Hi Folks,
For those referring to GFSI, AIB Consolidated standard is not a GFSI benchmarked standard and therefore the AIB certificate is not typically recognised by GSFI Benchmarked Certification Schemes.
You can see some thoughts on the AIB standard and why it lost some ground in terms of respectability in this topic: Benefits of AIB?
Some comments from members I would recommend:
Post 14 by Marshall
It's been years since I have been audited to an AIB Standard. "Back in the day" (late 90's early 2000's) they were a great resource because they have always been more oriented to what's going on out on the production floor.
My personal take on their auditing scheme is that it is now irrelevant. It's not GFSI approved, and while I guess "useful" for people that are not ready to certificate to a GFSI scheme, it does not seem helpful because they do double count findings.
Also, all the really good auditors that they had years ago have moved on.
Marshall
Post 16 by kfromNE
I worked at a company with AIB but were in the process of becoming SQF certified. The problem, it's a GMP audit and not GFSI audit. We could get by showing we had a AIB audit certificate for our customers but I knew it wasn't going to cut it for very much longer.
You need to do what your customer demands and in the USA at least, that's usually a GFSI audit.
Post 24 by Marshall
I have not been audited against the AIB standard for years, simply because the world has moved on to things like BRCGS or SQF or other like GFSI benchmarked standards.
Back in the day (early to late 90's) AIB audits were (generally) the industry standard, in that they audited the general things that should be audited as a food processor. They were generally more inspection oriented and were light (somewhat) on documentation.
They took a big hit when the whole Peanut Corporation of America recall happened.
Is their Standard and inspection criteria good? I guess, but it's not GFSI approved. Which, today, is really what matters.
Are their auditors any good? Don't know. Again, back in the day the auditors I had were very good, auditing against "their" Standard.
Marshall
Also note that more information than just a certificate is typically required for example SQF Food Safety Code: Food Manufacturing:
2.3.4 Approved Supplier Program (Mandatory)
2.3.4.2 The approved supplier program shall be based on the past performance of a supplier and the risk level of the raw materials, ingredients, processing aids, packaging, and services supplied, and shall contain at a minimum:
i. Agreed specifications (refer to 2.3.2);
ii. Reference to the level of risk applied to raw materials, ingredients, packaging, and services from
the approved supplier;
iii. A summary of the food safety controls implemented by the approved supplier;
iv. Methods for granting approved supplier status;
BRCGS requires you to independently confirm the certificate status and scope of certification.
The whole idea of GFSI benchmarking and FSMS Certification Schemes was to reduce the number of audits so the release of an audit report is not too much to ask, in fact some customers request this as part of the contract. For sensitive information, I would request through the certification body that it is redacted or limited in the full report.
If I’m managing a supplier and you are reluctant to send me your audit report without a reasonable explanation then that would raise my suspicions and I’m far more likely to come and audit you.
Kind regards,
Tony