FSSC Development Program FAQ

The FSSC Development Program helps suppliers in emerging markets to improve food safety through a step-by-step approach. It provides free tools, training, and recognition. While it is not officially accredited, it serves as an appetizer and stimulates the companies in the Program to want more and progress to full FSSC 22000 certification, which is accredited. It is making it easier for small businesses to build reliable food safety systems and to gain access to an international supply chain. It is a starting point that leads to a greater goal, which is achieving FSSC 22000 food safety certification.

The key benefit is that the Development Program is independent. The Development Program is audited by FSSC-licensed Conformity Assessment Bodies. The conformity statements are publicly registered on the FSSC website. A third-party supplier conformity program, like the Development Program, therefore increases the integrity of the conformity statement and the trust of customers. This is linked to the objectivity of the third-party assessment compared to the inherent subjectivity of an in-house compliance.

The Program is being offered to Certification Bodies that have a current license for FSSC 22000. Those organizations can contact FSSC to request a license to perform assessments for the Development Program.

The Program’s requirements in V2.0 are in line with the Level 2 requirements of V1.1. Based on research, the output of the industry survey, and benchmarking with similar programs in the market, it was concluded that the assessment duration for Version 1.1 was too extensive in some cases and, therefore, needed to be adjusted.

Your supplier auditing system would be used to help set up process safety of your SME suppliers. Your checklist should follow some form of certificaition. If you are an FSSC site you might base your supplier audit questionnaire on the FSSC 22000 Scheme or you could use the Development Program auditing questions. In any case, this would be through your supplier auditing process. In essence, this means you could assist your clients with continuous improvement. Corrective actions depending on the risk, could be followed up and verified the next year, or you might even go back more than once a year, if it happens to be a high-risk supplier.

The cost depends on the Conformity Assessment Body the organization selects for the conformity assessment. Foundation FSSC, as a non-profit organization only charges the CAB an annual fee, but no additional fee per conformity statement. We advise you to reach out to a CAB in your region to receive a quote. All FSSC-licensed CABs can be found here.

This decision was taken based on feedback received through the industry survey we conducted, and also due to the relatively low number of Level 1 conformity statements we had at the time.

FSSC has a calibration program that includes mandatory training for auditors and key CB personnel. For example, on the FSSC 22000 Additional Requirements, all FSSC 22000 auditors were required to undertake and pass the FSSC 22000 V6 eLearning training developed by FSSC before they could commence delivering V6 audits.

As per Q1 of the decision tree, the decision tree applies to those hazards that have already been assessed as being significant, and therefore requires a suitable control measure. If the outcome of the hazard analysis is that the hazard is not significant, then the hazard will be managed by a PRP.

From initial conformity assessment to obtaining the conformity statement: It takes a maximum of around two months from the last day of the assessment to obtain a conformity statement. Where nonconformities were identified, the organization has 28 calendar days to address those. Then, the Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) has to perform a technical review and make a decision before the conformity statement can be issued. From Development Program conformity to full FSSC 22000 certification: The time to proceed from Development Program conformity towards FSSC 22000 certification readiness depends on the maturity of the organization. One of the key differences between the Development Program and FSSC 22000 is the implementation of a full management system. Not every organization is equally geared to achieve that.

There is no defined percentage, but the Development Program does not include all the management system elements in ISO 22000 or the majority of the Additional requirements in FSSC 22000.

FSSC 22000 is an accredited Food Safety Management System certification. It results in a 3-year certificate subject to annual audits. The Development Program is not accredited, but it is an annual assessment program that results in a 1-year conformity statement. When you look at the requirements, FSSC 22000 is much more comprehensive. It includes a complete management system based on ISO 22000. It consists of the PRPs and incorporates FSSC 22000 Additional Requirements on food safety. This means FSSC 22000 is much more rigorous in terms of the actual requirements organizations have to comply with. The Development Program, however, was predominantly designed from a food safety perspective, covering essential food safety elements and the PRPs.