Questions for Packaging Supplier Approval Questionnaire

As part of a Food Safety Plan I am developing for a client, with an eventual BRC audit, I am making a Packaging Supplier Approval Questionnaire. These are the questions I've written so far. Does anybody have any criticisms?

 

Do you have a third-party Audit Certificate for your facility listed above?                  Yes  No  

          If yes, please attach a copy.

Do you practice current Good Manufacturing Practices?                                 Yes  No

Do you provide Certificates of Conformance?                                              Yes  No  

Do you use a lot number/coding system?                                                   Yes  No  

          If yes, please attach a copy of your lot code explanation key.  

Do you have a Recall and Traceability Plan?                                                         Yes  No  

          If yes, please attach a copy of your last traceability exercise result.     

Do you have a Pest Control program?                                                        Yes  No

Will you inform [Company Name] of any changes to specifications?                        Yes  No

Do you have a Customer Complaint program?                                            Yes  No

 

 

Thanks

Would it be worth asking for some HACCP verification dependant on accreditation status? When setting up supplier approval for a previous employer, for any suppliers that didn't have GFSI benchmarked accreditation I requested from them a copy of their flow and/or CCP table. BRC clause 3.5.1.2 mentions HACCP review within the scope for supplier audits or questionnaire.

Hi Hank,

 

Attached are examples of what we send out to suppliers. One is a letter explaining what we are looking for and the other is the form we ask to be completed.

Hello Hank,

 

I have a supplier packaging declaration form for our suppliers. Besides general info (address, contact details, contact in case of emergency), the main question is : Are you certified against a GSFI standard? (if yes, please send me a copy); Then I want to know if they are manufacturer, broker or wholesaler with storage and distribution. In case they are not the manufacturer, they have to let me know the name of the manufacturer (also BRC requirement). Then I have some questions about Food Defense and Food fraud in their company (we are also IFS certified);

 

BRC (3.5.2.1) says that in case you are using a questionnaire to approve the supplier, you can only use it if the supplier is low risk and is for initial approval, so not if he is your supplier for a long time. As suppliers of direct contact packaging material are high risk, they all have to be GSFI approved and then you don't need the questionnaire.

 

I used the requerements of BRC standards for packaging for manufacturers, brokers and wholesalers to make 3 different questionnaires for the 3 categories of possible suppliers. 

As a food packaging supplier we are happy to answer our customer questionnaires, what does annoy though is asking if we have BRC (IOP) of other GFSI scheme then going on to repeat the requirements of BRC over 8 pages of questions. read through your questions once you have decided on them, ask what isn't covered by the requirements of the standards then if they have BRC or other allow them to go to questionnaire sign off. Wasting a morning answering questions which need not be asked when we have BRC is annoying.  

PolystarMark, I have to say that I agree with you. I also receive customer questionnaires where first I'm asked if we have any certification, yes we have IFS and BRC Food, and later I get questions about traceability, food defense, if the packaging material complies with the EU legislation, if we have storage facilities to comply with the product requirement. And what I find most strange is that although most of them have IFS Broker and should ask for certificates of the packaging material, nobody is asking for them.

I fully agree with the comments above - if a site has made the effort and investment to meet a known standard and gain certification, it shows lack of understanding when a customer then asks simplified versions of the same things covered in the certification. The correct way to structure the questionnaire is:

 

1. if you have a GFSI benchmarked certification, please indicate the reference number and attache a certificate. Do not complete the remainder of the questionnaire.

 

2. If you do not have a GFSI benchmarked certification, answer all of the following questions.

 

        Now add the questions you designed above.

I agree with the above also, no need to answer questions regarding items of compliance included in your GFSI Certification, that makes no sense. However, In the USA, there are also regulatory issues we need to be informed of: CONEG, California Proposition 65, Bisphenol A & S and 21 CFR FDA to name a few. Then there's Recycled content, Ink Coatings and optical brighteners banned from food packaging materials we need to know about. It really depends on your specific operations and products. I switched everything to "Yes" and "No" questions with live check boxes so they can open the document and click their answer. It took our Assessment Form from taking 30-45 minutes to about 5 - 10. I received comments when they were returned about how much easier it was to fill out the questionnaire. Also, the ones that dragged their feet the most started returning the form much sooner which made my job a lot easier and I didn't have to chase them around to get them to return it. Once I looked at it from the supplier's point of view, I saw why they wouldn't want to fill out a 9 page form if they weren't certified to a GFSI standard so I made it as simple as possible for them. Hope some of this helps :)

I agree there is no need to repeat GFSI requirements if the supplier is already certified. However, if they are not certified, I would suggest adding details on what you expect in terms of GMP compliance. Do you expect them to wear hair nets or is a cap acceptable, for instance. Otherwise their idea of compliance may differ significantly from yours. But focus on the types of things that are most significant so you do not burden them with an overly lengthy questionnaire.

Thanks guys.  Our intent was to only send out the questionnaire to suppliers who had already indicated that they had no certification, but I think I will implement the ("if yes, just send it and forget about the rest of the questions") bit.  That way they could see a benefit to getting certificated; reducing time spent filling out questionnaires. 

Hi Hank,

 

Attached are examples of what we send out to suppliers. One is a letter explaining what we are looking for and the other is the form we ask to be completed.

 

Hi PieGuy,

 

Thks for the attachments which just viewed. Some good thoughts.

PieGuy191-Do you mind if I modify and use this for our facility? Not a problem if you do, I appreciate your help!

Kugo123 - Just saw your reply.  Please feel free to modify and use.