Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
commissioned by retailers lead to signifi cant “audit fatigue” in the food industry,
which resulted in high costs, waste of valuable time and unnecessary duplication,
and it was not uncommon for some manufacturers to receive up to 20 food safety
audits per annum from multiple customers. Simultaneously, ensuring the safety of
foods supplied to retailers and hence, to the consumer remained of paramount
importance. The ultimate goal of the GFSI therefore became “once audited, accepted
everywhere”. The approach decided upon to provide a means of achieving this goal,
was to introduce a bench-marking process where owners of food safety schemes,
based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System, could
apply to the GFSI for bench marking of their schemes. The bench-marking process
would be carried out against specifi c requirements contained in a Guidance
Document published by the GFSI. The intention was for retailers and other sectors
of the food industry to accept food supplied by a supplier certifi ed to one of the
bench-marked schemes in lieu of the preferred scheme or standards of that com-
pany; the principle being that the bench-marking system created equivalence across
the approved schemes, thereby offering a comparable level of food safety. In this
way, fl exibility was introduced into the marketplace and suppliers could decide on
which GFSI recognised food safety scheme to implement, whilst food safety audits
were reduced without compromising the safety of the food supplied. This approach
also offered a level of confi dence to the retailers and other sectors of the food indus-
try in that these recognised schemes had undergone a rigorous and independent
evaluation. The Guidance Document is revised as needed to incorporate updated
requirements for food, feed and service provision schemes. To date, a number of
pre- and post-farm gate food safety schemes have been approved by the GFSI and
such lists are regularly updated on the GFSI website (
http://www.mygfsi.com
).
4.3
Certifi cation and Accreditation
The GFSI does not undertake any certifi cation or accreditation activities. However,
it does require that third-party certifi cation audits carried out against a GFSI bench-
marked scheme are conducted by Certifi cation Bodies that are accredited by an
Accreditation Body; the Accreditation Body in turn is required to be a member of
the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). Through this membership, assurance
is given to users, of the competence and impartiality of the body accredited and
hence the certifi cations provided (
http://www.iaf.nu//articles/About/2
) (IAF
2013
).
Concerns about effectiveness of third-party audits and particularly auditor com-
petence have been expressed by a number of parties in recent years. However, there
are a number of processes in place to provide assurance that third-party audits are
carried out by technically competent and professional auditors.
In accordance with the requirements of the GFSI Guidance Document, all recog-
nised schemes must have in place criteria for the appointment, management and
continued integrity of any food safety auditor operating within the framework of
their schemes. This includes requirements in relation to qualifi cation, sector
