G.A.P. Certification - Global Animal Partnership

Global Animal Partnership Animal Welfare Certified Step 1

G.A.P. uses independent, third-party certifiers to audit farms and verify compliance to our comprehensive standards and to assign the appropriate animal welfare certification level.

G.A.P. requires farms, raw material manufacturers, processing facilities, packaged product manufacturers, retailers, and foodservice establishments to abide by defined chain of custody protocols to ensure that all G.A.P. certified meat products are labeled and segregated properly before they are available for purchase.

STEPS TO GETTING YOUR FARM G.A.P. CERTIFIED

G.A.P. uses independent, third-party certifiers to audit our comprehensive standards and assign the appropriate animal welfare rating. Here are the 5 steps to getting your farm G.A.P. certified:

G.A.P. APPLICATION SUBMITTED

FARM PREPARES FOR INITIAL AUDIT

ON-SITE AUDIT PERFORMED BY CERTIFIER

G.A.P. STEP RATING ASSIGNED

STANDARDS MAINTAINED UNTIL NEXT AUDIT (15 MONTHS)

What does a G.A.P. Third-Party Certifier Do?

With more than 4,000 farms and ranches certified, and with G.A.P.’s requirement that EVERY farm has an on-site audit, G.A.P.’s accredited third-party Certifiers are busy screening applications, scheduling audits, and getting auditors out to farms.

During the audit, the auditors spend time assessing animals, checking records, and talking with the farm manager about their operation and management practices. After they finish the audit, the auditor submits a report to a Reviewer at the Certifier who determines if the farm/ranch is eligible for certification and at what GAP certification level. If the farm or ranch doesn’t meet a standard at the time of the on-site audit, they are given an opportunity to correct the issue and an additional review is carried out.

Once the Certifier is satisfied that each farm and/or ranch is fully compliant to G.A.P. standards, they will issue a unique certificate to each farm/ranch for 15 months. For more information about certificates, check out our blog.

G.A.P. Audits Every Farm, Every 15 Months

With G.A.P., every farm is audited to gain certification. Some other animal welfare certification programs only audit a small sample of farms annually. We feel this level of integrity is necessary, especially when considering the lifecycle of raising live animals.

G.A.P. requires every farm to be audited every 15 months (through every season) in order to be certified.

G.A.P. Audits Every Farm Every 15 Months

Group Model Certification Programs

Only require that a small percentage (~10%) of farms be audited every 12 months, even though all of them will be “certified.”

Others only audit 10% of farms every 12 months

Think about it: if you are only auditing a sample of farms annually, it may take up to 10 years to visit and score all farms in the system.

Earthclaims provides private, third-party verification services in North America; G.A.P. accredited since 2008.

G.A.P. Certifier - Livestock Integrity Solutions Australasia

Livestock Integrity Solutions Australasia specializes in third-party certification services to New Zealand and Australian livestock industries; G.A.P. accredited since 2019.

LRQA is a global provider of risk services for the food and drink supply chain; G.A.P. accredited since 2018.

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