The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is updating the USDA Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Plus+ audit standard and checklist. This update will allow AMS’s GAP audit services to remain applicable and relevant to its specialty crops industry customers. The updates will become effective Sept. 1, 2022.
AMS is adding six requirements to the USDA Harmonized GAP Plus+ audit standard and checklist. These additions are required to maintain alignment with updates to USDA’s technical equivalence acknowledgment from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). This allows GAP Plus+ audits to meet both U.S. and international food safety requirements. The new requirements are detailed in the Summary of Changes – USDA Harmonized GAP Plus+ Standard document. Additionally, AMS has updated the Harmonized GAP Program Manual (previously titled the Harmonized Auditor Manual) to reflect the changes to the standard.