How does a company start down the path to GFSI recognized Certification  There are different answers to this question that depend on your companies current food safety management system.
Do you have a management system in place? Are you using HACCP now? If the answer to either one of these is yes, you will have a head start on the project. But lets talk about how to approach the project if the answer to these questions is no. (If either answer was yes, you can modify this plan to account for what you already have in place) This is one way to approach the project:

Recommended Steps to Certification

1. The first key step is for management to recognize the need for a Food Safety Management System. This is critical to having management commitment. Without management commitment you will not have a successful project. Management will need to provide resources as well as playing a key role in the development of the system.
2. Top Management designates a Practitioner or Food Safety Team Leader, this person will be the project leader or project manager for the implementation. The Food Safety Team Leader and Top Management make up the “Steering Team” that will lead the project. Top management will identify and document the members of this team.
3. Gather resources:  Download or purchase the standard that you will be using.
4. The Food Safety Team Leader schedules and coordinates a Steering Team Meeting to determine the scope of the FSMS. All applicable regulatory, statutory and customer requirements will also be identified.
5. The Steering Team will meet to determine the makeup of the Food Safety Team or HACCP Team. Detailed consideration will be given to the necessary qualifications and training for an effective team. Team members will be identified. If expertise is not available internally, the steering team will determine how to bring in the expertise or resources needed.
6. The Steering Team will establish a time line and resources for the project.
7. The Steering Team will identify the responsibilities of The HACCP or Food Safety Team. This team will play a large role in development of the system, with most of their efforts related to the Hazard Analysis, HACCP plan and related items.
8. The Steering Team will designate teams to design and document the remaining processes required by the standard.  For example, a document control team can evaluate the current process, compare to the requirements of the standard and design and document the new process.
9. The Steering Team puts together a list of team members and a time line for each of these teams.
10. The Steering Team established the Food Safety Policy and objectives, along with a communication plan.
11. The Food Safety Management Team starts on the Hazard Analysis, Prerequisite Programs and HACCP Plan.
12. The Steering Team documents a process for Management Review and coordinates the development of an organizational chart and job descriptions.
13. As each team completes a new procedure, they submit it to the Steering Team for review and approval.
14. The Steering Team meets on a regular basis to watch the time line and review procedures.
15. The Steering Team will select a Registrar.
16. As the system nears completion, the Steering Team coordinates employee training on the standard, GMPs and the new system as well as the training of an internal audit team.
17. As the new processes are put in place, the internal audits and management review meetings can begin.
18. The Food Safety Team leader will coordinate with the Registrar to schedule a Registration Audit. The timing for this audit will be approximately 3 months after the system is complete, so that sufficient records will be available to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system. At least one cycle of internal audits and management review will be completed before the audit.

Project Leaders
The different standards have different titles for the lead role in the implementation team and management system. For SQF you will have an SQF Practitioner, for BRC a HACCP Team Leader and for FSSC 22000 you will need a Food Safety Team Leader. The roles are similar, all have responsibilities for leading the implementation, for maintaining the effectiveness of the system and leading a HACCP or Food Safety Team.
It is important for the leader and team to have required training. It is also important that management and employees understand what certification means, and their role in complying with the requirements of the system.
Plan a training program for:

1. The Team Leader (SQF Practitioner, HACCP Team Leader or Food Safety Team Leader)
2. The Team (HACCP Team or Food Safety Team)
3. Management
4. Employees
5. Internal Auditors

HACCP plays a large role in all of the food safety management systems: SQF, BRC and FSSC 22000. This means that if your company already has HACCP in place you are one step closer to certification to one of these systems. But what if your organization is not using HACCP and not familiar with it?
A good knowledge of HACCP will be required for implementing your Food Safety Management System. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. It is a system where the food manufacturer or handler identifies the potential hazards that can be introduced while the food is in the production process or in the care of the organization, and determines how those hazards can be eliminated. For example, if there is a point in production where a bacterial contamination can be introduced? That point becomes a critical control point. You will identify what controls can be implemented at that point to eliminate the hazard. Is it a temperature that must be reached at that stage of production? You will identify the required temperature, state how you will monitor it and what you will do if that temperature is not reached.
To start understanding HACCP, understand the principles that it is based on. You will not need to build a HACCP system before implementing a food safety management system, the requirements will be included in the system.
HACCP is based on seven principles:
1. Conduct a Hazard Analysis:
This is where you evaluate your processes and identify where hazards can be introduced. Hazards can be physical (i.e. metal contamination), chemical (i.e. can a cleaning product contaminate the product, are there toxins that could contaminate the product?) or biological (at what points could bacteria or virus contaminate your product?). You will need to make sure that you have the expertise to make an accurate evaluation of the hazards. This means that if you do not have sufficient expertise in your organization you will need to identify external resources that you can use to perform the hazard analysis.
2. Identify the Critical Control Points
At what steps in your process can controls be applied to prevent or eliminate the hazards that have been identified? These are your critical control points.   For each critical control point you will identify the preventive
measure. How will you prevent the hazard?: Use of specific Temperature,
ph, time, procedures?
3. Establish Critical Limits
Your next step is to establish criteria for each critical control point. What criteria must be met to control the hazard at that point? Is it a minimum temperature? Are there regulatory limits that you must meet for this control point?
4. Establish Monitoring Procedures
What will you measure and how will you measure it? You need to monitor the process at the critical control point and keep records to show that the critical limits have been met. Can you do continuous monitoring of the control point? If not, how often will the measurements need to be performed to show that the process is under control?
5. Establish Corrective Actions
You will establish what actions need to be taken if a critical limit is not met. This will be identified ahead of time for each CCP. The action must make sure that no unsafe product is released. There must also be an evaluation of the process to determine the cause of the problem and an elimination of the cause.
6. Establish Record Keeping Procedures
You will determine what records are needed to show that the critical limits have been met, and the system is in control. Address regulatory requirements and include records from the development of the system and the operation of the system.
7. Establish Verification Procedures
The HACCP plan must be validated. Once the plan is in place, make sure it is effective in preventing the hazards identified. Test the end product, verify that the controls are working as planned. Perform ongoing verification of the system. Are measuring and monitoring equipment in control? What are corrective actions showing? Are records being maintained as required?
HACCP is built into the Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS). You will find that you are building a HACCP system as part of your FSMS.