Brief info GLOBALG.A.P.

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Inf Supply Chain (CoC)

Brief introduction to the GLOBALG.A.P. supply chain (CoC)

Traceability from the production plant to the retail trade

1. CoC Standard
❖ ... aims to guarantee to consumers and business customers that any product sold
as originating from GLOBALG.A.P. certified production processes comes from a
producer or producer group with GLOBALG.A.P. certification and, secondly, to
prevent products from GLOBALG.A.P. certified production processes from being
substituted for or diluted by non-certified products, whether accidentally or with
the intention of making economic profit (food fraud).
❖ ... is not a food safety standard and does not lead to food safety certification.
❖ ... refers to the processes of the company and not to the certification of products or the company
itself.
❖ ...certification product scope includes the IFA scopes. All products specified on the GLOBALG.A.P
website can be included in the scope of CoC certification.

Standard for the supply chain from the producer or producer group to retailers and/or
operators of restaurant chains
Supply chain (chain of custody) certification is therefore required for all parties in the supply chain that
take legal ownership or physical control of certified products and perform at least one of the following
activities:
❖ Selling or trading products that are identified as IFA or chain of custody certified on sales
documentation and/or product packaging;
❖ Labelling of products with a GLOBALG.A.P. number (GGN), a CoC number or the logo of the GGN
label;
❖ Changing the composition (e.g. by processing, mixing different batches/products from different
producers) or assigning a new identity (e.g. repackaging, relabelling) to products sold with the
GLOBALG.A.P. claim.

Supply chain standard for retailers and restaurant chain operators

only applies to wholesale and retail stores and restaurant chains selling unpackaged products marked
with the GGN label logo (visible to the end consumer) and originating from GLOBALG.A.P. certified
processes. They must be externally audited by a GLOBALG.A.P. approved certification body based on
a sample according to the CoC General Rules, Table 1.

Retailers who purchase, handle, and sell certified products only in consumer-ready, tamperproof
packaging to final consumers do not need CoC certification. This includes wholesaler self-service stores’
own distribution sites (e.g. wholesale cash and carry).

If individual sites of a wholesale and retail chain or restaurant chain package and label products with the
GGN label logo and/or with a GGN and/or CoC number, the "GLOBALG.A.P. CoC Standard applies to
the supply chain from the producer or producer group to retailers and/or restaurant chain operators, and
the chain's processes must be certified accordingly.

Subcontractors (service providers) can be included in the scope of the product owner's certification or
certified individually and receive their own chain of custody certification independent of the legal
ownership of the certified product.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

CERES CERtification of Environmental Standards GmbH; Domicile: Happurg

Tel: +49 (9151) 96 69 20; Fax: +49 (9151) 96 69 210; Email: info@ceres-cert.com; www.ceres-cert.de
 Brief info GLOBALG.A.P.
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Inf Supply Chain (CoC)

2. The principles of the CoC standard

a) Management structure that ensures compliance with the requirements of the chain of custody
standard, including documented procedures, processes, systems and staff training appropriate to
the size, type and complexity of the activities. A self-assessment and mass balance calculation
shall be performed at least once a year. Records of suppliers, subcontractors, purchase, storage
and sales shall be kept.
b) Input and output verification of the certification status of direct suppliers (one step back) in
GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems, including matching the quantities of certified products received with
the quantities stated in the delivery documents and purchase orders as well as filing a complaint to
GLOBALG.A.P. if the verification from the supplier's chain of custody certificate shows that it is not
genuine or invalid.
c) Traceability system, ensures the traceability of the final product to one (identity preservation
method) or more (segregation method) certified producers or producer groups.
d) Identification and labelling of outgoing shipments (e.g. transport documents) and logistics units
(e.g. pallets) as well as outgoing trade items (crates, boxes, etc.) and retail items (e.g. containers,
bags, nets, shrink wrap, etc.). Bulk, loose or itemized retail consumer items with the GGN label
logo shall be identified at the store counter.
The basic concept of the chain of custody standard is demonstrated on a supply chain example (230706
GR CoC V6., 1.5)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

CERES CERtification of Environmental Standards GmbH; Domicile: Happurg

Tel: +49 (9151) 96 69 20; Fax: +49 (9151) 96 69 210; Email: info@ceres-cert.com; www.ceres-cert.de
 Brief info GLOBALG.A.P.
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Inf Supply Chain (CoC)

3. Options for CoC certification:

3.1 Option 1 - Individual certification
❖ An individual producer/company applies for certification (GLOBALG.A.P. CoC standard).
❖ The individual producer/company is the certificate holder once certified.

3.1.1 Option 1 - single site

❖ An individual producer/group of producers/enterprise with a single production, processing,
handling, storage and final consumer sale or administrative site shall be certified as one legal
entity with one CoC Number.

3.1.2 Option 1 - multisite

❖ A producer/group of producers/company owns several production, processing, handling,
storage, final consumer sale, or administrative sites that do not function as separate legal
entities.
❖ When certifying a company with multisite, processing, handling, storage or administration
sites, all sites shall be assessed internally and audited and certified externally. This also
applies to subcontractors and to brokers' administrative sites that do not come into contact
with the product.
❖ Sampling of sites for internal and external audits is not allowed, except for retail stores and
restaurants which may be sampled for external audits.
❖ All sites will be registered as one legal entity with one CoC Number.

3.1.3 Option 1 - multisite for retail stores and restaurant chains in franchise
❖ An individual company owns a franchise network of retail stores or restaurants. The individual
retail stores and restaurants (sites) function as separate legal entities.
❖ In the case of multisite certification, all sites where certified products are sold, processed,
handled, stored or administratively managed shall be inspected internally. This also applies
equally to any subcontractors of those sites.
❖ Sampling of sites for external inspections is allowed for retail stores, distribution centres and
restaurants.
❖ All sites registered for a legal entity are registered with a GGN/CoC number

Group certification (Option 2) is NOT allowed under the chain of custody standard, unless the Option 2
certificate holder obtains the chain of custody certificate as a single legal entity. Members of producer
groups cannot apply for CoC certification without their producer group. For producer groups, the quality
management system (QMS) must ensure traceability and segregation.

4. Normative documents:
❖ GLOBALG.A.P. sublicence and certification agreement
❖ GLOBALG.A.P. CoC general rules and regulations: defines the procedures of the certification
process and related topics.
❖ GLOBALG.A.P. Control Points and Compliance Criteria (CPCCs): Document that sets out the
compliance criteria for the company/producers.
Note: The guidelines referred to in the CPCCs are not normative documents.
❖ GLOBALG.A.P. CoC checklist: This document is used for all audits and self-assessments.
❖ GLOBALG.A.P. data access rules
❖ GLOBALG.A.P. fee table
❖ GGN label licence agreement (including "GGN label regulations and sanctions")
❖ GLOBALG.A.P trademarks use: Policy and guidelines
❖ National interpretation guidelines (NIGs): Guidelines that explain the CPCCs and adapt them to
the respective country. Exclusively available in countries where the guidelines have been
approved by the technical committees. Once approved and published, the NIG is mandatory.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

CERES CERtification of Environmental Standards GmbH; Domicile: Happurg

Tel: +49 (9151) 96 69 20; Fax: +49 (9151) 96 69 210; Email: info@ceres-cert.com; www.ceres-cert.de
 Brief info GLOBALG.A.P.
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Inf Supply Chain (CoC)

5. Scoring system:
Control points and compliance criteria can be divided into three categories:

❖ Major Must criteria: The 100 % fulfilment of all applicable critical must criteria of the control
points is mandatory.
❖ Minor Must criteria: The current chain of custody checkpoints and compliance criteria have
only 2 minor must criteria (in the part applicable to aquaculture). The company can fail to meet
one minor must criterion and still obtain certification, provided that all major must criteria are
met.
❖ Recommendations: No minimum percentage for compliance is set.

For all control points, comments, evidence, negative and positive findings, corrective actions
and/or corrections shall be documented. This is mandatory for both internal and external controls.
In the case of a multi-site operation, the compliance level shall be calculated using a single
checklist for the whole operation. If an applicable checkpoint is common to all sites (e.g. a packing
house), it shall be considered for all sites.

6. Summary of the procedure:

✓ CERES provides initial information and the application form.
✓ Completed application form is submitted by the company and accepted or denied by CERES
✓ CERES prepares an offer and sends it to the applicant together with the service contract and
GLOBALG.A.P sublicense and certification agreement.
✓ After receipt of the signed documents, the registration/acceptance of the company/scope of
certification in the GLOBALG.A.P.-IT system takes place within 28 days in the case of initial
registration.
✓ For initial registration: Assignment of the CoC Number
✓ Partial settlement (50% of the estimated costs) or advance payment of the GLOBALG.A.P
registration fee
✓ CoC Auditor is assigned to organize and conduct the external audit.
✓ All deviations found during the inspection are recorded in the inspection report and brought to
the attention of the company / responsible person after the inspection has been completed.
✓ Final settlement (50 % of the estimated costs plus travel and accommodation costs of the
inspector)
✓ CERES updates the information in the GLOBALG.A.P.-IT system.
✓ A certification decision will be made within 28 days of the inspection or within a maximum of 28
calendar days of the final resolution of all outstanding non-compliances.
✓ CoC certificate is issued
✓ The standard certification cycle is 12 months, subject to any sanctions and extensions as
described. The decision will be communicated to the company.

This information is only intended to provide a brief overview of the supply chain requirements and therefore does
not claim to be exhaustive.

The specifications and requirements in detail are available at:

http://www.globalgap.org
https://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/for-producers/globalg.a.p./coc/index.html
http://www.ceres-cert.de

For more information on the certification process, see the CERES document: "3-1-8 Steps to
GLOBALG.A.P. Certification".

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

CERES CERtification of Environmental Standards GmbH; Domicile: Happurg

Tel: +49 (9151) 96 69 20; Fax: +49 (9151) 96 69 210; Email: info@ceres-cert.com; www.ceres-cert.de