Food Safety System Certification 22000 Approved

FSSC 22000: the content of the Food Safety System Certification scheme is approved by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). The approved FSSC 22000 scheme documents are available on: www.fssc22000.com

The Foundation for Food Safety Certification has developed FSSC 22000, the ISO 22000 and PAS 220 certification scheme for food safety systems of food manufacturers. The scheme was sent to GFSI for approval on February 1, 2009. During the GFSI meeting in Barcelona the initiative was introduced to the public and received a very positive response.

The scheme documents have been reviewed by the GFSI benchmark committee. The remarks of the committee resulted in some minor changes of the scheme. Also there has been a discussion on the principle of using ISO/IEC Guide 65 accreditation for a scheme of this type. Because this discussion basically applies to all the schemes that are currently accepted under ISO/IEC Guide 65, FSSC 22000 is treated the same way as the other GFSI approved schemes and currently accepted for ISO/IEC Guide 65 accreditation.

The revised scheme documents together with the positive advice of the committee that the content of the scheme meets the GFSI requirements were sent to the GFSI Board for final approval. Once fully implemented, the FSSC 22000 certification scheme is expected to become the sixth standard to join the stable of GFSI recognized schemes. This was decided during the GFSI Board meeting of May 20, 2009. This means that FSSC 22000 certification audits can start. The names of the approved certification bodies will be published on the FSSC 22000 website.

Contents FSSC 22000

FSSC 22000 covers a complete certification scheme for food safety systems based on the food safety management standard ISO 22000: 2005 ‘Requirements for any organization in the food chain’ and the publicly available specification for Prerequisite programs on food safety for food manufacturing, BSI-PAS 220: 2008. The scheme is using existing standards for certification (ISO 22000, PAS 220 and ISO 22003) and the certification will be accredited under the standard ISO guide 65 (process certification). Manufacturers already certified against ISO 22000 only require a validation of the ISO 22000 certification and an additional review against the PAS 220 to meet this certification scheme.

The scheme is intended for the certification of manufacturing and processing of food ingredients and food products. The requirements and regulations of FSSC 22000 are described in four separate parts:

Part I - the requirements of the food safety system and guidance on how to apply for certification
Part II - the requirements for providing certification, including the regulation for the CB’s and for the harmonization committee
Part III - the requirements for providing accreditation including the regulation for the AB’s
Part IV - the regulations for the Board of Stakeholders
The Foundation for Food Safety Certification retains the ownership, the copyright and the license agreements for certification bodies.

Several certification bodies have shown their interest in becoming approved and accreditated for FSSC 22000. These certification bodies will receive an agreement from the Foundation to become licensed for FSSC 22000. New certification bodies wanting to apply for delivering certification audits against the FSSC 22000 scheme may contact the Foundation for further information.

(source: ifsqn.com)