Traded Products HACCP Procedure

Use a separate plan or incorporate traded products into an existing plan

Where a separate plan is used, it relates specifically to the traded products and the processes for which the site is responsible in relation to them. The HACCP Food Safety Team assesses those products and processes using the site’s established HACCP methodology, while Technical / Quality Management maintains the plan as controlled HACCP documentation.

Where traded products are incorporated into an existing HACCP or food safety plan, Technical / Quality Management adds the products and relevant site-responsible processes to the plan’s product and process scope. The HACCP Food Safety Team then includes them within the food safety assessment performed under that existing plan. The procedure preserves a clear distinction between the two routes while requiring traded-product coverage to be demonstrated.

Make product and process scope explicit

Technical / Quality Management is responsible for ensuring that the applicable HACCP or food safety plan scope is defined, documented and kept up to date. The scope identifies the traded products handled on site and all processes for which the site is responsible in relation to them, with goods receipt, storage and dispatch included as a minimum.

When traded products or site-responsible processes change, the applicable scope is reviewed and updated. If a required traded product or process is not included, the procedure requires the scope to be updated before the HACCP or food safety plan is relied upon for that product or process. This makes the boundary of the food safety assessment a controlled part of traded-product HACCP rather than an assumption.

Keep hazard assessment tied to the applicable HACCP arrangements

The HACCP Food Safety Team is responsible for assessing the food safety hazards associated with traded products and the processes for which the site is responsible. For a separate plan, the team applies the site’s established HACCP methodology; for incorporated traded products, it performs the assessment within the existing plan.

Hazard identification and analysis itself remains governed by the HACCP – Hazard Identification & Analysis Procedure. The Traded Products HACCP Procedure therefore defines how traded products enter the site’s HACCP or food safety planning arrangements without replacing the wider methodology used to identify and analyse hazards.

Keep traded-product inclusion demonstrable in controlled documentation

Technical / Quality Management maintains the applicable HACCP or food safety plan and supporting HACCP documentation so that inclusion of the traded products and the applicable product and process scope can be demonstrated. HACCP documentation and related records are maintained under the HACCP Documentation & Record-Keeping Procedure, while approval, issue, amendment, version control and withdrawal are governed by the Document Control Procedure.

This documentation requirement works directly with the scope controls: where the applicable plan does not demonstrate inclusion of the required traded products or processes, the scope must be reviewed and updated before the plan is relied upon for the affected product or process.

Allocate responsibility across management and the HACCP Food Safety Team

Senior Management provides the resources and organisational support needed to implement and maintain HACCP or food safety plans covering traded products. Technical / Quality Management is responsible for defining, maintaining and updating plan scope and supporting documentation. The HACCP Food Safety Team determines whether traded products are covered through a separate or existing plan and performs the relevant food safety assessment.

Employees are required to comply with the procedure where their activities support or affect traded-product HACCP or food safety plan implementation. Personnel involved in assessing, reviewing, maintaining, implementing or updating these controls must also receive training appropriate to their involvement, with training delivery and records managed through the Training & Competence Procedure.

A traded-product HACCP procedure within the wider FSQMS

Within the wider Suite, this procedure connects traded-product control with HACCP team and scope management, hazard identification and analysis, HACCP documentation and record-keeping, document control and training. Its specific role is to ensure that traded products handled on site, and the processes for which the site is responsible, are clearly and demonstrably included within the applicable food safety planning arrangements.