What Documentation Should I Request from a Fresh Produce Supplier?

Hi everyone,

I have recently been dealing with a little issue and would like to ask for your help. I am currently looking into a supplier for fresh fruits and vegetables. But I am not really accustomed with what documentation I should be requesting for fresh products. I have been told by one distributor that they do not have any specification sheets for fresh product such as like carrots, but on the other hand they've sent me a specification sheet for basil. I am a little confused. On top of that, they've sent me a specification sheet for fresh garlic clearly stating they have a CanadaGAP certificate, but the distributor is enable to sent me a copy of that certificate. 

I would kindly ask for your help, and what would be your suggestions. I've already went back and forth with this distributor and they cannot provide me with the documentation I am requesting them. Also, apart form the specification sheets and any GFSI certificate, what other documents do I require from a supplier of fresh products?

I thank you all in advance.

Preface: I know my suppliers hate my program req's, but most of it is customer driven.  We have 8 forms in addition to the standard LoG (social accountability, BE/GMO declarations, allergen questionnaires, etc) that I'm going to eventually consolidate down.  Most of it was "Hey, customer now wants us to check xyz, so make a form and send it!).  I don't love the program I inherited.

Bare bones minimum and normally what auditors ask is for the LoG, farm/packinghouse GFSI cert for one step backward, and the specification (or acknowledging they'll meet your specification).  We make our own specifications, forward them to our suppliers, and expect them to meet the standards we put out.  From what I've seen, it's not super common that the farms/packinghouses will have their own finished specification, but wording your forms that the supplier will meet your spec is sufficient for most auditors to see. 

Again from the customer side, couple of our customers demand full transparency because we offer finished goods that are fresh-cut fruit and veg.  So we actually have to have GFSI for farm -> harvest crew -> cooling houses -> packinghouses -> distribution sites.  Some places that's all in one, others contract out for those as they're a broker or a distributor who purchased from the farm and resold to us.

I used to be in an organisation purchasing a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Yes they should be providing a specification.  You need to know things like:

If they're doing any washing or foreign matter removal.

What foreign matter is and isn't acceptable (for example, wood vs. stones).

What pesticide residues are not acceptable.

Any controls on pesticides.

If you have a heavily automated process, you may want other controls, for example, maximum size and shape.  Maximum mud / soil residues.  

One site I visited even had controls stating they wouldn't harvest root vegetables from near golf courses!  Obvious when you think about it...

I'd also want to know where the fields are.  Lots of producers will contract fields rather than have their own because otherwise they wouldn't have sufficient crop rotation.  Especially for root crops it's worth seeing where these are.  Not sure how much this impacts in Canada but since Radiological hazards came into FSMA and other standards, I've always looked at where crops are grown relative to nuclear plants (current or former).