GLOBALG.A.P. IFA – Aquaculture

Improve quality of your farmed seafood products and consistently meet customer expectations of food safety and sustainability.

Certification of your Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) aquaculture system demonstrates your commitment to Good Agricultural Practice (G.A.P.) including the production and marketing of safe food while protecting scarce resources. It implies continual improvement and customer satisfaction. These are tangible benefits that play an important part in building a sustainable business performance.

The Integrated Farm Assurance – Aquaculture standard delineates precise requirements for a comprehensive farm management system, spanning the entire production chain, which includes broodstock, seedlings, compound feed, farming, harvesting, and transportation. This standard is designed to bolster your capability to consistently supply products that align with both customer expectations and statutory or regulatory requirements.

What is GLOBALG.A.P. IFA – Aquaculture

GLOBALG.A.P. IFA Standard is built on a system of modules that enables producers to get certified for several sub-scopes in one audit. It consists of:

General regulations which set the criteria for successful Principle and Criteria (P&C) implementation as well as guidelines for the verification and the regulation of the standard. These Principles and Criteria define the requirements for achieving the quality standard required by GLOBALG.A.P.
The aquaculture standard is one of three scope modules built upon the all farm base module and it specifically focuses on aquaculture (the other two cover land based crop and livestock farming).
It promotes measures for any aquaculture producer that ensure food safety, minimal environmental impact with consideration to the biodiversity, and compliance with animal welfare and workers’ health and safety requirements.
The aquaculture sub-scopes available with the current version of the standard are finfish, mollusks and crustaceans, which are embedded in the aquaculture base mode. It may link up with other food safety standards such as FSSC 22000, BRC and IFS to cover the entire supply chain.

Editions and GFSI recognition

IFA version 6 was released in September 2022. This was followed by the updated GLOBALG.A.P. IFA v.6.0 GFS August 2024 where both the aquaculture, and fruit and vegetables scopes are recognized by GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative).

Version 6 offers a simplified structure and language and extended criteria on sustainability, animal-welfare and continuous improvement at the producer level. IFA Plants (which includes fruit and vegetables) is currently offered in two parallel and equally valid versions:

IFA Smart
IFA GFS (GFSI benchmarked)

The split allows for Smart to have simplified checklists, be outcome oriented and customized. GFS has simplified checklists where allowed while being recognized by GFSI.

Benefits of becoming certified

Certification to GLOBALG.A.P. IFA – Aquaculture by an independent third-party verifies the effectiveness of the Good Agricultural Practices and the farming system implemented, as well as sustainability of farming activities. As a result:

Build trust in your system’s performance internally and externally by applying effective process management principles.
Implement a structured approach to continually improving processes and knowing where to focus efforts. This can improve product quality and reduction of costs.
Enhance customer confidence and satisfaction, which in turn can lead to better and easier access to the market.
Gain a significant competitive advantage by meeting any farming system certification business requirements from customers, suppliers and sub-contractors in order to conduct business with them.

Getting started

To be certified, you first need to implement the required modules into a system complying with the standard’s requirements. DNV is an independent third-party certification body accredited for the GLOBALG.A.P. IFA Aquaculture standard. We can help you throughout the journey starting from relevant training to self-assessments, gap analysis and certification services.