CanadaGAP Under New Ownership

OTTAWA, Canada - CanadaGAP, the national food safety program for fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers, is now operated by CanAgPlus, a new Candian not-for-profit corporation that will operate CanadaGAP independent of the program's founding organization, the Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC).

CanadaGAP was first launched as a food safety certification program in 2008, and has over 2,000 fresh produce suppliers for certification.

Under the new corporation, CanadaGAP Program requirements and the audit and certification process will remain the same for program participants and for certification bodies delivering third party audits, the organization said. However, the change in ownership creates new opportunities for those enrolled in CanadaGAP. Program participants will become members of CanAgPlus, offering new rights and privileges to attend annual general meetings, submit resolutions, elect the Board of Directors, etc.

"CHC has worked long and hard to ensure that horticultural producers are well positioned to be competitive and respond to market demands, and food safety is key," said CHC Executive Vice President Anne Fowlie. "We are proud of the success that CanadaGAP has achieved and the integration initiative was a next logical step."

The fully integrated program is not yet available, although work is progressing and will continue in 2013, CanadaGAP said. Find out more information at the new website, canadagap.ca.