Traded Products Policy
Part of Food Industry Hub’s FSQMS Policies and Procedures Suite.
The Traded Products Policy forms part of the Food Industry Hub FSQMS Policies and Procedures Suite.
It establishes the governance position for products that are not manufactured on site but are purchased, stored, distributed or sold by the organisation. Where traded products fall within scope, the policy requires them to be managed to the same standards of food safety, quality, legality and authenticity as products manufactured internally.
The policy brings traded products within the Food Safety and Quality Management System and sets the principles for supplier approval and monitoring, product specifications, labelling and claims, traceability, complaints and incident management. Its application is conditional: it applies only where the organisation engages in trading products that are not manufactured on site.
Govern traded products within the FSQMS
The policy provides a defined governance framework for traded-product activities across the supply chain. It requires traded products to be sourced from approved suppliers operating effective food safety and quality controls, and requires applicable statutory, regulatory and customer requirements to be met.
Product specifications must be defined, approved and maintained, while product specifications, labelling and claims are verified and controlled. Traceability is maintained throughout the traded-product supply chain, and systems are required for complaints, incidents, withdrawals and recalls involving traded products.
Apply risk-based supplier oversight and defined product controls
Supplier approval and monitoring arrangements for traded products are required to be risk-based and documented. The policy also requires the performance and compliance of traded-product suppliers to be monitored and reviewed.
These controls build on the organisation’s baseline supplier approval, traceability and incident-management systems. This keeps the traded-product framework connected to established FSQMS controls while recognising the additional governance needed when manufacture takes place outside the site.
Place accountability at the appropriate level
Senior management determines whether traded products are within the organisation’s activities, provides the human, financial and technical resources needed to manage them, approves the governance framework and reviews traded-product performance, risks and incidents through management review.
Management and supervisory staff implement the applicable controls, maintain supplier, specification and traceability arrangements, manage complaints, incidents and non-conformities, and escalate risks or failures that may affect food safety, legality or authenticity. Employees involved in traded-product activities are required to follow the relevant procedures and controls, report integrity or compliance concerns, and support traceability, recall and investigation activity when required.
Connect policy commitments with supporting procedures
Detailed requirements are developed through documented procedures covering traded-product approval, supplier monitoring, labelling and claims control, traceability, complaints handling and incident management. Where applicable, those procedures build upon and extend the organisation’s baseline arrangements for supplier approval, traceability and product recall.
For technical and management teams, the policy provides the governing position for bringing externally manufactured products into the FSQMS with defined responsibilities, risk-based supplier oversight and controlled product information, traceability and incident response.