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Supplier Approval and Monitoring Process under SFCR

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arahman

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Posted 13 August 2019 - 03:55 PM

Hello Everyone!

 

I am back on this site after 3 years in the NHP, Narcotic, Precursor industry.

Glad to see this site is as helpful as before!

 

Hoping someone may help or direct me to a link which may help me convince my current company to have a Supplier Approval and Monitoring Process under SFCR.(Safe Food for Canadians Regulations)

 

We are a finished product importer and products always come in packaged sealed containers (tomato soup, protein powder, coffee, etc)

 

Under SFCR I can only see Supplier Approval and Monitoring being used as Preventive Control and not a necessary step.

I see value on having a separate Supplier Food Safety Assurance Program.

 

Anyone familiar with SFCR, please let me know if you can help:)

 

Cheers

 

Anika



LesleySR

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 01:14 PM

Hi Anika

 

I am replying to your question because, although I don't have specific knowledge of SFCR I appreciate your frustration when trying to convince senior management team of the necessity of something, especially where it might require some human or financial resource.

 

I'm assuming you're not BRC accredited - a shame as BRC V8 has implemented a specific new element (9.0) to manage approval & performance of manufacturers of traded food products?.  I believe SFCR has a key requirement for preventative control plan (PCP) which involves knowing the product & knowing the supplier?...

 

https://www.inspecti...8/1467924360253

 

Without full approval of your suppliers it would be difficult to write this PCP?...although your products may be sealed on arrival, if you don't have confidence in your supplier (supplier approval) you don't know what sort of risks there may be at their manufacturing site? and I agree with your position because preventing an issue is quicker/safer/cheaper than responding to an incident.

 

UK legislation is very clear on this - the importer has the responsibility of ensuring that the supplier is complying with all relevant legislation in the country of sale (UK) & is subject to prosecution if there is a food safety incident.

 

I believe Canada has similar regulations (CCPSA) and consequences can be quite severe, so a quick search on the net of historic recalls of imported foodstuffs (and the consequences) is usually sufficient to "focus" the minds of the team on the level of risk & hopefully convince those concerned of the need to do this!.

 

It shouldn't take long to set this up, even approval via 3rd party GFSI audit status (?) or completion of a detailed supplier assurance questionnaire (SAQ) would provide a good starting point?...

 

Best of luck!!


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arahman

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 02:02 PM

Hi Lesley,

 

Thank you for your response! Previous Food Company I used to work with 3 years back had BRC and I worked with BRC for 3 years so I understand the importance of Supplier Control. the previous company was in food manufacturing. The current one is food importer and they have everything under 'low risk' even allergens which I think is a little too convenient.

Would you mind taking a look at the draft SOP I created for Supplier Approval Monitoring?

It's very basic and hoping it should help with SFCR preventive control(one of several).

 

The Links helps! Thanks :spoton:

I was also thinking of a supplier approval list based on this below:

Supplier Name

Address

Co-packer

Supplier Agreement

Supplier Licence and/or Certification

Expiry Date

Co-packer  Licence and/or Certification

Vendor Quality Questionnaire(if not a GFSI  recognized certification scheme)

Supplier Traceability System

Specification

COA

Allergen

Country of Origin

Intended End User

Vulnerability Assessment(Based on Product Form, End User and Country of Origin)

Risk Level

 



arahman

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 02:03 PM

heres the attachment  :helpplease:

Attached Files



majoy

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 07:18 PM

Hello Everyone!

 

I am back on this site after 3 years in the NHP, Narcotic, Precursor industry.

Glad to see this site is as helpful as before!

 

Hoping someone may help or direct me to a link which may help me convince my current company to have a Supplier Approval and Monitoring Process under SFCR.(Safe Food for Canadians Regulations)

 

We are a finished product importer and products always come in packaged sealed containers (tomato soup, protein powder, coffee, etc)

 

Under SFCR I can only see Supplier Approval and Monitoring being used as Preventive Control and not a necessary step.

I see value on having a separate Supplier Food Safety Assurance Program.

 

Anyone familiar with SFCR, please let me know if you can help:)

 

Cheers

 

Anika

 

When you go to the interactive tool for licensing of SFCR, and chose importer of food (other food - based on the products you mentioned), SFCR license is required for July 2020, including PCP, preventive controls and traceability.

 

A PCP for importer includes a foreign supplier controls and procedures. Without a proper supplier approval and monitoring process in place, you will not meet this requirement. The good news is, you have time to convince your management and to prepare your preventive control plan before July 2020.

 

link below:

http://inspection.gc...4/1480084519065


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arahman

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Posted 23 August 2019 - 05:28 PM

When you go to the interactive tool for licensing of SFCR, and chose importer of food (other food - based on the products you mentioned), SFCR license is required for July 2020, including PCP, preventive controls and traceability.

 

A PCP for importer includes a foreign supplier controls and procedures. Without a proper supplier approval and monitoring process in place, you will not meet this requirement. The good news is, you have time to convince your management and to prepare your preventive control plan before July 2020.

 

link below:

http://inspection.gc...4/1480084519065

Silly question but US would be considered a foreign supplier though right?

 

Would you add non-food chemicals, wood pallets providers as part of the supplier list?

 

We have a separate list for vendors which includes pest control providers, third party labs, temperature monitoring company and some others.

 

Thank you so much!!



majoy

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Posted 23 August 2019 - 07:19 PM

Yes, for us US is a foreign supplier.

 

I have a separate approved chemical list and maintain it. Contractors, service providers are also on another list.

 

Generally, my supplier list includes food, food packaging and processing aids.


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arahman

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Posted 29 August 2019 - 02:09 PM

Thank you all. I think i am getting a head-way into convincing management.

Half the time i think the job is to try to convince people I am not making up work for them because I want to.



arahman

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Posted 05 December 2019 - 08:43 PM

Update:

we had our first CFIA audit since getting out SFCR licence.

 

They focused on  

 

Import Control

Traceability Control &

Complaints

 

and mainly for Infant Formula due to recent recalls/complaints for 3PL client.

 

It went well but I was rather surprised the inspector, did not know that there are separate GMP guidelines for Infant Formula and now did she seem to know a whole lot about GFSI recognized schemes.

 

My bench mark for approving food suppliers was GFSI recognized schemes but she mentioned we should verify their HACCP plan ourselves and/or audit them ourselves.

I understand a lot of the times a certificate is just a piece of paper and and nothing will beat an on-site audit but we are 'low' risk.we are an importer distributor of finished packaged product.

 

Anyways, it was a learning process for both her and us and looking forward to more audits for SFCR

 





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