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Good Agricultural Practices (GAP): Certification Basics

Tiffany Maughan, Dan Drost, Shawn Olsen and, Brent Black (February, 2016)

Summary

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which includes Good Handling Practices (GHP), was formally implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration in 2002. It is a voluntary audit program designed for the fruit and vegetable production industry to verify that the produce is grown, packed, handled, and stored as safely as possible. These audits check for adherence to the FDA’s production guide as well as recognized industry food safety practices. Although these audits are voluntary, many buyers, wholesale organizations, grocery chains and risk-adverse institutions such as schools and hospitals are beginning to independently require growers to be GAP certified.