COVID-19 Updates

Food Safety Certification

This page will be updated for the following services:

  • BRC
  • GLOBALG.AP
  • FSSC 22000
  • IFS
  • SQF
  • Proterra
  • United States Hemp Authority

Latest updates as of 4-29-20

At this time, all audits are proceeding as planned. We are following all Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Government guidelines regarding travel, and International Accreditation Forum (IAF) procedures for management of extraordinary events or circumstances affecting certified organizations.

Currently there are no travel restrictions in the areas our Certification Team serves, but we are continually monitoring guidance directives from the Government and the CDC and will update our audit schedules based on any new directives from them.

FoodChain ID Certification’s auditor pool only conducts audits within North America; Almost all of our auditors are based in the United States and we have a few in Canada. None have been auditing outside the United States and Canada.

April 28 th  – The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) has released for public consultation the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the completion of audits. Once officially published, this would allow the Certification Program Owners (CPOs) the ability to develop and implement strategy and protocols for the completion of remote audits which would take the place of the traditional on-site food safety certification audit. The requirements include provisions for the use of ICT for the program review, record review and interview portion of the audit, with an on-site physical inspection and verification of implementation of programs still required within a defined amount of time. Comments are required to be submitted to GFSI by May 4 th . You can find more details on the public release and use of ICT here .

How we will continue to be of service

FoodChain ID is working with standard owners and customers to ensure validity of certificates continues. We are also committed to being as flexible as possible as it relates to your needs including:

  • Conducting of audits – where possible and allowable, we are still conducting on-site audits, where there is no risk to team member or customer.
  • Remote auditing – where possible and allowable, we are conducting remote audits, with on-site inspection to occur at a later date.
  • Certificate extensions – when possible and allowable, we are extending certificates 3-4 months, depending on standard owner requirements.
  • Fees – cancellation fees for modification of audit schedule are waived until further notice . So will management fees for the extension of any audit certificate.
  • Scheduling – If you need to re-schedule an audit we will be as flexible as possible to conduct your audit as it is safely possible to do so.

Click on the name of the Standard you are interested in receiving additional updates for below. If clicking the name does not work, we have no current updates.