Procedure for applying for HACCP certification
1、 Enterprise application stage
Firstly, when applying for HACCP certification, enterprises must pay attention to selecting a third-party certification agency recognized by the country, with qualifications and senior professional background, in order to ensure the authority and effectiveness of the certification, and to ensure that the certification results are connected with the official verification system of the product consumer country. In China, certification and accreditation work is uniformly managed by the National Certification and Accreditation Administration, and its subsidiary body, the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS), is responsible for the implementation of HACCP certification body accreditation work. In other words, enterprises should choose certification bodies recognized by CNAS to engage in HACCP certification work.
The certification agency will evaluate the certification application form, documentation, and audit basis agreed upon by both parties provided by the applicant. The certification agency will decide to accept the application of the enterprise based on its own professional resources and the scope of audit business authorized by CNAB, and sign a certification contract with the applicant.
After the certification agency accepts the application of the enterprise, the applicant enterprise should submit procedural documents and materials related to the HACCP system, such as hazard analysis, HACCP plan, scientific basis for determining CCP points, factory floor plan, production process flow diagram, workshop layout diagram, etc. The applicant should also declare that they have fully implemented the HACCP system. The certification agency has a confidentiality responsibility for all materials and information provided and imparted by the enterprise. The certification fee will be charged according to the standards established by CNAB based on the scale of the enterprise, the variety of certified products, technology, safety risks, and the number of people and days required for the audit.
2、 Certification review stage
After accepting the application, the certification body will determine an audit team and conduct initial visits and audits of the applicant's HACCP system according to the proposed audit plan. Given the technical depth of the HACCP system audit, the audit team usually includes professional auditors who are familiar with the production of the audited products. Professional auditors are those who have a specific background in food production and processing and are engaged in food safety system certification based on HACCP. When necessary, the audit team will also hire technical experts to provide technical guidance for the audit process. The food safety consultant hired by the applicant can participate in the review process as an observer.
The review process of the HACCP system is usually divided into two stages. The first stage is to conduct a document review, including SSOP plan, GMP program, employee training plan, equipment maintenance plan, HACCP plan, etc. The review at this stage generally needs to be conducted on-site at the applicant's site, in order for the review team to collect more necessary information. The audit team will conduct an independent hazard analysis based on the collected information, and on this basis, reach a consensus with the applicant on the critical control point (CCP) judgment perspective. The audit team will listen to feedback from the applicant on relevant information and reach an agreement with the applicant on the details of the second stage of the audit. The second stage of the audit must be conducted on-site by the auditing party. The audit team will mainly evaluate the suitability, compliance, and effectiveness of the HACCP system, GMP, or SSOP. Special attention will be paid to the monitoring, corrective measures, verification, training and education of monitoring personnel for CCP, as well as whether the system can consciously conduct hazard analysis and effectively control when new hazards arise.
After the on-site audit is completed, the audit team will submit a non conformance report to the applicant based on the audit situation. The applicant should take effective corrective measures within the specified time and close the non conformance after verification by the audit team. At the same time, the audit team will submit the final audit results to the certification agency for certification decision, and the certification agency will issue a certification certificate to the applicant.
3、 Certificate retention stage
Considering that HACCP is a security control system, the validity period of its certification certificate is usually up to one year. The certified enterprise should ensure the continuous operation of the HACCP system during the validity period of the certificate, and must also undergo supervision and review by the certification agency at least once every six months. If the licensee makes significant changes to their HACCP based food safety system during the validity period of the certificate, they should notify the certification body, and the certification body will increase the frequency of supervision and certification or arrange for a review as appropriate.
4、 Reexamination and certificate renewal stage
The certification agency will arrange a system review before the expiration of the HACCP certificate of the certified enterprise, and through the review, the certification agency will issue a new certification certificate to the certified enterprise.
In addition, according to regulations and customer requirements, during the validity period of the certificate, the certified party may also accept official and customer verification of the HACCP system.