The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, is now a recognized accreditation body (AB) under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA. The FSMA empowers the FDA to recognize accreditation bodies like ANSI to assess the competence of food safety certification bodies in accordance with the international standard, ISO/IEC 17065, Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes, and services; and pertinent certification scheme requirements.
The scope of ANSI's recognition by the FDA includes:
"ANSI is thrilled to achieve this recognition by the FDA. Third-party accreditation is critical to providing assurance that food safety practices meet essential requirements throughout the global supply chain," said Lane Hallenbeck, ANSI vice president of accreditation services.
In addition to this latest recognition, ANSI accreditation supports those seeking FSMA compliance for both the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) - which requires importers to verify that the food they import meets U.S. safety standards - and the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), a fee-based program that will allow for expedited review and importation for those who achieve and maintain a safe and secure supply chain.
And in May 2017, ANSI reported findings in its final ANSI Gap Analysis Report Voluntary Pilot Program FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Third Party Implementation Report, which was submitted to the FDA.
About ANSI Accreditation for Food Safety
Currently, ANSI has 34 accredited product certification bodies among its food safety accreditations. Through its product certification accreditation programs, ANSI accredits certification bodies that operate a number of certification schemes dedicated to food safety are in accordance with ISO/IEC 17065, General requirements for bodies operating product certification systems.
And from the personnel credentialing perspective, laws in California, Illinois, Arizona, West Virginia, Texas, and New Mexico, as well as some local jurisdictions, require food handlers within their limits to have a food-handling training certificate from an ANSI accredited certificate program, demonstrating compliance with ASTM E2659, Standard Practice for Certificate Programs, an American National Standard (ANS).
Read more about ANSI Accreditation for Food Safety, and watch a brief video to learn how ANSI accreditation provides food safety assurance.
About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org.