In 2018, PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08 Food safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain was published. It replaced the existing edition of PN-EN ISO 22000:2006 Food safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain.
The new edition of ISO 22000 is developed using the concept of a High Level Structure. This approach enables full integration with other management system such as ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 or ISO 27001:2017.
The PCBC has accreditation No. AC 019 for the food safety management system certification in accordance with PN-EN ISO 22000: 2018-08.
The transitional period for PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08 began on 30 June, 2019 and was foreseen to be finished by 29 June, 2021.
However, according to the communications published on the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) website https://iaffaq.com/, due to the current situation in the country and in the world, associated with the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and its effects, manifested, inter alia, in the inability to perform planned audits in Organizations, ensuring the continuity of certification and compliance with accreditation requirements, the transition period from PN-EN ISO 22000:2006 to PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08 has been extended for next six months, i.e. until 31 December, 2021. This period concerns the possibility of extending the validity of certificates issued in the area of PN-EN ISO 22000:2006 for another six months and the possibility of postponing surveillance audits covering the transition to the PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08 also by 6 months.
Transition audits (re-certification/surveillance) can be carried out using remote techniques, provided that such audit implementation ensures that the audit objectives are achieved. The decision on remote audit will be made after conducting a risk analysis and assessing the feasibility of conducting a remote assessment of the organization. The implementation of the remote audit depends on the specifics of the Organization and technical conditions, enabling the assessment of all requirements of the PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08, including observation of activities. The rules regarding remote audits apply only during the announced coronavirus pandemic and are to ensure the safety of representatives of the audited Organizations as well as auditors of the PCBC.
All certificates of the Polish Centre for Testing and Certification (PCBC) issued according to PN-EN ISO 22000:2006 will be valid until the end of the transitional period, i.e. until 31 December, 2021, which can be endorsed by the PCBC at the request of the certified Organization.
Organizations wishing to upgrade to the new version of the standard should report this fact to the Polish Centre for Testing and Certification.
In the PCBC, the activities related to the audit of transition to the requirements of PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08 will be carried out during routine surveillance audit (I or II), re-certification audit or special audit.
The duration of the audit will be calculated based on the Customer’s updated data on management system depending on the type of audit during which the Organization will be audited for conformity with requirements of PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08.
To pass the transition audit, Organizations applying PN-EN ISO 22000:2006 should take the following actions:
- To identify differences in the food safety management system to be addressed to meet any new requirements
- To ensure that any new competence needs are met and to aware all parties that may affect the effectiveness of the food safety management system
- To update existing food safety management system to meet new requirements and to ensure verification of its effectiveness (including self-assessment of conformity with requirements),
- To establish contacts with the Polish Centre for Testing and Certification to be prepared for transition to the new version of PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08.
For Customers who want to obtain a food safety management system certificate in accordance with the requirements of PN-EN ISO 22000:2018-08, the PCBC has prepared a relevant application, which can be downloaded from www.pcbc.gov.pl, under “Documents to download” tab or Customers may directly contact the Sales and Training Unit (tel. +48 22 46 45 430, mobile +48 669 454 546; akostrzewa@pcbc.gov.pl).
