Mock Third-Party Audit

The N.C. Fresh Produce Safety program offered a mock third-party audit to educate N.C. Cooperative Extension agents and growers on the requirements for GAPs certification.

detailing the event.

USDA GAP Audit Verification Program

With the increasing focus on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to verify that farms are producing fruits and vegetables in the safest manner possible, third-party audits are being utilized by the retail and foodservice industry to verify their suppliers are in conformance to specific agricultural best practices.Find participating companies that have obtained USDA GAPs Certification:

• • By Commodity

Third-Party Auditing Organizations

These companies and government agencies provide third-party audits for Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) certification. Visit their sites and contact them for information on setting up an audit. *This list is not all-inclusive.

• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• AIB International
• GlobalGAP
• ISO International Standards Organization
• Scientific Certification Systems
• Ceres 
• Canada GAP
• WQS​

Farm Food Safety Expectations A PowerPoint that was created by Ed LaClaire with NSF Davis Fresh for an educational mock audit/risk assessment that took place on the small farm unit at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems.

Audits Benchmarking Matrix
United Fresh has created an auditing matrix that provides infrastructure of a side by side comparison of audit organizations and food safety standards that are most commonly used in the produce industry.

Preparing for the Farm Ranch Audit
This publication was created by NSF Davis Fresh and outlines the various areas an audit will address: ranch documents, water sources, employee documents, chemicals, wildlife and livestock, harvest and transportation.

NSF Davis Fresh Farm Evaluation
This evaluation walks through possible scenarios which a third party auditor may encounter on a GAPs certification audit and provides possible solutions to the issues.