If you have a feed company, you are a producer of raw materials or additives for animal feed, you are a sales agent, or you belong to a complementary sector and you want to export or agree to sell to certain clients, who require having their entire food chain certified, GMP+ may be of interest to you.

• The GMP+ FSA (Feed Safety Assurance) modules are a compendium of documents with the standards to ensure the safety of feed in all links of the food chain.
• Type A documents bring together all the general requirements to be able to participate in the GMP+ scheme regardless of the sector.
• Type B documents are the standards from which the requirements to be met are reflected according to the sector to which the company belongs. Four main standards are distinguished along with their corresponding appendices to which they can be referenced.
• The type C documents are requirements for certification in the GMP+ scheme and the type D documents are guides to help the implementation and facilitate the interpretation of the GMP+ requirements.

If you belong to the animal production or transport sector, you are a feed processor, you belong to the meat sector or you are part of the plant production sector and you are interested in the German market or in exporting your products outside the EU , the QS system can be your seal of quality.

• The QS system is a German standard that covers the entire food chain: from field to store, both in animal production and in plant production. In order for a product to carry the QS seal, it must be produced under the QS certification in each and every one of the stages through which the product passes throughout the food chain.
• It has monitoring programs such as: Salmonella, antibiotics, slaughterhouse findings and residues in both feed and fruit and vegetables, which give added value to the products that are under the seal of the QS certificate.

FAMI QS is a system to ensure feed safety in all links of the food chain, from production to marketing.

• The FAMI QS Code covers the requirements on Good Manufacturing Practices, on the HACCP program and suggestions on continuous improvements in design, operations and risk management with the aim of maintaining food safety and quality.
• The documentary structure is made up of the FAMI-QS Code that covers the requirements for the production/commercialization of special ingredients for feed that are obtained through the following production processes: chemical, bioprocessing, mining, extraction, mixing and formulation.
• With the FAMI-QS Code, a set of process documents are provided as supplements to the FAMI-QS Code. These are auditable documents, established in accordance with the principles of the Codex Alimentarius (including the HACCP program), for each process described in the Scope.

If you belong to the animal production or transport sector, you are a feed processor, you belong to the meat sector or you are part of the plant production sector and you are interested in the German market or in exporting your products outside the EU , the QS system can be your seal of quality.

• The QS system is a German standard that covers the entire food chain: from field to store, both in animal production and in plant production. In order for a product to carry the QS seal, it must be produced under the QS certification in each and every one of the stages through which the product passes throughout the food chain.
• It has monitoring programs such as: Salmonella, antibiotics, slaughterhouse findings and residues in both feed and fruit and vegetables, which give added value to the products that are under the seal of the QS certificate.

If you require a standard based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO 22000 Food safety management systems. Requirements for any organization in the food chain may be of interest to you.

• This standard, in addition to the clear advantage of being certifiable at the international level, has tried to respond to the need to create trust through the traceability of food products, from primary production to the point of sale or even the final consumer, on the basis of a self-control system based on HACCP, which requires compliance with applicable legislation and the responsibility of all food companies involved in the chain.
• ISO 22000 has had difficulties to be accepted by the GFSI, which has given rise to a new version of the standard, the so-called FSSC 22000

It is a certification based on the HACCP system, specifically it applies to the control of compliance with the Food Safety requirements established in the Codex Alimentarius document CAC/RCP1-1969, rev.4 2003 Recommended International Code of Practice – General Principles of Food Hygiene.

• The certification is aimed at all organizations that have implemented a HACCP System for the control of hazards related to Food Safety. It is applicable to all companies that intervene directly or indirectly in the food chain.

If you require a standard recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and you are an operator of a food industry and wish to export to the US, sell to large distribution chains or retailers, the FSSC 22000 certificate, by the Foundation Food Safety System Certification, may be of interest to you.

• This scheme uses international and independent standards such as the requirements contained in ISO 22000 and in order to be recognized by GFSI, it has developed a program of specific prerequisites for the sector based on the ISO/TS 22002-1 standard, together with the so-called Additional Requirements of the FSSC 22000 scheme.

If you require a standard recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and you are an operator in a food industry or complementary sectors and you wish to export to Anglo-Saxon markets, the USA, Asia, etc. or sell to large distribution chains or retailers, the standards of the Global Standard for Food Safety (BRC) are your seal of quality.

• BRC Global Standard for Food Safety is a certification standard developed in the United Kingdom with international recognition and supported by the United Kingdom Distributors Association, applicable in phases after primary production.

It is a standard recognized by GFSI, which establishes the requirements applicable to the manufacture of packaging materials used with food and consumer products.

Applicable to companies that buy and sell products or facilitate the marketing of products, but do not manufacture, process or prepare, pack, or store the products marketed in their own facilities or in their own establishments (although they may offer these activities to their clients through outsourced service providers).

It is a GFSI-recognized standard that sets out requirements for the storage and distribution of packaged and unpackaged food products, packaging materials, and consumer items, as well as requirements for wholesale and outsourced services .

• The standard is not applicable to storage facilities that are under the direct control of the management of the production facility, to which the corresponding manufacturing standard applies (for example, the BRC-Food standard)

If you require a standard recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and you have a company in the agri-food sector or complementary sectors and you export to the European market, distribution chains or wholesalers, the standards of the International Food Standards (IFS) are your seal of quality .

• The IFS International Food Standard is an internationally recognized private certification, which includes a set of standards applicable to suppliers and manufacturers in terms of food safety and quality.
• IFS has been developed by German, French and Italian distributors to ensure that your food business complies with all legal and food safety requirements, both for food and non-food products.
• It is always applicable in phases subsequent to primary production .

It applies to distribution companies and wholesalers of food products with the distributor’s brand, as well as to other manufacturers of food products and applies only to companies that manufacture food or package food products in bulk.

Are you a food manufacturer or processor?

• The IFS Food standard applies when processing a product for which there is a risk of contamination of the same and is only applicable in phases after primary production.

Aimed at companies that offer logistics services such as transport, storage, loading and unloading of goods, both food and non-food.

Do you have a company that provides logistics services?

For which activities does IFS-Logistics apply?

• It is a standard aimed at companies whose logistics activity is aimed at food and non-food products, such as transport, storage, distribution, loading/unloading, etc. Applies to all types of activity: delivery by road, rail, ship; refrigerated/frozen or room temperature stable products.
• IFS Logistics applies only to logistics activities in which companies have physical contact with products that already have a primary packaging (transport, packaging of packaged food products, storage and / or distribution, transport and storage of pallets, bags in boxes ). It also applies to specific non-packaged products such as beef cuts or bulk / tank transport (glucose syrup, milk, cereals, etc.).

Can I be certified by IFS-Logistics if I apply any processing stage that means a change in the characteristics of the product?

• In such a case, IFS Logistics is not applicable – except for freeze/thaw processes, under specific conditions (as a service; extra requirements to be audited).

If my food processing company has its own logistics department, can I only certify this service by IFS-logistics?

• In principle, when the company has its own logistics and/or transport department or carries out storage and distribution activities, these are included in the IFS Food transport or storage subchapter.
• If the processing company’s own logistics operations are located in the same location as the company and if the company or the customer wants these operations to be IFS Logistics certified, an IFS Logistics audit may be performed under certain specific requirements.

Aimed at marketing food products in European countries, guaranteeing quality and food safety to customers.

Do you have a company for marketing and trading activities?

• For companies such as commercial agencies, brokerage or any other company that does not have physical possession of the products (for example, that do not have warehouses, packing stations or fleet of trucks, but that are legal entities with mailing addresses, offices, etc. .). The standard applies to food, household and personal care products.

This standard was developed by the Packaging Association of Canada (PAC) in conjunction with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and representative industries.

• It applies to manufacturers of packaging materials for food and non-food products and only affects packaging processes and/or converting companies and was developed to detect and avoid potential hazards in packaging material production processes.

In CONVET SL Designs of FOOD DEFENSE Plans are carried out in response to the premeditated action of intentional adulteration or contamination of food and beverages for human or animal consumption; or of the raw materials or additives used in its preparation through biological agents, microorganisms or pathogens, among which bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites stand out, which can put public health at serious risk and even cause death.

Some of the methodologies used to carry out the hazard analysis and risk assessment associated with deliberate contamination are:

• ORM (Operational Risk Management)
• CARVER + SHOCK
• ALERT
• 5M
• TACCP, Threat Assessment Critical Control Points
• VACCP

Who is required to implement a Food Defense Plan?

• Companies interested in being certified by IFS, BRC and FSSC 22000 must design, implement and maintain Food Defense plans according to the standard.
• All agri-food products produced in Europe and exported to the United States must comply with Food Defense regulations.

At CONVET SL, designs of Food Fraud plans are carried out in response to the premeditated action of adulteration of food and beverages for human or animal consumption that may cast doubt on their authenticity, with the aim of an economic benefit.

Who is required to implement a Food Fraud Mitigation Plan?

• Those food industries that are certified in food safety systems such as IFS Food, BRC, FSSC 22000, etc. They must have an anti-food fraud plan in place.

If you require a standard based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the following may be of interest to you:

• Management systems (quality, environment, food safety, occupational health and safety, etc.) constitute a fundamental support for ensuring that the activities that take place in a company are planned, managed and controlled in such a way as to guarantee the fulfillment of its objectives.

Applicable to all companies, regardless of their size, type and nature.

Its high-level structure makes it easy to integrate with more than one standard.

This ISO standard focuses on the customer and meeting their requirements. This translates into the need to demonstrate that you have the ability to:

• Provide products that meet customer requirements. These requirements or specifications of the product or service provided may be reflected, for example, in the form of orders, offers and/or contracts with customers.
• Comply with the applicable legal and regulatory requirements, especially focused on those regulations related to the criteria of conformity of the product and/or service together with the activity of the organization.
• Achieve their own product and/or service quality goals.

This ISO standard focuses on environmental performance. This translates into the need to demonstrate that you have the ability to:

• Improve the environmental performance of the organization. The organization must demonstrate the ability to control and improve its environmental aspects, such as: consumption of natural resources, generation of solid waste, discharges, emissions and noise pollution, among others, and all from a life cycle point of view.
• Comply with the applicable legal and regulatory requirements, especially focused on those regulations related to environmental management (emissions, soil, discharges, solid waste management, etc.)
• Achieve your own environmental goals.

This ISO standard focuses on occupational health and safety. This translates into the need to demonstrate that you have the ability to:

• Identify risks related to safety and the work environment and implement protocols to prevent injuries and illnesses caused by working conditions, in addition to the protection and promotion of employee health.
• Comply with the applicable legal and regulatory requirements, especially focused on those regulations related to safety and health at work (signage, work environment, handling of loads, exposure to biological or carcinogenic agents, use of PPE, etc.)
• Achieve their own objectives related to safety and health at work.

This ISO standard focuses on information security. This translates into the need to demonstrate that you have the ability to:

• Identify the threats and vulnerabilities and implement the necessary measures to eliminate or minimize the risks due to loss of confidentiality, availability and integrity of the information.
• Comply with the applicable legal and regulatory requirements, especially focused on regulations related to information security (protection of personal data, intellectual property, electronic commerce, etc.)
• Achieve your own objectives related to information security.

The ISO 27001 standard is structured as follows:

• A set of requirements of a management system based on document control, staff skills, organizational structure and tools for continuous improvement in information security.
• An analysis of risks to information security from the point of view of the loss of confidentiality, availability and integrity of information. The standard does not require the establishment of a specific analysis methodology and leaves free choice to companies so that they can choose the one that best suits their needs.
• Treat the identified risks with a set of information security control measures listed in Annex I.
• As additional information and in order to facilitate the interpretation of the control measures present in Annex I of the ISO 27001 standard, the ISO/IEC 27002 standard has been developed as a set of practices for information security controls. The ISO 27001 standard does not oblige to implement all the control measures present in its Annex I, but it does oblige to justify its non-implementation, through a declaration of applicability.