."

GRASP assesses producers in four main areas of special interest to retailers and consumers of horticultural products: workers' voice, human and labor rights information, human and labor rights indicators, and child and young workers' protection. 2022 saw over 110,000 producers with GRASP certification employing more than 1.7 million agricultural workers worldwide. GRASP v2 was released in September 2022 and will become obligatory on 1 January 2024.

Impact-Driven Approach enables continuous improvement 
GLOBALG.A.P. also highlighted the Impact-Driven Approach to Sustainability (IDA) add-on at IPM Essen. The IDA add-on can be a valuable tool for helping producers develop informed strategies to constantly improve their sustainability. Producers use the tool to collect and manage data on inputs such as energy, water, plant protection products, nitrogen, and phosphorus. They then share their farm data with GLOBALG.A.P., which processes it and returns it in the form of personalized trend graphs and progress reports. These reports show producers how they compare to similar (anonymous) producers in terms of input consumption and help to identify areas for ongoing improvement.

"More and more traders only want to purchase certified, sustainable products from our marketplace," explains Frits Jonk, Program Manager of Royal FloraHolland's Phytosanitary Affairs and Sustainable and Quality Development. "With digital environmental registration and add-ons like GLOBALG.A.P.'s IDA (or the benchmarked scheme MPS-GAP), a grower can make it clear to buyers that their products have been grown in a sustainable way and contribute to the positive image of our sector. We at Royal FloraHolland are happy that GLOBALG.A.P. offers different products that can help growers achieve their ambitions for a more sustainable future!"

The IDA add-on is in line with Floriculture Sustainability Initiative requirements regarding digital registration for environmental metrics.

Cross-category GGN label with a new product category 
GLOBALG.A.P. experts at IPM Essen shared information about the new GGN label category fruit and vegetable plants in pots. Fruit and vegetable plants in pots are a special case as they are primarily produced by flowers and ornamentals growers and traded in the floriculture supply chain under the general category of "plants." However, the products themselves – such as vegetable plants, fruit trees, berry bushes, and herbs – are classified under the product category fruit and vegetables (under the IFA v6 standard), with additional food safety considerations. 

For the GGN label to be used on fruit and vegetable plants in pots, producers must have a fully compliant GRASP assessment, and supply chain members must have GLOBALG.A.P. Chain of Custody certification. While fruit and vegetable producers participating in the GGN label initiative are required to take part in a GLOBALG.A.P.-approved residue monitoring system, this is only necessary for fruit and vegetable plants in pots if the plants are edible or bear edible parts at the time of sale. 

The first fruit and vegetable plants in pots with a GGN label are projected to be available in stores beginning in spring 2023.