ISO 22000

ISO 22000:2005 Food Safety Management Standard Published
GRT learns that a very large number of companies in the food supply chain will likely choose to register to this standard in the coming year. Your organization can gain a competitive edge in the food supply chain by implementing and registering to this new standard.
Learn about this standard in this article:

• Does this Food Safety Standard apply to your organization?
• Why GRT believes this will have a huge impact on the food industry
• Finally a Worldwide consensus
• Why do we foresee a rapid evolution of registration?
• What’s in the Standard
• Why should your organization move forward with this standard?
• Other standards soon to be published
• UPCOMING GRT Events, training and consulting

Does this Food Safety Standard apply to your organization?
All organizations within the food supply chain are now able to implement the ISO 22000 food safety management system standard regardless of company size or food type. These organizations include feed producers, primary producers, food manufacturers, transport and storage operators, subcontractors to retail and food service outlets, as well as those involved in packaging food, cleaning equipment and providers of cleaning agents, additives and ingredients.

Companies in the food supply chain recognize that their clients and consumers increasingly require them to practice food safety practices. Companies are requested to provide evidence of their ability to identify and control food safety hazards impacting food safety. ISO 22000 now provides this universal structure. Registration will become available by early 2006.

Why does GRT believe this will have a huge impact on the food industry?
Food reaches customers via sources that may link many different type of organization and that may stretch across multiple borders. One weak link can result in unsafe food that is dangerous to health- and when this happens the hazards to consumers can be serious, and the cost to food chain suppliers considerable. Since food safety hazards can enter the food chain at any stage, adequate monitoring throughout is essential. Food safety is a combined responsibility of all parties in the food chain and requires their combined efforts. It is applicable to all organizations, regardless of size or activity, which are involved in any aspect of the food chain and want to implement systems that consistently provides safe products.

ISO 22000:2005

• Is internationally formulated and will be internationally recognized
• Registration will be available in 2006
• Is recognized across all types of food
• Is a complete food safety management system
• Embodies and maintains the requirements of HACCP.
• Is formatted the same way as ISO 9001 & ISO 14001, so it is suitable for developing an integrated risk based management system.

Finally Worldwide consensus
The working group that developed ISO 22000 had representatives from 14 countries representing all continents. The working group also has representatives from organizations such as the Codex Alimentarius, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the European Confederation of the Food and Drink Industry (CIAA) and the World Health Organization.

Such a consensus enables smoother business transactions globally and across a wide range of food types.

Why do we foresee a rapid evolution of registrations?
It is believed that the standard will be first adopted in Europe and then quickly spread to North America in the upcoming year. We foresee that some organizations small or large will implement it early on to gain a competitive advantage. Once the larger multinational organizations adopt it, they may require their suppliers to adopt it as well and cascade it to the entire supplier chain. Currently the government does not mandate ISO 22000, and we do not foresee this happening in the near future. Other contributors to registration growth include:

• recent hazards occurring in the food industry
• potential threat of bio-terrorism.
• the need for an internationally recognized standard
• the need for a system that can be registered

Our research shows that the majority of Registrars are preparing for a floodgate of new registrations. They are waiting for the publication of ISO/TS 22003 - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems. Once this standard is published in the first quarter of 2006, it will enable registrars to qualify their auditors and provide registration. At that time, companies will be able to register their systems.
GRT can provide the information and expertise to implement your Food Safety Management System

What’s in the Standard
The standard has three parts:
1. requirements for good manufacturing practices or pre-requisite programmes
2. requirements for HACCP according to the HACCP principles of the Codex Alimentarius
3. requirements for a management system.

The standard requirements cover:

• Interactive communication and documentation requirements.
• System management – management responsibility and resource management
• Planning and Realization of safe products
  • prerequisite programs
  • preliminary steps to enable hazard analysis
  • hazard identification and assessment of control measures
  • establishing the HACCP plan
  • verification planning
  • establishing a traceability system
  • control of nonconformity
• The final step includes validation, verification and improvement of the Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

Why should your organization move forward with this standard?
Benefits between organizations:

• Organized and targeted communication among trade partners
• Higher Marketability
• Global Recognition reducing multiple systems
• Wide variety of food type recognition reducing multiple systems
• Third party registration reducing audits by different organizations
• Provides reference for the whole food chain

Benefits within the organization

• Consistent standard practice and improved communication
• Clear requirements which can be audited properly
• Prevention of infection through control of hazard points rather than product inspection
• Widely applicable across the organization
• Saves resources by reducing overlapping system audits
• System approach, allowing proper management and maintenance.

Other standards soon to be published include:
ISO/TS 22003 Food safety management systems - Requirements for bodies requiring audit and certification of food safety management systems.
This will give harmonized guidance for the approval of ISO 22000 certification bodies and define the rules for auditing a food safety management system. It will be published in early 2006.
ISO 22005 Traceability in the feed and food chain - General principles and guidance for system design and development.
The draft format will be forthcoming shortly.

UPCOMING GRT Events/Sessions
GRT is developing services to help you prepare your organization for this new standard. We will be providing information sessions; training and consulting to assist you develop a strategy and to implement the ISO 22000 system in your organization.

Look for the following products and services in the coming months:

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