Certification: 
Food Safety Management System / Voluntary assessment
Certification standard:
International standard ISO 22000 (Requirements for a food safety management systems)
Standard owner:
ISO International Organization for Standardization
What does the standard ISO 22000 cover?
The ISO 22000 standard defines the requirements for a certifiable food safety management system (FSMS). This includes but is not limited to:
- Implementation of a food safety management system (FSMS), taking into account the context of the organisation and the expectations of interested parties
- Management, roles, responsibilities and authorities in the organisation as well as implementation of the food safety policy and objectives
- Actions to address risks and opportunities
- Planning of changes
- Provision of the necessary resources (people, infrastructure, work environment)
- Employee competence and awareness, internal and external communications
- Operational planning and control
- Prerequisite programmes in accordance with the industry-specific ISO/TS 22002-X standard
- Traceability system
- Emergency preparedness & response
- Risk analysis, validation of control measures and emergency response plan (HACCP / OPRP plan)
- Control of monitoring and measurement, verifications
- Corrections and corrective actions
- Handling of unsafe products, withdrawal and recall
- Evaluation of food safety management system performance
- Internal audit, management review, improvement, updating
What does “Certification” and/or the issue of a certification mark in accordance with ISO 22000
- The customer has submitted to voluntary assessment (audit) in accordance with defined criteria (certification standard).
- A certificate and/or the authorisation to use a certification mark are only issued if the assessment (audit) does not reveal any major non-conformities with the requirements of the relevant standard.
- Certificates and/or certification marks are valid for a limited period of time. Interested parties can check the validity of individual certificates in the certificate database of TÜV SÜD Management Service GmbH.
- To maintain certificate validity, the certificate holder must complete and successfully pass annual announced assessment (audit) with a positive result.
- Unannounced audits are possible in specific cases.
How is the audit performed?
Independent and qualified experts (auditors) apply the following auditing techniques:
- Document review:
Review of documentation such as documented procedures, work instructions and test standards
o Inspection of formulations and specifications
o Assessment of food labelling
o Specific traceability tests
o Assessment of analysis results
o Inspection of training programmes and records
- On-site-audit:
On-site inspection of all areas of the organisation
o Evaluation of infrastructure and workspaces
o Evaluation of operational and personal hygiene
o Evaluation of the control of critical parameters and processes (emergency response, CCPs and OPRPs)
o Review of the traceability of raw materials, products and packaging materials
o Interviews of employees at the organisation
o Comparison of documentation and actual workflows
What is beyond the scope of certification in accordance with the ISO 22000 standard?
- This certification does not constitute product certification. Certification thus does not provide any direct statements on the quality of a product or service of the certified customer. Certification in accordance with ISO 22000 does not mean that the company manufactures products or provides services of higher quality.
- Certification in accordance with ISO 22000 does not guarantee that a product or service always complies with the customer food safety requirements in all individual cases, even though this is one of the key objectives of the Food Safety Management System.
