GFSI does not provide food safety certification, rather we recognise a number of certification programmes that meet the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements. Retailers and other buyers around the world trust GFSI-recognised certification as a mark of the highest standards in food safety, allowing food businesses that hold these certificates to access all corners of the global market.
In order to achieve GFSI-recognised certification, companies must successfully undergo third-party audit against a programme operated by a GFSI-recognised CPO. To select a suitable Certification Programme, companies may consult our Recognised CPO module, select the industry scope to which they belong and visit the Certification Programmes’ website for more information about gaining certification with them.
Accreditation refers to the process by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition of the competence of a certification body to provide certification services. One of GFSI key requirements is that Certification Bodies working with GFSI-recognised Certification Programmes are accredited against ISO/IEC 17065 or ISO/IEC 17021. These standards both address issues such as preventing conflicts of interest, managing customer information and qualifying personnel. In addition, the Certification Bodies must be assessed by Accreditation Bodies members of IAF and signatories of the IAF MLA. This provides a proven framework of checks and balances that significantly improves the rigour and consistency of the audit and certification process.