FSMA Fridays: Foreign Supplier Verification Program (Part Two Of Four)

Check out the entire webcast or read Part One of this series

In Part One of FSMA Fridays: Foreign Supplier Verification Program, SafetyChain Software’s VP of Marketing, Jill Bender was joined by The Acheson Group’s (TAG) Senior Food Safety Manger, Christopher Snabes, to discuss FSMA’s Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP). Here, in Part Two, the duo continues their conversation.

Jill: I know there are a lot of misnomers and/or misconceptions on this rule your team is seeing. Can you share some of those with us?

Christopher: There are many brokers who are importer record, who do not understand the rule in general. They need to understand that they have to either be a qualified individual QI) or use a QI to perform the various FSVP tasks that are required for each food ingredient; not just each supplier.

The importer can take an FSVP course as developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance and recognized by the FDA to assist in becoming a QI. It's highly recommended and The Acheson Group (TAG) offers the course for training, but it’s not required. Another item, in particular is the hazard analysis. The hazard analysis needs to be completed, and in many cases, the broker or the importer has little to no microbiological or science based background in food safety. Many times, they have little understanding of what a preventive control is, how it's validated, verified, and why it's important in improving a foreign supplier, which is a key step of FSVP rule.