In Beijing:
Wenqin Zhu
Phone: +86 10 5860 3130
E-mail: WZhu@ifc.org

In Hong Kong:
Andrew Mak
Phone: +852 2509 8110
E-mail: AMak@ifc.org


Beijing, China, July 27, 2009—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today kicked off the 2009 International Good Agriculture Practice Forum in Beijing in collaboration with the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China to promote GAP in China’s agriculture and food industries and share lessons learned elsewhere.

The forum is supported by GLOBALGAP, a private sector body that sets voluntary standards for the certification of agricultural products. The forum is the closing event of IFC’s North Andre Traceability and Farm Management Improvement Advisory Service Program in China, disseminating the knowledge gained from the North Andre project. More than 200 professionals from around the world are attending the two-day session.

The event brings together representatives of various government agencies, relevant international institutions, GAP organizations from other nations including Chile, Japan, and Kenya, retailers and other  enterprises to share lessons learned from implementation of GAP among small farm holders and to discuss current and future trends in GAP development and applications in different countries.

“IFC strongly advocates sustainable agriculture development in all developing countries,” said Toshiya Masuoka, IFC Director for Corporate Advisory Services. “GAP, as one of best international practices to ensure the safety and quality of agriculture products from farms to customer tables, is a well-accepted standard that IFC is proposing.”
 
In China, IFC has successfully supported the North Andre Juice Group, an IFC investee client, to implement the GLOBALGAP certification for 116.5 hectare of apple plantations in five pilot villages covering over 1,000 farmer households. In two other post-earthquake reconstruction assistance projects IFC initiated last year in Sichuan Province, IFC also is working with clients to implement GLOBALGAP and ChinaGAP in the kiwi and pig raising sectors.  In India and Ukraine, IFC is helping clients develop a customized local GAP version among large retailers.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

For more information about GLOBALGAP, visit http://www.globalgap.org.

For more information about CNCA of China, visit www.cnca.gov.cn/cnca.