Global Import & Export Safety

A few years ago, an article on “GFSI” would have required a detailed explanation and background on what it is. Today, the acronym GFSI is an industry buzzword, and is even better known than its full name (Global Food Safety Initiative). Additionally, it is not only considered to be key to import and export safety, but it is seen as a concrete way of preparing for many components of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Like FSMA, GFSI standards are risk based, and, as IFS Director of Marketing and Business Development George Gansner said, “by getting certified, you will have a much better chance of meeting those regulations.”

Even with its status as a buzzword, however, there is a great deal of misinformation, misuse of nomenclature, and misunderstanding about GFSI and its schemes, Gansner said. “There are a lot of people who think they get it but really don’t.” It’s a bit like the game of telephone played by children, he added. One person whispers a sentence or phrase to a second person, then it passes on whispers around a group. But by the time it gets through the chain, the information is skewed and often completely unrecognizable from its origination. Pass-along information on GFSI, particularly that of its standards and benchmarked schemes is similar, with even the phrasing of schemes and standards often used incorrectly.

If asked, most of us would say, “Sure, I know what GFSI is.” But if asked to provide detail, many of us could provide only a generalized thought, then hem and haw on the particulars. In fact, a thread on the forum of the International Food Safety & Quality Network (www.ifsqn.com/forum) is titled “BRC? IFS? ISO22000? GFSI? Confusion!” The discussion revolves around what all the acronyms really mean and their relationship to one another. It is for this reason, Gansner said, that businesses need to ensure they have accurate information before selecting a scheme and beginning a GFSI program.

Selecting a GFSI Scheme. “The greatest advice I would have is to call the scheme owner and ask them about it yourself,” he said. Don’t simply rely on what you are seeing as the most “popular” scheme, as this varies depending on the geographic location of your plants and of your suppliers and customers, who may ask that you have a specific scheme based on that which is most used in their part of the world.

For example, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) scheme is the most “popular” in England; in Europe, IFS Food is the leader; and in North America, it is Safe Quality Food (SQF) – with the acronyms, again, being much more recognizable than the schemes’ full names. And there are still other GFSI-benchmarked schemes, some of which are specific to industry segments, including CanadaGAP, FSSC 22000 Food Products, Global Aquaculture Alliance Seafood Processing Standard, GLOBALG.A.P., Global Red Meat Standard (GRMS), and PrimusGFS.

It is never a good idea to select a scheme for your business simply because of its popularity, Gansner said, but if a majority of your customers are in a geographic location that requires a specific scheme, that just may be the best one for you. Thus, he said, “You need to understand your business model and where you are selling.”

GFSI-benchmarked schemes are alike in that they are all benchmarked to the same standards; however, no two schemes are exactly alike. Some are only or primarily food safety based, others have quality components. Some tell you what to do and how to do it, others enable you to manage it to fit your business. All require corrective action, but they vary in the requirements on timing and process of making those corrective actions.

The Value of Certification. Regardless of the scheme a business selects, being certified to the GFSI standards has been proven to reduce recalls, and that fact can be a significant factor in bringing senior management on board. In discussion with businesses, Gansner said that he has found that this is considered to be a business driver. “Senior managers couldn’t care less about GFSI, but they agreed that the single largest thing you can do to ruin your business is have recalls.”

Management acceptance is important because any company that is looking to implement a GFSI scheme needs to make sure it has buy-in from senior management to ensure that the entire code and certification can be implemented, said Nancy Post, director of technical services for dry mustard miller G.S. Dunn, which is based in Hamilton, Canada. “This means group participation from the entire business and adequate resources,” she said.

G.S. Dunn exports product to customers in 52 countries on six continents, including the U.S. and Canada. Earlier this year, the company was certified to Level 3 SQF, which includes a quality component. “GFSI provides us a standard that gives us a solid quality management program and assists in addressing quality requirements from various countries,” Post said.

“With the Food Safety Modernization Act in the U.S. and new changes to food regulations in Canada, there will be an increased focus on quality systems and quality measurables and procedures,” she said. Additionally, implementing GFSI gives G.S. Dunn the confidence that its export business will remain viable, continuing its export of safe and wholesome products, Post said.

It is also important that businesses realize that getting certified to GFSI is not a quick or easy task regardless of the chosen scheme. Early in the process, the G.S. Dunn team attended a presentation on the differences between major GFSI schemes, Post said, “so we could make a wise choice on which standards to follow for our company. We wanted to combine our ISO 9001:2008 certification and HACCP certification, to allow for a single audit to cover all aspects of our quality management system.” Then, she added, “we took 18 months to review, upgrade, analyze, discuss, and revise our procedures prior to a pre-assessment audit,” and the staff spent hundreds of hours on preparation work.

While such an internal system can be critical in keeping your exports safe, it is just as important to keep your imports safe, which can mean ensuring that your suppliers, domestic as well as foreign, are also certified to the GFSI standard—as is being required by more and more retailers. All your providers are part of the food supply chain, Gansner said, and with FSMA’s proposed Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) rule, all will be responsible for controlling hazards and will be held liable for any infractions or food safety issues.

Gansner expects that the implementation of GFSI schemes will continue to build, with progressive companies being proactive, although a significant portion will most likely wait until it is required. But, Gansner said, “importers and exporters really need to take a hard look at how they manage their systems and how they certify their systems.” Having GFSI certification not only ensures that a business has a better process in place, it also can be an important sales tool to open doors to new business, both foreign and domestic.

Lupo is editor of QA magazine and can be reached at llupo@gie.net. Angus-Lee is a business journalist who conducted the interview with G.S. Dunn; she can be reached at heather@heatheranguslee.com.