News in Brief
GFSI and IAF zone in on food safety system equivalence
IAF and GFSI will cooperate in the improvement of GFSI Benchmarking Requirements and the benchmarking process.
It will contribute to the GFSI objective of reducing food safety risks by targeting equivalence between food safety management systems which ensures consumer protection and improves cost efficiency throughout the supply chain.
GFSI is managed by The Consumer Goods Forum, which counts Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, PwC, DSM, Amcor, Tetra Pak and Nestlé as members.
“I am convinced that this partnership will further strengthen the current framework of checks and balances,” said GFSI senior representative Marie-Claude Quentin.
GFSI and its benchmarked Certification Programme Owners (CPOs) will use the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA).
GFSI-recognised CPOs will require certification bodies (CBs) operating in a GFSI benchmarked food safety certification programme to be accredited by a body that has signed the IAF MLA.
IAF chair, Xiao Jianhua, said: “We look forward to working closely with GFSI to deliver effective food safety management systems, thereby improving supply chain and consumer confidence.”
IAF members include American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), United Kingdom Accreditation Service, Comite Francais d'Accreditation (COFRAC) and Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ).
