The California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture recently had to take a decertification action against a member company. California LGMA CEO Tim York said the entire program is built on trust, which is based on transparency and compliance.
“It’s been a number of years since we’ve had a decertification action. We certainly don’t take that lightly because we know how important LGMA certification is to buyers and even to countries like Canada,” said York. “But we had to take that because they just were not following the standards as they’re required. We want our other handler members to know that we’re not asking them to do anything that their fellow members aren’t required to do.”
California LGMA audits verify compliance with member companies that includes over 500 food safety checkpoints. Members are required to be in 100 percent compliance which is verified by routine audits. If an audit uncovers noncompliance, the member company must submit corrective actions to the LGMA Compliance Officer. Failure to meet full compliance standards will subject the member to decertification. “It’s incumbent upon us, again because we want trust in this program, we want LGMA to be viewed as a program that makes a difference and that buyers and regulators trust. We have to do that by enforcing those requirements,” said York.
Decertification means that a company will no longer be allowed to present itself as a certified LGMA member. The loss of certification can potentially result in a loss of sales, as produce buyers rely on the certification for verification purposes. “I hope it does send a message to not only the production side of the industry but also to buyers and regulators that we’re going to take actions where necessary to protect the integrity of the LGMA program,” York noted.
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