Hi Maja,
The criteria outlined in your raw material risk assessment are a good guide and don't really need to refer to suppliers at this stage but be used as a general risk assessment.
An appropriate scoring system is needed, you could use a similar scoring system to BRCGC certification grading criteria where you use your score as a guide but a single score of 9 would be regarded as major/critical and makes the raw material high risk. Grading A to E where a is low risk and E is very high risk.
Supplier approval and monitoring is all tied in with this so I wouldn’t worry too much about them being there in the control measures at the moment, they can move along and come under a column title 3.5.1.2 Supplier Approval and Monitoring and 3.5.1.3 Ongoing monitoring
* What does need to be added in are some aspects supplier assessment which will be largely based on your raw material assessment but will include other factors such as history of supply, location and any previous incidents regarding supply, non-conformances, rejections etc. From 3.5.1.1 Raw material risk assessment guidance:
Identification of the actual level of risk often requires the company to consider several factors; for example:
…
• nature of the supplier
• historical evidence of the supplier and raw material
• geographic origins (products from particular origins may carry a greater risk due to environmental conditions, because of more relaxed local legal requirements or a less developed food safety culture)
….
I have posted other relevant bits of guidance from BRCGS below.
3.5.1 Management of suppliers of raw materials and packaging
3.5.1.1 Raw material risk assessment
The aim of this clause is to ensure the potential risks to product safety, authenticity, legality and quality that could result from specific raw materials, have been identified, and where necessary mitigation measures put in place, for example, by adding controls into:
• supplier approval and purchasing processes
• goods receipt controls and product testing
• the food safety plan (HACCP) or specific parts of the food safety and quality management
systems.
3.5.1.2 Documented supplier approval and monitoring system
The acceptable methods of supplier approval will depend on the raw material and the risks associated with it (e.g. the output of clause 3.5.1.1). They will include one or more of the following activities:
- Certification to the relevant BRCGS Standard, ….; or another of the GFSI-benchmarked schemes… etc.
- A successful site audit covers at a minimum product safety, traceability, HACCP, product security and the food defence plan …. product authenticity and good manufacturing processes….etc.
- Where risk assessment (completed as part of this clause) indicates that a supplier is low
risk …. the completion of a supplier questionnaire with a focus on food safety and quality may be sufficient… etc.
3.5.1.3 Ongoing monitoring
As a guide, typical criteria may include:
• known risks associated with the raw material or supplier
• supplier approach to emerging concerns
• incidences of contamination or non-conforming raw materials
• quality of material supplied.
3.5.2 Raw material and packaging acceptance, monitoring and management procedures
3.5.2.1 The company shall have a procedure for the acceptance of raw materials and primary packaging on receipt based upon the risk assessment (clause 3.5.1.1).
Kind regards,
Tony