WHAT DOES IT COVER
The Standard is designed to assist packaging manufacturers and converters to adopt good manufacturing practices and supporting quality management systems to develop and manufacture safe, legal packaging materials meeting their customer’s quality requirements.
The standard is applicable to manufacturers producing packaging materials for food and consumer products. The packaging industry is divided into specific product technologies and auditors are trained to have knowledge and experience of the particular technologies in order to be registered.
The sectors are:
The Standard recognises 2 levels of hygiene risk depending on the end use of the packaging materials for instance direct food contact is the highest level and will fall into the high hygiene risk category, while non-food packaging will fall into the low hygiene risk category. The requirements of the standard are itemised separately depending upon the level.
The standard consists of 6 chapters all of which are applicable:
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Senior Management Commitment and Continual Improvement - for any packaging quality management system to be effective it is essential that the factory management are fully committed to its application.
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Hazard and Risk Management System - the basis for the program is an effective Hazard and Risk Assessment which is based on the principles from the internationally recognised Codex Alimentarius system
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Technical Management Systems - sets out requirements for the technical management of product quality and hygiene practices building upon the principles of ISO 9000. This includes requirements for product specifications, supplier monitoring, traceability, and the management of incidents and product recalls.
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Site Standards - defining expectations for the production environment including the layout and maintenance of the buildings and equipment, cleaning, pest control and waste management.
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Product and Process Control - including requirements at the product design and development stage, process control and product inspection and testing. This includes a specific section on managing foreign body and chemical controls.
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Personnel - requirements for the training of staff and expectations on protective clothing and personnel hygiene.