GFSI, the Global Food Safety Initiative, is a benchmarking organisation that evaluates and recognises food safety certification schemes such as BRCGS, IFS Food and FSSC 22000 against common requirements, enabling buyers to accept any recognised scheme without requiring multiple separate audits.
In trade practice
When a buyer’s supplier approval procedure states that a GFSI-recognised certificate is required, the supplier may present any scheme that GFSI has benchmarked, provided the scope covers the relevant product and process. Procurement and QA teams should check that the certificate is current, issued by an accredited body and covers the correct category. ISO 22000 alone is not GFSI-recognised; FSSC 22000, which builds on it, is. Buyers can verify which schemes are currently benchmarked through the GFSI website.
In a specification
Supplier approval forms and quality agreements typically state that a valid certificate from a GFSI-recognised scheme is required, with the scope and expiry date to be provided and updated at each renewal.