Changes in the testing systems as well as laboratory accreditation were the focus at the meeting of the Fachbeirats Obst, Gemüse, Kartoffeln on September 28, 2015.
Unannounced checks for wholesale companies and producers
Starting next year, checks at wholesale companies will occur unannounced. Companies have a choice, whether the review occurs in the form of an unannounced or an announced system audit. In the second case, the announced system audit will take place in addition to an unannounced spot audit that focuses on the production processes.
Starting in 2016, unannounced audits will happen as well in production companies certified after the Standard Erzeugung Obst, Gemüse, Kartoffeln. With this, in the future the same procedure will apply as the QS-GAP certified companies: in addition to the announced system audits, in 10% of companies unannounced spot audits will be carried out.
Stricter rules for laboratory accreditation
Starting on January 1, 2016, changes will be carried out in the assessment system for laboratory competencies and laboratory certification. With the revised rating system, errors and the frequency of errors are more quickly responded to with a change in the allocation of points. In addition, laboratories with a lower score will be submitted to checks more frequently.
Further revisions to the manual Erzeugung/QS-GAP, Großhandel/Logistik und Rückstandsmonitoring were decided on. For the actual publishing of the manual at the end of the year, a suggestion phase will take place, like in previous years. From mid October 2015, the revised manual can be read at www.q-s.de, and suggestions and proposals can be offered through an online form.