The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation staff will lead a discussion focused on the Internet of Things (IoT)'s influence on accreditation at the Global Food Safety Initiative's (GFSI) Global Food Safety Conference on Thursday, March 8, in Tokyo, Japan. The event, from March 5 to 8, focuses on collaborative efforts to advance food safety management systems around the world.
The Tech Talk session will provide an overview of ANSI accreditation of product certification bodies and its relevance to the food industry. ANSI's Reinaldo Figueiredo, senior program director, and Nora Moudiyne-Schweninger, accreditation specialist, will underscore importance of IoT technology, and its impact on the accreditation process.
As an example, remote assessment tools such as augmented reality (AR) and wearable technology are set to have lasting impact on how industries assess the competencies of conformity assessment bodies, including testing, inspection, and certification bodies.
ANSI staff joins over 1,200 delegates from 50 countries - a record number for this conference - with experts representing various sections of the food industry, including multinationals and SMEs, retailers and manufacturers, research labs, and regulatory agencies. Attendees were welcomed with a video message from the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, who positioned the conference as a natural expression of Japan's longstanding safeguards for food safety.
GFSI, which is powered by The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global industry network working to support Better Lives Through Better Business, recently announced the latest version of the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements (Version 7.2), which defines the process by which food safety certification programs may gain recognition by GFSI.
The development of the requirements was undertaken by GFSI and a special task force made up of representatives from GFSI's recognized Certification Program Owners (CPOs), accreditation bodies, certification bodies, and industryincluding ANSI's Reinaldo Figueiredo. For more information and to download a copy, please head to the Benchmarking section of the GFSI website.
Read more about the Global Food Safety Conference, on GFSI's website.
About ANSI Accreditation
ANSI Accreditation provides assurance that standards, goods, and services meet essential requirements throughout the global supply chain - engendering consumer trust and fostering competitiveness. Increasingly, procurement authorities, government agencies, and program/scheme owners are specifying accreditation in order to demonstrate the technical competence and impartiality of conformance services and processes. These assessments enhance confidence between buyers and sellers as they mitigate risk.
ANSI Accreditation for Food Safety
ANSI accreditation helps assure quality and safety of food products, systems, services, and personnel. Food safety scheme owners rely on ANSI accreditation to foster consumer confidence. And state and local governments rely upon ANSI accreditation to demonstrate the qualifications of food safety handlers.