food safety system certification 22000

Food Safety System Certification 22000

food safety system certification 22000Food Safety System Certification 22000 is a new and complete certification scheme for Food Safety Systems. FSSC 22000 uses the existing standards ISO 22000, PAS 220 and ISO 22003, which were developed through a wide and open consultation with a variety of organizations. ISO 22000 certified manufacturers only need an additional PAS 220 review to meet this certification scheme.

FSSC 22000 has been developed for the certification of food safety systems of food manufacturers that process or manufacture animal products, perish-able vegetal products, products with a long shelf life and (other) food ingre-dients like additives, vitamins and bio-cultures. Only associated certification bodies are licensed to issue accredited FSSC 22000 certificates.

The FSSC 22000 certification scheme is the sixth standard that is accepted by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the first standard that is accepted by the European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA). The Foundation for Food Safety Certification retains the ownership and the copyright and the license agreements for certification bodies.

Design

The FSSC 22000 certification scheme sets out the requirements for certifica-tion bodies to develop, implement and operate a certification scheme and to guarantee its impartiality and compe-tence. FSSC 22000 sets out the require-ments to assess the food safety system of food manufacturing organizations and to issue a certificate.

The FSSC 22000 certificate proves that the organizations food safety system is in full compliance with the require-ments. However, it is no guarantee for the organizations future food safety performance. The added value for an organization with a certified food safety system lies in the efforts made by the organization to maintain that system and its commitment to continuously improve its performance.

Scope

FSSC 22000 is specifically developed to audit and certify food safety systems of food manufacturers that process or manufacture:

• perishable animal products (i.e. meat, poultry, eggs, dairy and fish products)

• perishable vegetal products (i.e. fresh fruits and fresh juices, preserved fruits, fresh vegetables, preserved vegetables)

• products with long shelf life at ambi-ent temperature (i.e. canned pro-ducts, biscuits, snacks, oil, drinking water, beverages, pasta, flour, sugar, salt)

• (bio)chemical manufacturing (i.e. vitamins, additives and bio-cultures) but excluding technical and techno-logical aids.

FSSC 22000 includes transportation and on site storage if part of the operation (e.g. cheese ripening). It is applicable to all food manufacturers, regardless of size and complexity, profit-making or not, public or private.

Requirements & regulations

The FSSC 22000 certification scheme contains detailed requirements for:

• the food safety system of food manu-facturers

• the certification system of the certifi-cation bodies

• the system of accreditation by the accreditation bodies.

Furthermore FSSC 22000 contains reguirements for:

• the certification bodies licensed by the Foundation to provide certification

• the harmonization process in which associated certification bodies partici-pate to align audit and certification issues

• the accreditation bodies that accredit the associated certification bodies

• the board of stakeholders• the experts of the certification bodies.

These requirements and regulations are published in four separate parts of FSSC 22000:

Part I - Requirements for organizations that require certification.Part II - Requirements and regulations for certification bodies. Part III - Requirements and regulations for providing accreditation.Part IV - Regulations for the Board of Stakeholders.

The requirements and regulations can be downloaded for free via our website www.fssc22000.com.

Board of Stakeholders

FSSC 22000 is maintained by the Board of Stakeholders of the Foundation. The Board represents the interests of all involved parties. Hereby the Foundation aims to maintain a broad acceptance adding particular value to the relation-ship between the certified food manu-facturer and government, customers and suppliers. In order to achieve this, the Board of the Foundation consists of representatives of trade and industry, authorities and other parties concerned. The Board complies with the require-ments set by the accreditation bodies which are member of the IAF multila-teral recognition agreement.

The Board has at least three meetings yearly. After every meeting major and/or minor changes in FSSC 22000 will be published in a list of decisions on the Foundation website. Revisions of all relevant documents of the scheme are published on the Foundation website.

The Board will publish an overall review of FSSC 22000 at least every three years. All amendments arising from the review will be published by the Founda-tion and made available to all stake-holders.

Associated certification bodies

Only associated certification bodies are licensed to issue accredited FSSC 22000 certificates. Licensing is based on an agreement between the Foundation for Food Safety Certification and the certi-fication body and requires an accredita-tion for FSSC 22000.

By entering into an agreement with the Foundation, accredited certification bodies are authorized to provide FSSC 22000 certification. Accreditation is gained by an associated accreditation body that complies with the regula-tion for accreditation bodies (Part III). Licensed certification bodies are obliged to adhere strictly to this scheme.

Please visit our website www.fssc22000.com for a list of certi-fication bodies and further information on applying as associated certification body.

The Foundation for Food Safety Certification

FSSC 22000 is developed and owned by the Foundation for Food Safety Certifi-cation. The scheme is supported by the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union (CIAA).

The Foundation also legally owns the GFSI approved HACCP food safety systems certification scheme. As a nonprofit organization the Founda-tion facilitates and owns the scheme and manages its copyright with license agreements. The actual responsibility and authority for the content of the scheme and the delivered certification audits is the Board of Stakeholders, represented by the relevant stake-holders of the food supply chain. This makes FSSC 22000 independent from any specific stakeholder and ensures international commitment. Furthermore the Foundation facilitates the National Technical Working Group GlobalGap.

Besides the copyright management the Foundation also:

• focuses on the international compli-ance and adaptability of food safety standards

• focuses on the development and main-tenance of certification and inspection systems for food safety

• promotes the international use of these food safety systems

• provides services to support the certi-fication of food safety systems

• provides information on food safety issues.

Food Safety System Certification 22000

Foundation for Food Safety CertificationP.O. Box 6934200 AR GORINCHEMThe Netherlands

phone: +31 (0)183 - 64 50 28fax: +31 (0)183 - 62 11 61info@fssc22000.comwww.fssc22000.com