National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 22003‑2:2022.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee AW/90, Quality systems for the food industry.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 June 2022.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 34, Food products, Subcommittee SC 17, Management systems for food safety, in collaboration with the ISO Committee on conformity assessment (CASCO).

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Certification of the food safety system (FSS) of an organization is one means of providing assurance that the organization has implemented a system for the management of food safety in line with its policy and the internationally accepted principles of food safety.

Requirements for an FSS can originate from a number of sources. This document has been developed to assist in the certification of the organization’s products, processes or services and its FSS, including its management system elements.

This document is intended for use, in combination with ISO/IEC 17065, by bodies that carry out evaluation and certification of products, processes or services including an audit of the FSS. It provides generic requirements for such bodies, who are referred to as “certification bodies”. This wording is not intended to be an obstacle to the use of this document by bodies with other designations that undertake activities covered by the scope of this document.

Certification of an organization’s products, processes or services including an audit of the FSS in accordance with this document can involve a number of activities. Because this document is intended for product certification schemes that include a management system element, these activities involve an audit of the organization’s FSS. The form of attestation of conformity of an organization’s FSS to a specific standard, certification scheme requirements or other specified requirements is normally a certification document or a certificate.

It is for the organization seeking certification to develop its own FSS and related systems according to the scheme requirements. Other than where relevant legislative, customer or certification scheme requirements specify to the contrary, it is for the organization to decide how the various components of these will be arranged. The degree of integration between the various system components will vary from organization to organization. It is therefore appropriate for certification bodies that operate in accordance with this document to take into account the culture and practices of their clients with respect to the integration of their FSS within the wider organization.

This document was developed in conjunction with ISO 22003‑1, which is used in combination with ISO/IEC 17021‑1.

In this document, the following verbal forms are used:

“shall” indicates a requirement;
“should” indicates a recommendation;
“may” indicates a permission;
“can” indicates a possibility or a capability.

1 Scope

This document is supplemental to ISO/IEC 17065. It specifies the rules applicable for the audit of a food safety system (FSS) and certification of products, processes and services complying with requirements of a certification scheme that is based on the internationally accepted principles of food safety (e.g. CODEX General Principles of Food Hygiene^[⁸^]) and includes management system elements.

This document does not apply to certifications that are solely based on product testing (e.g. ISO/IEC 17025) or inspection (e.g. ISO/IEC 17020) and does not apply to ISO/IEC 17065-based food safety schemes that do not include both internationally accepted principles of food safety and management system elements.

It also provides the necessary information and confidence to customers about the way certification of their suppliers has been granted.

Certification of FSS is a third-party conformity assessment activity (as described in ISO/IEC 17000:2020, 4.3) and bodies performing this activity are third-party conformity assessment bodies.

NOTE This document can be used as a criteria document for the accreditation or peer assessment of certification bodies which seek to be recognized as being competent to certify that an organization’s products, processes and services and its FSS comply with the requirements of a certification scheme. It is also intended to be used as a criteria document by regulatory authorities and industry consortia which engage in direct recognition of certification bodies to certify that an organization’s FSS complies with a certification scheme’s requirements. Some of its requirements can also be useful to other parties involved in the conformity assessment of such certification bodies, and in the conformity assessment of bodies that undertake to certify the compliance of an FSS with additional criteria.

FSS certification does not attest to the safety or fitness of the products of an organization within the food chain. However, certification requires an organization to meet all applicable food-safety-related statutory and regulatory requirements through its FSS.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 General requirements

4.1 Legal and contractual matters

4.2 Management of impartiality

4.3 Liability and financing

4.4 Non-discriminatory conditions

4.5 Confidentiality

4.6 Publicly available information

5 Structural requirements

5.1 Organizational structure and top management

5.2 Mechanism for safeguarding impartiality

6 Resource requirements

6.1 Certification body personnel

6.2 Resources for audit

7 Process requirements

7.1 General

7.2 Application

7.3 Application review

7.4 Evaluation

7.5 Review

7.6 Certification decision

7.7 Certification documentation

7.8 Directory of certified products

7.9 Surveillance

7.10 Changes affecting certification

7.11 Termination, reduction, suspension or withdrawal of certification

7.12 Records

7.13 Complaints and appeals

7.14 Special audits

8 Management system requirements

Bibliography

BS ISO 22003-2:2022

Food safety - Requirements for bodies providing evaluation and certification of products, processes and services, including an audit of the food safety system

Current

Published:

30 Jun 2022