What is PRP 22000?

Certification of the food safety management system (FSMS) of an organization is one means of providing assurance that the organization has implemented a system for the management and control of food safety hazards.

So called PRP 22000 certification is a set of two complementary standards allowing developing a reliable FSMS, compliant with the requirements of the guidance document of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI):

• ISO 22000, Food safety management systems — Requirements for any organization in the food chain (© ISO), and either
• PRP 22000, Food safety management system— Prerequisite Programmes (PRPs) requirements for any organization in the food chain (© ViaSyst), or
• PAS 220 – Prerequisite programmes on food safety for food manufacturing (© BSI).

The ISO 22000 standard, applicable to the entire food chain for featuring and operating a food safety management system requires that prerequisite programmes (PRPs) shall be established, implemented and maintained according to the size and type of the operation and the nature of the products being manufactured and/or handled, but does not specify those PRPs.

Aim of the PRP 22000 certification scheme is to complete the ISO 22000 requirements in order to comply with GFSI key elements and endorsement criteria. For this purpose, two main issues have to be addressed:

1. prerequisite programmes (PRPs) shall be specified – which is the purpose or both PRP 22000 or PAS 220 standards;

2. operating procedures of the certification scheme or “protocol” shall be specified – which is the purpose or the PRP 22000 Certification Scheme standard.

The combination of ISO 22000 & PRP 22000 is applicable to the entire food chain & related activities. The combination of ISO 22000 & PAS 220 is applicable only to the food processing or manufacturing step of the food chain.

A PRP 22000 FSMS is compliant with international reference regulations, codes of practices or guidelines such as Codex Alimentarius or Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) guidelines.

Is PRP 22000 a new standard?

Yes, it is. Whereby the text of this standard is not so new as it sticks very tight to the Codex Alimentarius Code of practice.

It has been necessary to develop a new standard for the following reasons:

• the Codex is formulated as recommendations, which is not suitable for certification purposes that need a requirement (“shall” wording) standard
• the link to ISO 22000 needed to be introduced in the standard
• the scope of PRP 22000 addresses the entire food chain, which requires additions to Codex, that addresses only food processing activities

Did ISO mandate ViaSyst to develop the PRP 22000 standard?

No, ISO don’t mandate any organisation to develop standards. The furthermore, GFSI endorsement criteria require that the scheme owner is a legal entity. A standardisation body couldn’t suit for that purpose.

What is the scope of the PRP 22000 standard?

The PRP 22000 standard specifies prerequisite programmes (PRPs) requirements to be associated to a food safety management system compliant with the ISO 22000 requirements.

It is applicable to all organizations, regardless of size, which are involved in any food chain category according to the ISO 22000 scope and want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products. The means of meeting any requirements of this standard can be accomplished through the use of internal and/or external resources.

Who are the experts behind the PRP 22000 certification scheme?

Experts involved in the PRP 22000 certification scheme standardisation process come from various countries from Sweden to Ivory Coast and represent all interested parties to the PRP 22000 scope:

• primary production
• food manufacturing and processing industry
• retailers
• catering and gastronomy
• packaging material producers
• consultants
• certification bodies
• authorities
• education

How to get or purchase the standards related to the PRP 22000 certification scheme?

The ISO 22000 standard may be purchased (paper or electronic version) on www.iso.org

The PRP 22000 standards can be downloaded for free from the present website.

The PAS 220 standard may be purchased (paper or electronic version) on www.bsi.uk.org

What is GFSI ?

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) co-ordinated by CIES – The Food Business Forum, was launched in May 2000.

The GFSI Mission is :

Continuous improvement in food safety management sytems to ensure confidence in the delivery of safe food to consumers
The GFSI Objectives are to :

1. Convergence between food safety standards through maintaining a benchmarking process for food safety management schemes.

2. Improve cost efficiency throughout the food supply chain through the common acceptance of GFSI recognised standards by retailers around the world.

3. Provide a unique international stakeholder platform for networking, knowledge exchange and sharing of best food safety practices and information.

How is the Global Food Safety Initiative adding value to the Supply Chain ?

Under the umbrella of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), 7 major retailers have come to a common acceptance of four GFSI benchmarked food safety schemes.

Retailers accept certificates based on standards in order to be able to make an assessment of their suppliers of private-label products and fresh products and meat, to ensure that production is carried out in a safe manner. There are many of these standards and suppliers with many customers may be audited many times per year, at a high cost and with little added benefit.

The GFSI Guidance Document Version 5 (released September 2007), contains commonly agreed criteria for food safety standards, against which any food or farm assurance standard can be benchmarked. GFSI does not undertake any accreditation or certification activities.

The benchmarking work undertaken by the standard owners and other key stakeholders on four food safety schemes (BRC, IFS, Dutch HACCP and SQF) has now reached a point of convergence. Each scheme has now aligned itself with common criteria defined by food safety experts from the food business, with the objective of making food manufacture as safe as possible. As a result, this will also drive cost efficiency in the supply chain and reduce the duplication of audits.

The GFSI vision of ‘once certified, accepted everywhere’ has now become a reality. Carrefour, Tesco, Metro, Migros, Ahold, Wal-Mart and Delhaize have agreed to reduce duplication in the supply chain through the common acceptance of any of the four GFSI benchmarked schemes.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) co-ordinated by CIES – The Food Business Forum, was launched in May 2000. The GFSI Foundation Board, a retailer-driven group, with manufacturer advisory members, provides the strategic direction and oversees the daily management. Membership of the Board is by invitation only.

The GFSI Technical Committee was formed in September 2006 and is composed of retailers, manufacturers, standard owners, certification bodies, accreditation bodies, industry association and other technical experts. It provides technical expertise and advice for the GFSI Board and replaces the previous GFSI retailer-only Task Force. Membership of the Technical Committee is by invitation only.

GFSI Stakeholders are also invited to participate in the decision-making process of GFSI through annual meetings and regular exchange of information. Stakeholders are any interested party that would like to have a voice within the GFSI structure.

For more information about GFSI: www.ciesnet.com

Is the PRP 22000 certification scheme endorsed by the GFSI?

The endorsement procedure is ongoing.

How to prepare a PRP 22000 certification?

In addition to the PRP 22000 standards themselves, ViaSyst provides a full range of services allowing to prepare efficiently a PRP 22000 certification:

• knowledge base
• audit findings database
• distance learning courses
• self-assessment tools

Who are the certification bodies providing PRP 22000 certification services?

Please consult the list of certification bodies that contracted with ViaSyst for PRP 22000 certification.

What are the required competences for a PRP 22000 auditor?

This is specified as follow within the PRP 22000 certification scheme:
5.1 Competence assessment and personal certification

Any lead auditor employed by a certification body providing PRP 22000 audit and certification according to the present standard shall apply for an ISO 17024 accredited personal certification as FSMS auditor, based on applicable clauses of ISO 17021 and ISO TS 22003.

NOTE: ISO 17021 and ISO TS 22003 requirements also apply to other personnel involved in certification activities (e.g. contract review, experts, decision making).

The applied personal certification scheme shall be based on an 8 hour written and/or oral competence assessment addressing the following key competences and skills:

1. FSMS audit principles and procedures according to applicable clauses of ISO 17021, ISO TS 22003 and ISO 19011;

2. writing of factual and verifiable audit reports;

3. understanding and control of the HACCP systematic according to ISO 22000;

4. PRP adequacy & implementation assessment;

5. understanding of MS principles.

The applied personal certification scheme shall be benchmarked and accepted by ViaSyst.

What is the definition of major non-conformity?

Absence of, or failure to implement and maintain, one or more food safety management system requirements, or a situation which would, on the basis of available objective evidence, raise significant doubt as to the food safety of the end products the organization is supplying.

What is the definition of minor non-conformity?

Partial non compliance with one or more food safety management system requirements, or any discrepancy between the real operations and the food safety management system, both provided that objective evidence demonstrates that the food safety of the end products the organization is supplying is not in doubt.