FDA Recognizes Second Accreditation Body under FSMA

The Food and Drug Administration reports that American National Standards Institute is the second accreditation body to be recognized under the Accredited Third-Party Certification Program.

FDA-recognized accreditation bodies will have the authority to accredit third-party certification bodies, also known as third-party auditors, that can conduct food safety audits and issue certifications of foreign food facilities (including farms) and the human and animal foods they produce. Such certifications can be used by importers to establish eligibility for participation in the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program. In addition, while the FDA does not generally require certification as a condition of entry, in certain circumstances it can require certification of imported products or the facilities that produce them, typically to prevent the entry of a potentially harmful food.

According to the FDA, ANSI is being recognized as having the authority to accredit certification bodies with the ability to conduct food safety audits as they pertain to the following regulations: current good manufacturing practice; hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for human food; standards for the growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce for human consumption; hazard analysis and critical control point systems (juice HACCP); and fish and fishery products (seafood HACCP).