One of the most important aspects that underline food quality is its recognition amongst stakeholders. The recognition mentioned is due to norms that describe the food product; these norms are used as standard references in product certification processes by independent Certification Bodies.
4. Certification
At its simplest, conformity assessment means checking that products, materials, services, systems or people measure up to the specifications of a relevant standard. For example, a customer may check that the product ordered from a supplier meets the purpose for which it is required. One of the most efficient ways to do this is when the specifications of the product have been defined in an International Standard. That way, both supplier and customer are on the same wavelength, even if they are based in different countries, because they are both using the same references.
The Importance of Product Certification
Today, many products require testing for conformance with specifications or compliance with safety or other regulations before they are put in the market. Even simple products may require supporting technical documentation that includes test data. It isn ‟ t always practical for these activities to be carried out by suppliers and customers, and so often specialized third parties get involved. In addition, national legislation may require such testing to be carried out by independent bodies, particularly when the products have health or environmental implications. In fact, conformity assessment has become an important component of world trade and it ‟ s often carried out by specialist organizations, such as inspection and certification bodies and testing laboratories.
Objectives of Product Certification:
1. to address the needs of consumers, users and, more generally, all interested parties by giving confidence regarding fulfilment of specified requirements.
2. to allow suppliers to demonstrate to the market that their products have been attested to fulfil specified requirements by an impartial third party body.
3. toprovide confidence for those with have an interest in fulfilment of requirements, and sufficient value so that suppliers can effectively market products.
Schemes of Product Certification
Certification schemes for agricultural and food products provide assurance( through a certification mechanism) that certain characteristics or attributes of the product or its production method or system, laid down in specifications, have been observed. They cover a wide range of different initiatives that work at different stages of the food supply chain( preor post-farm gate; covering all or part of the food supply chain; affecting all sectors or just one market segment, etc). They can operate at the business-to-business( B2B) level where the supermarket or processing business is the intended final recipient of the information, or at a business-to-consumer( B2C) level. They can use logos although many, especially the B2B schemes, don ‟ t do it.
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