The issue of certification of agricultural products has been inevitable for the food sector to continuously improve, to make consumer confidence increasingly important and to meet different consumer demands.

It is possible to collect agricultural product certification under three headings:

  • Good agricultural products applications
  • GLOBALGAP applications
  • Organic farming practices

Let us briefly inform you about these applications.

Good agricultural products applications

The Regulation on Good Agricultural Practices was issued by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in 2004 and revised in 2010. This regulation regulates the principles and principles of good agricultural practices to achieve the following objectives:

  • Agricultural production, human, animal and environmental health in a way that does not harm
  • Conservation of natural resources
  • Ensuring traceability and sustainability conditions in agricultural production
  • Providing reliable agricultural products to the markets

Certification of good agricultural products applications started in 2006. From this date to the certification bodies that will carry out the conformity assessment studies, The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock has been authorized by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The certification bodies supervise the production processes in the manufacturing companies applying for documentation and, if they are convinced that production is carried out in accordance with the Good Agricultural Practices criteria, they issue and submit the Good Agricultural Practices Certificate.

The audits carried out here cover all processes starting from the first stage of the agricultural production to the collection and placing on the market. The certification bodies check whether the procedures applied in each process are carried out in accordance with the criteria of Good Agricultural Practices.

Wherever agricultural production is, Good Agricultural Practices can be in question. As a result, whether and not to apply these criteria and whether or not to request a Good Agricultural Practices Certificate arises from consumer demands and the supply of retailers.

GLOBALGAP applications

The negative changes experienced in the ecological balance of the world, the rapid increase in the world population, the increasing diversity of nutritional habits, the emergence of new methods in the processing of new agricultural techniques and agricultural products, the increasing need for nutrition, has led to serious problems in supplying foods that will not pose a danger to human health.

With more awareness of consumers in recent years, products that are guaranteed to be safe in food production have become more preferred. The issue of food safety is not merely a matter of food production which is harmless or acceptable for human health and food hygiene. The issue of food safety is also directly related to the environmental relations of enterprises in the production stage, sensitivity to public health and community welfare.

The GAP, Good Agricultural Practices concept was first introduced in 1997 in order to ensure that the food products offered to consumers are safe and manufactured on the basis of sustainability. This standard, later named GLOBALGAP, aims to ensure the safety and quality of the agricultural products from the field to the installer's desk.

The GLOBALGAP Certificate is a prerequisite for the export of fresh fruits and vegetables to the European Union. This document is a product monitoring guarantee that retailers provide to consumers. GLOBALGAP standards define the minimum safety requirements that consumers demand. Consumers want to be sure of the food they buy:

  • Agricultural products should not be physically, chemically and microbiologically harmful.
  • It should not have damaged the environment and the ecological balance of the world in the production stages of agricultural products.
  • Agricultural production should be made within the framework of current legal regulations.
  • All necessary precautions should be taken regarding the health and safety of people working in agricultural production.

Organic farming practices

Since environmental problems give a serious danger to every country on the world, it would not be wrong to claim that organic agriculture is a new source of hope for humanity. As it is known, the use of chemical fertilizers and drugs in agricultural production has reached a very large scale and this situation has had a very negative impact on human health and nature. The organic farming approach is an alternative method to overcome these adverse effects and commercial problems. The expression of organic farming is also expressed in some countries as ecological agriculture and in some countries as biological agriculture. The European Union used these three statements together to prepare the European Union Organic Agriculture Regulation 2092 / 91. This regulation also directs the world organic agriculture. European Union countries, half of the world organic food market in the hands of the hand. It is also the world's largest importer of organic food.

The Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Turkey used only the word organic for organic agricultural products. This regulation was enacted in order to determine the principles and procedures for the implementation of organic agricultural activities, protection of ecological balance, regulation, development and dissemination of organic agricultural production and marketing.

Organic production is called as the production method which is done by using natural methods in plant protection and harmful struggle and by controlling the production processes and by controlling the production processes in order to produce healthy and safe agricultural products without disturbing the natural balance of the world. The products obtained in this way are also called organic products.

TÜRCERT is one of the certification bodies conducting the agricultural product certification studies. To give more explanatory information on this subject, the managers and employees of TÜRCERT certification organization are always with you.