The Good Agricultural Practices audit offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for fruit and vegetable growers will be updated to reflect the requirements of the regulations from the Food Safety Modernization Act.

The new joint GAPs review project includes staff from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, the Food and Drug Administration and state partners, according to Leanne Skelton, USDA liaison to the Food and Drug Administration on food safety issues.

“We’re just getting started, and the first meeting will be in a couple of weeks,” Skelton told the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee March 10.

She estimated the process may take one year to 18 months to complete.