Selection and Use of Acceptance Criteria
4.5 Determining Acceptance by Approval of Suppliers in Business-to- in Business-to-Business Relationshipsin Business-to-Business Relationships
4.5.1 Role of FSO and PO in the Approval of a Supplier
If a FSO or a PO has been established for a commodity, the first step is to determine whether it is being met. If there is agreement on the achievement, further detailed information can be shared on the con-trol measures that have been adopted to meet the FSO/PO either directly or via a PC. Specifically, this would involve evaluating whether the adopted control measures under the food safety management system can be expected to meet the FSO/PO consistently.
During the auditing process, the FSO/PO provides a common yardstick for evaluation (see Sect.
4.7.1). The supplier and buyer of an ingredient or food ideally share the same values with regard to safety, and the supplier considers the buyer’s “risk” equal to their own. The buyer should is aware of the intended use and any PC that may be necessary to ensure safety can be mutually agreed upon. The
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supplier would then incorporate the necessary control measures to meet the PC into their GHP and HACCP procedures (see Sect. 4.7.1). Ideally, this information can be used for auditing either by a mixed team of experts from both companies or by any third party auditors engaged by the buyer (see Sect. 4.7). If laboratories are involved, they would be expected to use the same reference methods or comparable methods that have been validated against the reference method using international stan-dards, e.g., ISO16140 and participate in proficiency schemes that are consistent with international standards, e.g., ISO 17043.
In situations where a FSO, PO or PC has not been established conventional systems must be used for determining whether to accept a supplier. These include inspection and auditing of GHP and HACCP systems. Where necessary, such an approach may be supported by testing representative lots of production from the supplier to determine consistency of compliance with purchase specifications.
Physical, chemical and/or microbiological tests may be used for this purpose. The number of lots that should be tested should reflect hazards and risks and the consequences of non-compliance with the criteria. When it has been determined that the supplier can reliably meet purchase specifications, then product testing can be discontinued or sharply curtailed.
In contrast to the FSO/PO, microbiological criteria are of limited value in the approval process for a potential supplier. The reason is that microbiological criteria can be applied to specific lots of prod-uct to determine their acceptability but this information provides only a snapshot, and little or no confidence for what may be produced over an extended period of time. By continued testing of incom-ing raw material from a supplier, it would be possible to establish a history of compliance with estab-lished criteria (see Chap. 13). However, when evaluating a new supplier, microbiological testing of current production lots would not be adequate to assess variability and, in particular, the presence of a pathogen that may occur intermittently and at low frequency. Thus, confidence in a supplier’s ability to meet an FSO/PO through process control has greater value than reliance upon microbiological test-ing of incomtest-ing lots.
4.5.2 Approval Procedures
At each transfer point in the food chain there is normally a buyer and a supplier. Ultimately, the final buyer will be a consumer. Buyers and suppliers can be in government as well as in industry. Suppliers may be domestic or in another country.
The preferred approach to managing the safety of food is to select suppliers who can be relied upon to consistently provide ingredients or foods that meet food safety requirements. Food safety systems based on prevention are much more effective than attempting to differentiate safe from unsafe lots by microbiological testing. While there may be a role for testing certain ingredients or foods, microbio-logical testing should be applied cautiously and used as a supplement to other information, particu-larly the conditions under which the material is produced. A listing of parameters that can be used to approve suppliers appears in Table 4.1.
The net result of these activities is to develop a base of suppliers that can be consistently relied upon to provide raw materials that will be safe when used as intended. This approach requires that all parties be knowledgeable in the significant hazards that may be associated with the foods supplied.
The FSO/PO concept can be an effective means to communicate the significant hazards that must be controlled to ensure consumer protection.
Many of the parameters in Table 4.1 can be verified by auditing experts to establish that the condi-tions under which the ingredient or food is produced are acceptable. International standards, e.g., ISO 22000 and third party standards, e.g., Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmark schemes, cover holistic food safety management systems including GHP and HACCP. Auditing against these stan-dards by accredited certification bodies leads to certification of food businesses. Such certification may be acknowledged by buyers for the approval of suppliers and consequently further food safety audits by the buyer may be limited to those items listed in Table 4.1 that are not part of certified standards.
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Certificates also may be used for foods in international trade in the form of an export certificate. An example of a certificate appears in Fig. 4.1. In addition to the expected information about the source of the food, the mode of transportation and the quantity involved the sanitary or phytosanitary status of the food are attested to by an issuing authority. The certificate is a legal document that specifies the lot is in conformity or meets:
• the specified product standards required by the importing country or in their absence the specified product standards of the exporting country,
• provisions of bilateral or multilateral agreements between the importing and exporting countries, and
• in the absence of such provisions, the standards and requirements as agreed upon, with emphasis on the use of standards and codes of practice of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
Table 4.1 Parameters that can be used to assess the acceptability of a supplier Component of the food control system Expectation
Good hygienic practice In place and consistent with best practice
HACCP plan In place and designed to control significant hazards based on an analysis of risk
FSO Process is designed and validated to meet a FSO where established
PO Process is designed and validated to meet a PO where established
Performance criteria Validated process(es) that meet the performance criteria Process criteria Process criteria incorporated into HACCP plan as critical limits Product criteria: Organoleptic, chemical,
physical and biological specifications
Meets specifications
Records Records are complete, accurate and facilitate validation and verification
Exporter/Consignor Consignee
Port of loading
Certificate No.
TITLE Name and address of issuing authority Country of origin of goods
Date of departure Port of discharge
Identification, Shipping marks
Container number, Seal number Details of producing establishments Details of treatment
Attestation
DECLARATION Dated at ____________________ (place)
On _________________________(date)
_______________________________ ____________________________
Signature of signing officer Printed name Vessel/ Aircraft
Final destination (if on carriage) No. and kind of
packages Description of goods Quantity
Fig. 4.1 Example of a certificate for the export of food and food products
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