Fresh produce

Fresh produce covered in this policy

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the quality, safety, and labeling requirements of fresh produce (including sprouts) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), and its subsequent amending statutes including the Produce Safety Rule and Preventative Controls for Human Foods of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Sellers must be registered as food business operators, maintain all applicable permits, and adhere to specific guidance, as required by local laws and regulations. All fresh produce sellers supplying to the US market must adhere to good agricultural and good manufacturing practices under 21 CFR 110, 112, and 117.

Our policy for fresh produce

Sellers are required to submit documentation to Amazon through Azzule Systems, which reflects compliance with applicable regulations or standard requirements, including but not limited to the below:

Products

Regulation or standard requirements

Raw agricultural commodity (RAC) Fresh vegetable whole Fresh vegetable whole: roots Fresh fruit whole Fresh fruit whole citrus Fresh tropical tree fruits whole Rarely cconsumed as raw (RCR) Sprouts

21 CFR 110 - Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food 21 CFR 112 - Standards For The Growing, Harvesting, Packing, And Holding Of Produce For Human Consumption 21 CFR 112 Subpart M – Sprouts 21 CFR 117 - Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, And Risk-Based Preventive Controls For Human Food MyGFSI.com recognized audit schemes Primus Standard Audit USDA Harmonized Gap Audit

Required documentation

A valid, for example, not expired, third-party food safety audit certificate at growing, harvesting, cooling, storing, packing, and processing levels. Compliance documentation must be kept updated annually, or at the beginning of a new growing season. Accepted audit schemes are:

• Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), including GFSI Technical Equivalence
• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

For high-risk (Appendix A: definition) raw agricultural commodity produce (Appendix B: product list): only GFSI-recognized audit schemes will be accepted (including GFSI Technical Equivalence). Amazon will not accept group or multi-site certification for high-risk products.

For all remaining raw agricultural commodity and rarely consumed as raw produce (Appendix C: product list): the accepted audit schemes are GFSI-recognized audits (including GFSI Technical Equivalence), Primus Standard Audit (GMP or GAP), and USDA Harmonized Audit (GMP or GAP). Additional audit schemes may be acceptable upon request.

How to submit documentation?

Amazon leverages Azzule Systems to collect and review compliance requirements. The Azzule Supply Chain Program (SCP) facilitates the transmission and analysis of food safety documentation for real-time compliance. Sellers are required to provide food safety compliance documentation that includes the final audit results, certificates, and corrective actions through the Azzule SCP Portal. This ensures timely verification of food safety information. If your organization is contacted by Azzule Systems for compliance documents, complete the following steps to submit the requested information by logging into Azzule SCP portal.

• Existing user (registered Azzule SCP users):
  • Verify that Amazon is listed in the customer list in your organization’s SCP in Azzule.
  • If Amazon is not listed, search and add it to the customer list.
• New user (not yet registered Azzule SCP users):
  • Register for an Azzule SCP account here.
  • After registering, search, and add Amazon to the customer list.
• After Amazon has been added to the portal, sellers are required to accept and complete all the requested activities.

Policy violations

If you do not provide the required information by the applicable deadline, Amazon may:

• Remove the relevant product listings
• Suspend your organization’s ability to add new products or listing privileges, or both
• Withhold any payments due to the organization or seller
• Pursue legal action

We reserve the right to take any further actions that may be necessary in our sole discretion.

Additional resources

• Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement
• Remove inventory overview
• Fix stranded inventory

Appendices

Appendix A: High-risk fresh produce definition

Fresh produce that are unprocessed or minimally processed (raw) form has an inherent food safety risk due to the nature of the commodity exposing to microbial hazards and good agricultural and management practices common to the growing, harvesting, washing, sorting, packing, and transporting. It has resulted in a number of outbreaks and recalls in recent years therefore Amazon is taking an initiative to improve the safety of fresh produce as it moves from farm to the table with the focus on the production and packing operations.

Appendix B: High-risk raw agricultural commodity produce

Products	Examples*
Fresh veg whole	Artichoke-globe type, avocado, Belgian endive, broad bean, broccoli, Brussel sprout, cabbage, Chinese cabbage (bok choy, mustard, and napa), carrot, cauliflower, celery, cress (garden), cucumber, curly endive, dandelion leave, fennel (Florence), green bean, herb (basil, chive, cilantro, oregano, parsley), kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mushroom (whole), mustard green, onion (whole), parsnip, pea (regular, pigeon), pepper, scallions (whole), snow pea, spinach, summer squash (patty pan, yellow and zucchini), Swiss chard, tomato, and watercress
Fresh fruit whole	Apple, apricot, aprium, Asian pear, babaco, banana, blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, cantaloupe, carambola, chayote fruit, cherry (sweet), currant, gooseberry, grape, honeydew, Kiwi fruit, jujube, melon (Canary, Crenshaw, Persian), mulberry, nectarines, peach, pear, pineapple, plantain, plum, plumcot, quince, raspberry, soursop, sweetsop, strawberry, and watermelon
Fresh tropical tree fruits whole	Guava, jackfruit, lychee, mamey, mango, papaya, passion fruit, and starfruit
Fresh cut or refrigerated	Apple (slices), avocado chunk, bean-green, string, carrots (shredded or cut), herbs (cut), leafy green: single and mixed greens, mango (cut), melon (cut), micro greens, mixed fruit salad, mushroom (sliced), onions (diced or sliced), packaged single fruit, pineapple (cut), squash or butternut (cut or diced), tomatoes (cut), watermelon (cut), and wheat grass (cut)
Sprouts	Alfalfa sprout, bean sprout (garbanzo, mung, soy), broccoli sprout, clover sprout, daikon, green pea, lentil, radish, sunflower, and wheat

Appendix C: All remaining raw agricultural commodity and rarely consumed as raw produce

Products	Examples*
Fresh veg whole: roots	Burdock root, celeriac (celery root), chicory (roots pr tops), garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, rutabaga, turnip (roots or tops), taro, turmeric, radish (roots), and shallots (whole)
Fresh fruit whole citrus	Citrus (clementine, grapefruit, lemons, limes, orange, tangerine, tangor, and uniq fruit, genip, and kumquat)
RAC: Rarely consumed raw	Asparagus, beet, black bean, cashew, chickpea, cocoa bean, coffee bean, collard, corn, cranberry, date, dill (seed and weed), eggplant, fig, garden (roots and tops), ginger, Great Northern, hazelnut, horseradish, kidney bean, lentil, lima bean, okra, navy bean, pinto bean, sour cherry, peanut, pecan, peppermint, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, water chestnut, and winter squash

*Examples are provided but not meant to be an exhaustive list and subject to change.

Updated on [05-06-2021]