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GFSI working groups bring together volunteer food industry experts from around the world to work on a range of topics that have been prioritised by the GFSI Steering Committee. Their goal is to help GFSI pursue its key objectives of harmonisation and capability building by delivering credible and practical guidelines and insight into strategic food safety issues.

Who is Involved

GFSI Working Groups are composed of experts from retailers, manufacturers, food service operators, service providers, certification programme owners, certification bodies, accreditation bodies, academia, and industry associations. Priority is given to candidates from CGF member companies. However the objective is to form a multi-stakeholder group of experts on a given issue. This strengthens the quality of the groups’ output.

How to Participate

When a new working group is created, calls for participation are made. Applications are open to all and rated against  selection criteria based on the needs of each project. To receive announcements about new groups, please make sure you are following GFSI News, emailings, LinkedIn Group and Twitter feed.

Working Groups

The Group’s Mandate

To provide GFSI with an expert, independent outlook on any science and technology developments that may impact food safety. This network of multi-disciplinary experts acts as an objective and highly transparent source and review of the evidence underpinning GFSI’s strategic priorities, decisions, and
activities. The members of the Group will develop a yearly report for GFSI on their findings and provide interim updates.

The Organising Group’s Members

  • Dave Crean, STRIDE Food R&D Consultancy Ltd. (Chair)
  • Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, Ph.D., University of Georgia
  • Jeffrey Farber, University of Guelph
  • Kaye Burgess, Teagasc Food Research Centre
  • Lise Korsten, University of Pretoria
  • Robert Scharff, Ohio State University

The Group’s Mandate

The purpose of this group is to monitor and enable the transition to the new model for the verification of auditor competence.

The Group’s Members

  • Andrew Baines, Exemplar Global
  • Andrew Clarke, Loblaw
  • Elsabe Matthee, FSSC22000
  • Karen Betts, BRC GS
  • Leann B. Chuboff, SQFI

The Group’s Mandate

The Government-to-Business (G2B) Organising Committee is responsible for the planning and implementation of the 2021 G2B Meeting. The G2B Organising Committee will consider current issues impacting food safety and regulatory oversight and identify subject areas that would benefit from further focused examination. In addition to defining the main thematic areas for discussion, the G2B Organising Committee will also determine the most appropriate means (e.g. workshops, plenaries etc.) to facilitate the dialogue and identify the logistical requirements. You can read the full mandate here.

The Group’s Members

GFSI wishes to thank members of the Stakeholder Advisory Forum (SAF) for its support and dedication. We recognise this investment, in addition to members’ existing workload. 

 In light of the recent Governance related challenges arising from SAF meetings, the GFSI Governance Sub-Committee considered the various governance issues raised, which led to a recommendation to the larger GFSI Steering Committee (SteerCo) that the SAF Working Group be dissolved.

 A GFSI SteerCo Extraordinary Meeting was therefore convened on the 26th of September during which the SteerCo agreed unanimously to the recommended dissolution, with a commitment to create a new Working Group. 

 


The Group’s Mandate

The Stakeholder Advisory Forum’s mandate is to advise the GFSI Steering Committee on amendments to the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements so as to ensure they remain current and aligned with the food safety trends of the market.

The Group’s Mandate

The GFSI Codex Committee was created to contribute to all relevant Codex matters, bringing industry expertise in food safety management systems and regulatory science, advocating a science-based approach and collaborating with the Codex community to drive GFSI’s strategic objectives around harmonisation, capacity building and public-private partnerships. The GFSI Benchmarking Requirements refer to and are based on relevant Codex Alimentarius guidelines, which are internationally recognised references in food safety. Learn more.

Objectives

  • advise the GFSI Board on Codex, IGOs and international standard-setting bodies
  • identify Codex topics with highest impact for the food industry around food safety management systems and accredited third-party certification
  • identify the relevant Codex commissions and topics based on interest for GFSI and potential to be reflected in the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements

Committee Role

  • read texts around the revision of Codex standards, craft and communicate GFSI positions on the revisions
  • coordinate with experts from GFSI working groups, Local Groups and the Stakeholder Advisory Forum to promote harmonisation of Codex and GFSI positions
  • continuously re-evaluate GFSI engagement at Codex and based on respective priorities
  • bring up proactive topics to CODEX as and when needed
  • participate in annual CAC (overarching Codex executive commission) to represent GFSI’s strategic objectives

The Group’s Members

  • Himanshu Gupta, Nestlé (Chair)
  • Sandra Stanley, Southern Tea (Vice-Chair)
  • Isabelle Subiraden Danone
  • Susanne Kettler, Mondelēz
  • Trevor Phister, Pepsico
  • Tom Carrington, Amazon
  • Sunil Adsule, Coca Cola

150+ companies and organisations have collaborated with GFSI in over 30 Technical Working Groups. See some of the finished Technical Working Groups below, and view our Alumni page to see community members who have contributed to GFSI’s working groups over the years.

  • Managing Risk in Produce and Leafy Greens
  • Auditor Training and Professional Development
  • GFSI 2021 Conference Committee
  • Race to the Top Feature 2
  • Expert Panel on ICT in Food Safety Audits
  • Services Provision
  • Pre-Harvest Handling of Terrestrial Animals and Farmed Seafood
  • Chemicals in Food Hygiene
  • Global Markets Programme Primary Production
  • Global Markets Programme Implementation
  • Food Safety Culture
  • GFSI Regional Outreach
  • Global Markets Strategy
  • Food Service Catering Scope
  • Regional Expansion
  • GFSI Benchmarking Requirements V7
  • Auditor Competence
  • Packaging
  • Animal Conversion
  • Retail/Wholesale
  • Storage and Distribution
  • GFSI Guidance Document
  • Global Markets Communication
  • Global Markets Training Framework
  • Global Regulatory Affairs
  • Accreditation Task Force
  • Auditor Competence Scheme Committee
  • Food Brokers/Agents
  • Supply Chain
  • Guidance Document Revision
  • Best Food Safety Practice and Benchmarking
  • Global Markets
  • Communication and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Hygienic Design
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