Today's technology and innovations have affected the agricultural sector as well as every sector; traditional production techniques have become inadequate. In this sense, industrialists' interest in agriculture has increased, and capital movement has now begun to shift towards agriculture.
As a result of these investments, larger and higher standard technological production areas have been established. Food production has a very important strategy in today's world.
While half of the world is struggling with hunger, the other half wants the food they produce and consume to be safe.
When we say safe food, products that are not harmful to human health, do not contain physical, chemical and microbiological residues and are also traceable come to mind.
In order to both improve production and sell the products we produce to the right markets, producers and the institutions and organizations that package, distribute, store and market these products have very important responsibilities.
Today, traceability of agricultural products has become the most important issue in terms of ensuring food safety all over the world. Various studies have been carried out on this subject and are still being carried out. Nowadays, consumers want to know the production process of the food that comes to their table.
There is a concept that emerged from all these requirements and has affected the entire agricultural and export sectors in recent years.
This concept is good agricultural practices that cover minimum agricultural production criteria. Retailers who dominate the majority of the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Europe came together under the name EUREP in 1997 in order to minimize certain risks that have become a threat to human health in the fresh fruit and vegetable products they offer to their consumers.
In 1999, they established the EUREPGAP standards that form the basis of today's Good Agricultural Practices. The EUREPGAP standard was revised in 2007 and accepted by all countries in the world, taking the name GLOBALGAP. With this protocol, retailers demand assurance from suppliers and therefore producers that "the products they put on their shelves will not harm their customers".
In Türkiye, the Ministry of Agriculture did not remain indifferent to these developments and published the Good Agricultural Practices Regulation based on the same principles.
Now, a set of agricultural standards that shape the Turkish agricultural sector has begun to be implemented. The Good Agricultural Practices Regulation was first published in the Official Gazette dated 08.09.2004 and numbered 25577.
The Good Agricultural Practices regulation was later revised on December 7, 2010 and became a more comprehensive set of standards.
Good Agricultural Practices supports the continuous development of farming methods and technologies based on the principles of Hazard Prevention, Hazard Analysis (HACCP), Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Crop Cultivation (ICM).
Good Agricultural Practices cover the entire production process of certified agricultural products, from the pre-planting stage to the final processed product. It also covers Food Safety, Animal Welfare, Environmental Protection and Worker Health, Safety and Welfare.
Good Agricultural Practices is a form of agricultural production that aims to produce products that do not harm the environment, human or animal health, to protect natural resources, and to ensure traceability and sustainability in agriculture and food safety.
It is understood that the product with the Good Agricultural Practices certificate; does not contain chemical, physical, microbiological residues, is produced without polluting the environment and without harming the natural balance; humans, workers and other living creatures are not adversely affected during production; and is produced in accordance with the agricultural legislation of the countries where it is produced and consumed.