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SGS Canada Inc. to certify CanadaGAP participants

May 6, 2013, Ottawa, Ont – CanadaGAP, the national food safety certification program for fresh fruit and vegetable operations, recently announced a new certification body for the program – SGS Canada Inc.

SGS joins QMI-SAI Global, NSF-GFTC and Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ) in the list of available certification bodies for CanadaGAP.

“SGS is pleased and excited to partner with CanadaGAP,” said James Cuff, business manager for SGS Canada Inc. “We welcome the opportunity of providing quality audit services to producers and packers across Canada.”

Third-party certification bodies are licensed by CanadaGAP to provide audit and certification services for fresh fruit and vegetable operations are enrolled in the program. Program participants must comply with food safety standards outlined by the program, and undergo and successfully complete on-site audits in order to become CanadaGAP-certified. Several Canadian buyers – including Loblaw Companies Limited, McCain Foods Canada, Simplot Canada and Lamb-Weston – are requiring that growers become certified under the CanadaGAP Program.

New participants to CanadaGAP are asked to indicate their chosen certification body on the program enrolment form. Companies that are already CanadaGAP-certified may transfer to a different certification body, subject to certain restrictions. Contact the CanadaGAP office or visit the website for further details.

For more information about enrolling in CanadaGAP and about the certification bodies providing services, link to the CanadaGAP website at www.canadagap.ca.