Version 6 of FSSC 22000 was published on1 April 2023.

The standard can be found here (Scheme Version 6): Version 6.0 - FSSC 

FSSC has also published a standard with the changes in a different colour. This document is only available in English.

Deadlines

• Version 6 audits are mandatory from 1 April 2024. Audits according to V 5.1 must take place up to and including the audit date of 31 March 2024. The first audit day is decisive.
• For every organisation certified today, a version 6 audit must be carried out by 31 March 2025 at the latest. If this cannot be met, then FSSC will automatically withdraw the current V 5.1 certificate on 31 May 2025, without exception.
• The audit cycle remains the same. The audit type changes for surveillance audits: these are designated as upgrade audits. No generally additional audit time needs to be scheduled for an upgrade audit. However, due to the adjusted calculation by FSSC, there will be general adjustments to the audit duration (see below). After successful completion of the upgrade audit, a new certificate to version 6 is issued, the certificate validity remains unchanged.
• For unannounced audits with an audit time window that includes 1 April 2024, the following rules apply: the audit time window will either be set to 1 January 2024 - 31 March 2024 (V 5.1 audit) or then from 1 April with a V 6 audit.

New requirements

The following requirments have been integrated into new additional requirements FSSC:

• Food safety and quality culture
• Quality control
• Equipment management (Hygienic Design)
• Food loss and waste
• Communication requirements

A number of additions have been made to the existing additional requirements. 

Increase in costs

With the new additional requirements, FSSC has decided to increase the audit duration by 4 h for each audit type. In addition, the time to be charged for the preparation of the audit report including the management of non-conformities has been set at a mandatory 8 hours.

With version 6, the basis for the audit time calculation as well as for the categories is now based on the ISO 22003-1:2022 standard published in 2022. The parameters for calculating the audit time are the number of HACCP studies and the number of full-time employees. 

Clients with central processes

For organisations with central processes, it must be ensured that the central processes are also audited in accordance with V 6 if not all audits at the sites are completed before 31.03.2024. If the central audit of an organisation takes place before 31.03.2023, this will be based on version V5.1. After 01.04.2023, a central audit must then be carried out on the new contents of version 6. The scope of this audit is defined by ProCert. 

Webinars

We conduct webinars for the new version, with our Training Partner Progress Excellence. This will provide you with the specific information you need to implement the new requirements. FSSC will also publish various documents on its website in the coming weeks to support you in interpreting and implementing the new requirements. You can also subscribe to the FSSC newsletter directly Contact - FSSC 

FSSC 24000 Social Responsibility

FSSC aims to set a new standard in the field of social sustainability with FSSC 24000. You can find more information here: Deliver trust and impact in global social responsibility with FSSC 24000 - FSSC  FSSC 24000 is based on PAS 24000. If you are interested, please contact us. 

COID number

Certified Organization Identification Codes (COIDs) are now implemented to maintain the traceability of certified organizations within the FSSC Assurance Platform and the industry.  The COID is a unique code allocated to every (certified) organization that is registered in the Assurance Platform.  The COID stays with the organization to ensure traceability, also in the event of a transfer.   This COID is available for FSSC 22000 certified organizations on the FSSC public register.  The COID code will be included on the FSSC 22000 certificate.  Existing FSSC 22000 certificates will therefore be updated and re-issued to include the COID code, following the next audit that is due in 2023. 

This COID number is recorded in the footer of the certificate. Existing FSSC 22000 certificates will be updated and reissued after the next audit performed.

FSSC On-Site

FSSC has developed a new digital solution which they present here: Discover FSSC On-Site - FSSC   This service is of interest to groups, but unlikely to be of interest to individual companies. In the future, you as a customer will also have access to your data. The conditions as well as the date are not yet fixed.