Corona Crisis: How to proceed with FSSC 22000 audits

FSSC 22000 published a position in relation to Novel Coronavirus COVID-19. In addition to BRC, the CSM Department created also a work instruction and a waiver document to handle the situation.

The process flow would be as follow:

1. The customer who wants to postpone the re-certification or surveillance audits has to fill in the PART A of the attached document.
2. We will verify it and made a risk based decision.
3. For re-certification it would be possible to extend the certificate validity up to 6 month. The surveillance audits can be postponed by a maximum of 6 month.
4. For extension of the certificate validity a remote assessment is necessary.
5. Remote audit includes:
   • a. Review of the key changes since the last audit e.g. HACCP plans, product recalls and significant complaint levels.
   • b. Status with regard to objectives and key process performance, management review and internal audits;
   • c. Document review of processing records including but not limited to the monitoring and corrective actions linked to OPRPs and CCPs;
   • d. Review of PRP records i.e. hygiene, pest control and maintenance records;
   • e. A traceability test to ensure continued compliance with the Scheme rules;
   • f. Emergency preparedness and response including the impact of the Corona virus on the supply chain of the organization and the potential impact on resources
6. The audit duration for the remote-audit shall be appropriate to the complexity of the site and sufficient to adequately cover these aspects.
7. If significant issues are identified, the validity of the certificate cannot be extended.
8. The audit report FSSC 22000 version 4.1 has to be used to extend the V4.1 Certificate.
9. The audit has to be uploaded in the database as “special audit”.
10. After approval in the database, a new certificate can be issued.

Note: The remote- audit will not replace the re-certification audit. The audit time of the re-certification audit cannot be reduced.

Mrs. Brautlecht from CSM Department is in contact with FSSC to clarify, if it is possible to perform parts the surveillance audits as remote-audits. She will inform you asap, as information from FSSC arrives.

If you have further question, please do not hesitate to contact Elke Brautlecht, Certification Scheme Manager Food / Feed TÜV NORD CERT GmbH, in Hannover.

Phone: +49 511/ 9986 2516

Fax: +49 511/ 9986 2555

Cell Phone: +49 160/ 888 6641

eMail: ebrautlecht@tuev-nord.de