The new initiative being delivered through Horticulture Innovation Australia – using vegetable industry levy funds and funds from the Australian Government – in partnership with peak industry body, AUSVEG, is expected to have a significant impact.  

Horticulture Innovation Australia Chief Executive John Lloyd said currently, vegetable exporters have to implement food safety standard GLOBALG.A.P. to access many key export markets in Asia and the Middle East. In addition, to operate in the domestic market, producers have to meet a local certification – the Freshcare Food Safety and Quality Standard being the most widely used, but that dual requirement is about to change.

“This new initiative will see the Freshcare standard benchmarked against the internationally recognised GLOBALG.A.P. standard, leading to increased efficiencies and cost savings for Australian fresh produce exporters,” he said. “Australian produce has a strong international reputation for being fresh, clean and safe, and as the horticulture industry looks to increase its presence in overseas markets, it’s vital that this reputation is backed up by an internationally recognised certification.”

Freshcare Executive Officer, Clare Hamilton-Bate, said the on-farm assurance organisation will develop a supplement to its current Freshcare Food Safety and Quality Standard to achieve GLOBALG.A.P. recognition. “Freshcare is the most widely adopted food safety standard in the Australian fresh produce sector, with over 5000 participating horticulture businesses using the standard to meet domestic market requirements. However, the Freshcare standard is not widely recognised in export markets. Benchmarking the Freshcare standard against GLOBALG.A.P. will allow these Australian producers to achieve regulatory and retailer compliance in export markets through an extension to their existing Freshcare certification.”

AUSVEG said that it has welcomed the project and its potential to help Australian growers access the wealth of overseas markets.

“Evolving food safety demands could represent a barrier to trade for Australian vegetable and potato exports, and benchmarking Freshcare against the GLOBALG.A.P. standard will help keep overseas markets open to Australian growers,” AUSVEG CEO, Simon Bolles, said. “We hope to see this project pay real dividends into the future – not just for our vegetable and potato growers, but for the entire horticulture sector.”

The GLOBALG.A.P. benchmark process is expected to be completed by mid-2017. For more information, go to the Freshcare website.