24K subscribers
Stay ahead of shifting global regulations. Subscribe for exclusive insights on EUDR compliance, audit-ready traceability, and the digital tools required to secure your position in the premium international export market.
A GlobalG.A.P. certificate is only worth something if it is real, current, and covers the right farm. This guide shows you exactly how to verify one in under five minutes — including the critical update: the old database was retired in November 2025.
An African exporter sends you a beautifully formatted PDF. It says GlobalG.A.P. certified. It has logos, official-looking seals, and a certificate number. It expires in 2027.
But is it real? Is it current? Does it actually cover the farm that will supply your avocados — or the packhouse that processes them?
Most buyers never ask these questions. They accept the PDF at face value and proceed to place the order. Some of those PDFs are completely genuine. Others are expired certificates that the exporter is still presenting. Some belong to a different entity altogether. And a small number are outright fabrications.
The only way to know is to verify independently. And it takes less than five minutes once you know where to look. Here is the complete process — including the critical update that many buyers have missed: GlobalG.A.P.'s old database (database.globalgap.org) was retired on November 3, 2025. Certificate verification now happens through the new Supply Chain Portal.
GlobalG.A.P.'s legacy database at database.globalgap.org was officially retired on November 3, 2025. It has been replaced by the GlobalG.A.P. Supply Chain Portal, developed in partnership with osapiens. If you have been bookmarking the old database URL for supplier verification, that link is no longer the correct tool. All certificate verification is now done through the Supply Chain Portal. Access it at globalgap.org/supply-chain-portal/. The GGN-based search process works the same way — the platform and interface have changed, but the verification logic remains identical.
Follow these steps every time you receive a GlobalG.A.P. certificate from a new African supplier. The entire process takes under five minutes. Skipping it takes much longer to fix once a problem surfaces at the EU border or in a buyer audit.
Ask specifically for the GlobalG.A.P. Number — not just a PDF. It must be 13 digits.
Navigate to globalgap.org/supply-chain-portal/ — the new verification platform since Nov 2025
Type the 13-digit GGN into the search field. If no result appears, the certificate does not exist.
Exact match required with the exporter's company name. Any mismatch = not their certificate.
Confirm IFA V6, your specific crop, and the farm or packhouse that will supply your order.
Check the portal expiry date. This overrides any date shown on the PDF certificate.
The GlobalG.A.P. Number (GGN) is a unique 13-digit identifier assigned to every certified producer or group. It is printed on the face of every valid GlobalG.A.P. certificate. When you contact a new African supplier, ask specifically: "Please provide your 13-digit GlobalG.A.P. Number."
This small but important request immediately distinguishes professional, genuinely certified exporters from those who are not. A legitimate certified exporter will provide their GGN instantly without hesitation. They use it regularly. If an exporter cannot provide a 13-digit GGN, or provides a number with a different digit count, the certificate is almost certainly invalid.
Go to globalgap.org/supply-chain-portal/. This is the official GlobalG.A.P. certificate verification tool as of November 3, 2025, when it replaced the legacy database. The Supply Chain Portal is publicly accessible. You do not need to create an account or log in to perform a basic certificate search.
The portal was developed in partnership with osapiens and supports both public and authenticated searches. Public searches return core certification information: holder name, scope, validity, and production unit data. Authenticated users — retailers and certified traders who register — can access additional supply chain data and use the Bookmarking feature to monitor multiple suppliers simultaneously.
Enter the 13-digit GGN in the search field and run the search. The portal will return one of three outcomes: a certificate record is found and active, a certificate record is found but shows a suspended or expired status, or no record is found at all.
If no record is found, the GGN does not exist in the GlobalG.A.P. system. This is definitive. There is no scenario in which a valid GlobalG.A.P. certificate exists but cannot be found in the Supply Chain Portal. GlobalG.A.P. states explicitly: a certificate or GGN that cannot be found in the public portal is immediately considered invalid.
When a record is returned, the first field to check is the certificate holder name. This must exactly match the legal name of the exporter company you are dealing with. Not a similar name. Not a parent company. Not a trading name. The exact registered legal name.
This is one of the most common issues buyers encounter with African suppliers. A group certification (Option 2) may be held under the name of the packhouse or cooperative manager, not the trading entity. The exporting company may have rebranded. A subsidiary may hold the certificate rather than the parent company. In each case, you need to understand precisely which legal entity holds the certificate and confirm your purchase agreement is with that entity.
Scope verification is the most technically demanding step — and the one most buyers skip. The certificate scope defines exactly what is covered. You must confirm three things: the crop, the standard version, and the production unit.
The crop must match what you are sourcing. A certificate scope covering "Hass Avocado" does not cover herbs or French beans. The standard must be IFA V6 — if the portal shows IFA V5, the certificate is on the previous standard. The production unit — the specific farm site or packhouse — must be the same site that will supply your order. A certificate covering Farm Block A does not provide compliance assurance for produce from Farm Block B, even if both are on the same landholding.
The portal shows the certificate's valid-from date and expiry date. This is the authoritative record. An expired certificate shown as valid in the portal simply will not occur — the portal updates in real time as Certification Bodies submit audit data. But a PDF certificate showing a future expiry date can easily be from a certificate that has since lapsed, been suspended, or been downgraded.
Always use the portal expiry date as your reference. If the portal shows the certificate expired last month, the certificate is expired — regardless of what the PDF says. Also check whether the certificate status shows any suspension or downgrade flag. A suspended certificate cannot be used to demonstrate compliance, even if the validity period has not yet expired.
Scope verification trips up buyers who assume that any GlobalG.A.P. certificate from a supplier covers their order. It does not. Here is the difference between a scope that passes and one that fails for a buyer sourcing Hass avocados from Kenya.
Document your verification results for every African supplier whose GlobalG.A.P. certificate you check. This record forms part of your supplier due diligence file and may be required during buyer audits, EUDR compliance reviews, or quality investigations.
| Verification Point | What to Record | Pass / Fail Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| GGN provided by exporter | The exact 13-digit number provided. Date requested. | Pass — 13 digits, returned result in portal |
| Portal search result | URL: globalgap.org/supply-chain-portal/ · Date of search · Result returned (yes/no) | Fail — No result returned for GGN |
| Certificate holder name | Name exactly as shown in portal · Name on your commercial agreement | Fail — Names differ in any respect |
| Certificate scope — crop | Crop name as listed in portal scope field | Fail — Your sourced crop not listed in scope |
| Certificate scope — standard | Standard version: IFA V6 Smart / IFA V6 GFS / other | Fail — IFA V5 or earlier version |
| Production unit coverage | Farm site / packhouse name as listed in portal | Fail — Listed site does not match supplying farm |
| Certificate validity — expiry date | Expiry date from portal (authoritative) · Expiry date from PDF (reference) | Fail — Portal shows expired status |
| Certificate status | Active / Suspended / Expired as shown in portal | Fail — Any status other than Active |
| Verification completed by | Name of person who performed the check · Date | For audit trail — always record who checked and when |
Based on the common patterns seen with African fresh produce exporters, these are the red flags that most frequently indicate a problem with a GlobalG.A.P. certificate presented to a buyer.
A GGN that returns no result in the Supply Chain Portal means one thing: the certificate is not valid. There is no ambiguity, no grey area, and no "give it a few days to appear."
When this happens, follow this process:
Step 1: Tell the exporter calmly and factually. "I searched your GGN [number] in the GlobalG.A.P. Supply Chain Portal on [date] and no certificate record was returned. GlobalG.A.P. states that a GGN not found in the portal is immediately considered invalid. Please provide a GGN that returns a verified result."
Step 2: Give the exporter one opportunity to provide a corrected or different GGN. Transcription errors in a 13-digit number can happen — confirm the number digit by digit.
Step 3: If a corrected GGN also returns no result, treat the exporter as uncertified. Do not advance the order. If you have a business relationship and want to continue it, direct them to the GlobalG.A.P. certification process — our guide on how to get GlobalG.A.P. certified in Africa covers the full process for African farmers.
Step 4: Document the finding in your supplier verification file with dates, the GGN searched, and the portal result. This record protects you during buyer audits and internal compliance reviews.
ExportReady.africa manually verifies GlobalG.A.P. certificates for every exporter before granting the Verified badge. Find African fresh produce exporters whose compliance credentials have already been checked.