GFSI Programs - Frequently Asked Questions

GFSI stands for Global Food Safety Initiative, a global food industry organization that creates and implements a food safety benchmarking framework. The GFSI Guidance Document is revised about once every 3 years.  Once issued, all member Certification Programs (SQF, BRCGS, PrimusGFS, etc.) must be benchmarked against the new version in order to be “recognized” by GFSI.  More details about the GFSI can be found here.

Most schemes have integrated much of the FSMA regulations but there are differences .  Some have put out documents to clarify: 

SQF - see here;  

BRCGS - see here.

Only your company appoints the Practitioner and backup Practitioner to those positions.  The practitioner must:  

1. Be a full-time employee in a position of responsibility for the management of the SQF System. 

2. Complete a HACCP Course. This course does not have to be approved by SQFI, but the practitioner must be competent to implement and maintain the HACCP system. 

3. Understand the SQF Code and the requirements to implement and maintain the site’s SQF System. They can prepare by participating in an SQF training course.  

What are the Training Requirements for an SQF Practioner, backup Practioner and Internal Auditor?   

• For SQF practitioners or backups (as of SQF Ed.9), a company must appoint a backup Practioner) Required: HACCP training, two-day duration and assessed (exam).   An SQF training course is strongly recommended.   We often get the question: do I need to take an exam after training? No, it’s optional. Some companies ask their Practitioner to take the test, which is available on the SQFI website.   

• For Personnel conducting internal audits: Successfully completed the SQF Systems training course and Internal Auditor training. 

Download SQF docs: The Codes, Guidance, Checklists - HERE

Not currently.  A key foundation of these certification processes is the benchmarking of their Code to the GFSI Requirements Document which requires HACCP training.  

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