GLOBALG.A.P. in Georgia

Last week, Q-Point colleague Alma Ruting visited Georgia to conduct internal audits for GLOBALG.A.P. and GRASP at blueberry farms.

This was part of capacity building of GFA (Georgian Farmers’ Association). Last year, GFA started with offering this GAP advisory services to farmers. The blueberry farmers start harvesting the first or second week of June: the time for the external certification audit!

To be prepared for this, GFA planned the internal audits just before harvesting, for which Q-Point was supervising and assisting. Now, after completion, the farmers are ready for their certification audit!

As we already noticed in previous projects in Georgia, there are still some gaps in institutional development.

One of these challenges is the lack of knowledge of involved people in agriculture business. Not everyone is aware of food safety standards and food safety legislation. It is also a challenge for farmers to arrange residue testing, even though MRL-testing is a major requirement in GLOBALG.A.P. Farmers have to send samples to foreign countries, which makes increases the costs of testing.

Lastly, farmers are depending on foreign certification organisations.

Within GFA, there are employees who are aware of the challenges and can ring the bell. And with result! Because we noticed that more and more farmers who want to export to Europe are implementing GLOBALG.A.P.

Step-by-step, the agricultural sector in Georgia is changing and gains more certification knowledge. Working together with the Ministry of Agriculture is essential to make it easier for farmers to comply with GLOBALG.A.P. standards in the future.