by Marketing Development Director Cor Groenveld
FSSC supports all stages of the food supply chain and we consider Transport & Storage as a very important activity. In every part of the chain, from farm to fork, transport, storage and distribution are required. The providers have to ensure that food and feed products, ingredients and packaging materials are properly handled to ensure food safety. Not only the range of the industry is enormous, as transport by road, rail, air and sea can be found all through the food supply chain, but there are also specific requirements for the transport & storage industry. FSSC 22000 helps to manage these requirements with a robust Food Safety Management System and certification by a recognized Certification Body.
Specific hazards to the transport & storage industry
Transport and storage services have to ensure that the food safety of products is guaranteed. FSSC 22000 certification requires that providers conduct an analysis to identify which food safety hazards and risks can occur during these activities and to define and implement measures to realize effective control. This analysis has to take into account what kind of products are transported and stored and what is required to ensure food safety of these products. Specific hazards and risks can apply for temperature controlled products, open packed products and products vulnerable for breakage like glass. But also specific warehouse activities for customers like (re)labelling, repacking, order picking require specific controls. Another example is bulk transportation, where cleaning and avoiding cross contamination can be critical. Furthermore specific controls shall be in place for food defense and food fraud to ensure the protection of the products. This shows that transport and storage can be complex and involves critical activities. Therefore a thorough analysis of the processes and related hazards and risks is required to define the required controls and to implement them in a robust food safety management system.
FSSC 22000 ensures trusted and reliable certification of food safety management systems that provide confidence to the clients of the certified transport and storage organizations.
FSSC 22000 is based on ISO 22000 (requirements for food safety management systems), NTA 8059 (requirements for PRPs in transport and storage) and additional FSSC requirements. Implementing these requirements results in a robust food safety management system, specific for transport and storage activities. FSSC 22000 certification can be achieved by one of the 120 approved Certification Bodies of which 27 certify for the transport & storage industry. The FSSC 22000 licensed Certification Bodies have to meet our robust requirements to ensure they deliver high quality audits which lead to reliable certification. Critical in these requirements are the competence and industry knowledge of the auditors. Auditors have to understand the industry, processes and the involved hazards, risks and controls. The FSSC 22000 Integrity Program continuously monitors the performance of the Certification Bodies and auditors. FSSC 22000 ensures trusted and reliable certification of food safety management systems that provide confidence to the clients of the certified transport and storage organizations. Both FSSC 22000 licensed Certification Bodies and FSSC 22000 Certified Organizations are listed on our website to create optimal transparency.
Read more about FSSC 22000 certification in this interview with a large international distribution company and a small locally run transport company.
