Research

A Review of Certification and its Impact on Regulatory Intervention (July 2021)

This paper explores the interplay between regulations and standards, and the value that third-party certification provides as means to ensure that food manufactured into the market in the Netherlands are safe for consumers. It draws on data from the results of audits of industrial food businesses by the regulator against the requirements of National and EU laws, which also records if the business is certified to one of the recognised Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) third-party certification programmes.

The data, which covers 5 years and 15,000 inspection audits, shows that sites operating to 3rdparty management systems perform better than non-certificated sites.