The Technical Working Group was successful in completing the first draft of the harmonized standard and now, the next phase will be just as important: to wordsmith the standard to be applicable to the widest range of North America regions, size operations, commodities and production practices. We will also need to assure that the standard is auditable as written.
Transparency and inclusiveness have been key features of the Produce GAPs Harmonization Initiative, and that has never been more important than now. To ensure that all parties are represented, we are asking you to please review the harmonized standard draft and most importantly post your comments below.
To post your comments, please register a user name and a password will be emailed to you – then you will be able to make comments and see your colleagues’ as well.
ALL of these comments will then be addressed at upcoming meetings where the TWG will begin to perfect the language of the first harmonized draft standard for the produce industry. To be successful at this, we need the widest range of stakeholder perspectives at the table during the upcoming meetings when we begin selecting the final words that will be used in the standard. You are, of course, encouraged to attend, but you are also asked to push this invitation out to other stakeholders, particularly those that have been underrepresented until now.
If you have any questions regarding the blog or making comments, please email Erin Grether at egrether@unitedfresh.org.
Draft Harmonized Standards
Future TWG Meetings
A special thank you to our previous meeting hosts:
Darden
McDonald’s Corporation
Taco Bell
Texas AgriLife Extension Center
US Foodservice
Sysco
California Strawberry Commission
Produce Marketing Association
Costco