Auditing/Verification of Food Control Plans (FCPs) and National Programmes (NP) - how the process works
Before we visit
We familiarise ourselves with your Food Safety Management Programme (Food Control Plan/National Programme) before we come on site to conduct your verification (audit).
We customise our verification checklist for your business, so you're not asked to do things that aren't applicable to your situation.
Your on-site verification
The FCP/NP verification involves us assessing the food handling practices in place. So we observe what you are actually doing to manage food safety against your written procedures.
We also review your completed food safety management programme records, discuss any discrepancies, and assign verification outcomes. These are discussed with you so that there are no surprises in the verification report.
After your verification
We send you a full verification report. This gives you clear information on any actions required to meet the food safety management programme requirements.
We keep in touch to make sure you're on track to address any issues in a timely manner.
On completion of the verification corrective actions, we provide you with a cleared verification report.
We also issue you with a certificate (other than for one-off National Programe 1 verifications) that can be displayed in your premises, or provided to key customers. This certificate provides evidence that you have successfully completed your regulatory verification process, and demonstrates your ongoing compliance with your food safety requirements.
Not sure how to gain regulatory approval of your FCP/NP?
The Ministry for PrimaryIndustries (MPI) provides helpful information about your options. See -