New Wal-Mart food-safety initiative catches suppliers off guard
New Wal-Mart food-safety initiative catches suppliers off guard
The nation's largest retailer has announced that its suppliers of produce, other perishables and private-label products must be certified against the international Global Food Safety Initiative standards by July 2009.
In a press release, Wal-Mart declared that it would require suppliers to complete "initial certification between July and December of 2008, with full certification required by July 2009." The press release added that "audits will be completed by approved third-party auditing companies."
The Global Food Safety Initiative, which was launched in May 2000, includes seven international retailers that have agreed on a common list of food- safety programs. The initiative requires food suppliers to achieve factory audit certification against one of its recognized standards, which include Safe Quality Food, British Retail Consortium and International Food Standard or an equivalent such as Global-GAP, which is the successor of EUREPGAP.
J.P. Suarez, Wal-Mart's senior vice president and chief compliance officer, and a board member of the Global Food Safety Initiative, said, "The requirement for suppliers to complete these certifications demonstrates our leadership in food safety and our commitment to global safety standards. Food safety has always been a top priority at Wal-Mart. We are taking this additional step to ensure the integrity of our products throughout the entire food supply chain. We encourage other U.S. retailers to follow our lead and to also endorse these standards."
A survey of some leading produce companies that do business with Wal-Mart revealed that while they had heard of the new imitative, it came through the media rather than through any direct contact with Wal-Mart.
One representative of a California vegetable producer that does business with several Wal-Mart distribution centers but wished to remain anonymous said, "We've heard about it, but we don't know anything about it and don't know what it means."
A fruit producer with multi-state operations who does business with many Wal-Mart divisions echoed those sentiments.
"I read about it on-line this morning and I can tell you that the Wal-Mart buyers don't know anything about it," the individual, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Produce News Feb. 6.
A third supplier was taking a wait-and-see attitude. "We haven't been officially informed of anything."
Hank Giclas, vice president of science and technology for Western Growers Association, said Feb. 6 that he was in Salinas the previous day talking about the initiative with a number of Wal-Mart suppliers.
"Most people seemed to have heard about it but from news reports rather than from Wal-Mart," said Mr. Giclas. "Personally, I have not read those specific standards and will have to study them before I could say just how difficult it will be for any supplier to comply. With that said, I will tell you that the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement standards are equal to or superior to any food-safety standards that exist."
Mr. Giclas said that any supplier in compliance with those standards should be able to pass the GSFI food-safety standards. He also said that many U.S. shippers now export to Europe, so they are probably already in compliance with those standards.
However, Mr. Giclas cautioned that some of the European standards also have other provisions with regard to the environment and other societal problems that are outside the realm of food safety.
One of the unnamed produce suppliers said that the bigger issue is not the ability to pass the GSFI standard, but just the fact that it adds to what shippers are already doing.
Representatives for the supply side said that grower-shippers would like one standard that all buyers can accept so that an individual farm needs to only go through one audit rather than many for its various customers.
This was the same issue that surfaced several months ago when six large buying operations, including Publix Supermarkets, the Disney Co. and Wal- Mart, released their own set of food-safety standards under the guise of the Food Safety Leadership Council, and indicated that audits would be forthcoming against this set of standards.
Shipper representatives are currently in discussions with this group as growers have indicated that some of the FSLC standards are impossible to meet.
In a press release, Wal-Mart declared that it would require suppliers to complete "initial certification between July and December of 2008, with full certification required by July 2009." The press release added that "audits will be completed by approved third-party auditing companies."
The Global Food Safety Initiative, which was launched in May 2000, includes seven international retailers that have agreed on a common list of food- safety programs. The initiative requires food suppliers to achieve factory audit certification against one of its recognized standards, which include Safe Quality Food, British Retail Consortium and International Food Standard or an equivalent such as Global-GAP, which is the successor of EUREPGAP.
J.P. Suarez, Wal-Mart's senior vice president and chief compliance officer, and a board member of the Global Food Safety Initiative, said, "The requirement for suppliers to complete these certifications demonstrates our leadership in food safety and our commitment to global safety standards. Food safety has always been a top priority at Wal-Mart. We are taking this additional step to ensure the integrity of our products throughout the entire food supply chain. We encourage other U.S. retailers to follow our lead and to also endorse these standards."
A survey of some leading produce companies that do business with Wal-Mart revealed that while they had heard of the new imitative, it came through the media rather than through any direct contact with Wal-Mart.
One representative of a California vegetable producer that does business with several Wal-Mart distribution centers but wished to remain anonymous said, "We've heard about it, but we don't know anything about it and don't know what it means."
A fruit producer with multi-state operations who does business with many Wal-Mart divisions echoed those sentiments.
"I read about it on-line this morning and I can tell you that the Wal-Mart buyers don't know anything about it," the individual, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Produce News Feb. 6.
A third supplier was taking a wait-and-see attitude. "We haven't been officially informed of anything."
Hank Giclas, vice president of science and technology for Western Growers Association, said Feb. 6 that he was in Salinas the previous day talking about the initiative with a number of Wal-Mart suppliers.
"Most people seemed to have heard about it but from news reports rather than from Wal-Mart," said Mr. Giclas. "Personally, I have not read those specific standards and will have to study them before I could say just how difficult it will be for any supplier to comply. With that said, I will tell you that the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement standards are equal to or superior to any food-safety standards that exist."
Mr. Giclas said that any supplier in compliance with those standards should be able to pass the GSFI food-safety standards. He also said that many U.S. shippers now export to Europe, so they are probably already in compliance with those standards.
However, Mr. Giclas cautioned that some of the European standards also have other provisions with regard to the environment and other societal problems that are outside the realm of food safety.
One of the unnamed produce suppliers said that the bigger issue is not the ability to pass the GSFI standard, but just the fact that it adds to what shippers are already doing.
Representatives for the supply side said that grower-shippers would like one standard that all buyers can accept so that an individual farm needs to only go through one audit rather than many for its various customers.
This was the same issue that surfaced several months ago when six large buying operations, including Publix Supermarkets, the Disney Co. and Wal- Mart, released their own set of food-safety standards under the guise of the Food Safety Leadership Council, and indicated that audits would be forthcoming against this set of standards.
Shipper representatives are currently in discussions with this group as growers have indicated that some of the FSLC standards are impossible to meet.
