(Modified Text on 25 Aug. 2004)

This important change belongs to a major Steering Committee and TSC decision that has been implemented through the publication of a new annex 12 to the General Regulations, valid as of 31st of July 2004.

The requirements set out in this annex override those of the applicable points of the General Regulations it mentions, and concern mainly the percentage of compliance needed to obtain certification. Also included are the corresponding changes in sanctions, voluntary exclusion of the transport module, some issues on the interaction between different modules and the extension of any deadlines that are mentioned in the CPCC and that have already passed, to 1st of January 2005.

This implementation came in time for the first IFA certificates to be issued for combinable crops in Germany in August 2004.

"This change is a major step forward towards the harmonization of the EurepGAP farm assurance systems for  Fruit and Vegetables (including potatoes) with IFA (Integrated Farm Assurance), ultimately leading to a single system and audit on a farm", says Kristian Moeller, Secretary of EurepGAP.