With the initiating of Global Travel in the modern 21st century has reached unprecedented levels. More quantities of food are being transported between borders more than ever in history, the whole logistical scenario has evolved and with that in mind, the ISO 22000 standard is starting to undergo changes in its essential clauses so that it can assimilate and acclimate to the rapidly developing global climate.
After almost a decade of good performance in establishing the framework for creating all sorts of food management system, ISO 22000 is being revamped down its core so that it can be brought up to date with new safety requirements of today. The working group made out of various international entities has been placed in charge of the revision, where the secretariat will be held by the Danish Standard Foundation, which is ISO’s member for Denmark. The fourth meeting of the International Group was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and several had come up for discussion.
The new draft is currently at the committee draft stage where it is being deliberated on by those who are in the Danish Standard Foundation about what all comments, out of 1000 that were given. This was the agenda of the Buenos Aires meeting, and also to clarify what all needs to be integrated into the document. Some of these new concepts are:
1. The Application of the High-Level Structure into the ISO 22000, a mandatory inclusion when drafting a new management system standard or revising an existing one. This makes it easier for businesses to assimilate more than one management system standards.
2. The concept of risk in a different context can mean a different thing, hence, it was decided to clearly distinguish between hazard assessment occurring at the operational level, the famous Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, and that of business risk.
3.The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) is one of the important elements in the new revision and there will be two new cycles that will be intertwined with another. Both of them will be taking into account the management system and the HACCP Principles.
4.To distinguish between Critical Control Points, Prerequisite Programmes, and Operational Prerequisite Programmes.
ISO has recognized that in order to prevent any incidents of food contamination, there need to be proper checks and key elements in the standard which will take into account every possible outcome and incidents that could happen in every step of the food chain; therefore, the standard has incorporated several new key elements that will make a substantial change:
- Synchronized Communication in every level of the food chain.
- A concise and systematic method to governing management.
- Prerequisite Programmes
- Several HACCP Principles
A food safety hazard can happen at any stage of the food supply chain, and it is absolutely essential that there need to be checked at every stage of the process. This means that there should also exist clear-cut communication that will not deter the fluidity of the processor cause any hazard to occur by identifying and removing it then and there. Therefore, there needs to be clarity and co-operation at every level, from production, manufacturing, storage, transportation, contractors, and to the retailers.
All those who have convened in Buenos Aires had concluded that a second round of the Committee Draft is required to create a more inclusive, mature and comprehensive document that will serve the interests of every player who has a stake here in the revised version of the standard. The Group has to ensure that the final document conceived is one that is able to relay all the fundamental concepts in the barest and simplest of terms so that it will be implemented at any stage of the food chain.
The next such meeting will occur in Copenhagen, Denmark in between 14-16 of June 2016. All the interest will have their representative sent over there and there will be an attempt to come to a unanimous decision.
