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Qu a l i t y A s s u r a n c e .
Fr om f a rm t o s h o p .
QS – Report 2012
Outlook 2013
Cooperations and agreements with
other standard owners
Those involved in the supply chain must be able to
rely on one another, even across national frontiers.
QS has concluded
fourteen bilateral agreements
with
other European standard owners. These contribute
towards the reliable availability of products with the
QS certification mark in the German food market.
With recognition of the Irish “Beef and Lamb Quality
Assurance Scheme (BLQAS)”, the first international
agreement in the field of beef production was
signed in 2012. Since then, companies certified in
accordance with the Bord Bia standard have the
opportunity to market beef in the QS scheme. They
do not require a separate QS audit for this but
become QS scheme participants.
The agreement between QS and Belpork vzw as
the standard owner of the Belgian Certus test mark
which has existed since 2004 was extended by a
further year in 2012. In addition to the inclusion
of livestock transport and the establishment of
antibiotics monitoring for all pig farming businesses
in the Certus scheme, it was agreed that from the
Carsten Knodt
Vegetable Grower
Every year since 2006, I have been subjected to a QS-GAP
audit in which the QS criteria as well as the requirements of
the GlobalG.A.P standard are checked in one audit so that I can
deliver my goods into both schemes.
Microbiological Monitoring
Since January 2012, QS-certified producers of fresh-
cut salads and other prepared fruit and vegetable
products have been implementing microbiological
monitoring in line with the provisions of the
Guideline
Preparation
.
The purpose of this is to recognise
and eliminate where possible the contamination
with pathogenic microorganisms of products which
are particularly susceptible due to their many cut
surfaces.
A database module is being set up in the QS scheme
to centrally record and evaluate the results of the
product tests. Specific hazards can be recognised
and critical products identified on the basis of the
evaluation results. This enables the generation
of fast and comprehensive information which is
particularly helpful in times of crisis.
Other requirements are formulated in the
Guideline
Preparation
in addition to the obligation to
implement microbiological monitoring. These deal
with the HACCP concept, for example, as well as
personal and equipment hygiene and product
packaging.
Scheme participants receive assistance with the
implementation of the requirements formulated in
the
Guideline Preparation
through the
Supporting
Document Microbiology
which provides an overview
of the microorganisms relevant to fruit and
vegetables and gives tips on sampling and how to
reduce microorganisms.