SQF Fundamentals Verification Assessment

SQFI offers two options for small manufacturers:  

• SQF Fundamentals Certification  
• SQF Fundamentals Verification Assessment (FVA)  

	SQF Fundamentals Certification	SQF FVA
Type	On-site Audit	Remote Assessment
Duration	1 Day	0.5 Day
Audit Report	Yes	Yes
Certification	Yes	No

Operators who meet the definition of a Qualified facility according to US 21 CFR 117.3 are eligible for the SQF Fundamentals Verification Assessment; paraphrased here;  

A Qualified facility means the collective sales of the business entity to which the facility is associated as a sole operating site, or as a subsidiary or an affiliate to, is a very small business, where ‘very small business” means a business (including any subsidiaries and affiliates) averaging less than $1,000,000 USD in US market value, [or the equivalent local market value for sites located outside of the US] per year on average over the prior three years in sales including the value of human food held in inventory without sale, and is subject to 21 CFR 117.201 Modified requirements that apply to a qualified facility; or to which both of the following apply:  

1. During the 3-year period preceding the applicable calendar year, the average annual monetary value of the food produced for sale that is sold directly to consumers (not businesses) or to local food-service establishments, exceeded the average annual monetary value of the food sold by such facility to all other purchasers; and  
2. The average annual monetary value of all food sold during the 3-year period preceding the applicable calendar year was less than $500,000 USD, adjusted for inflation. 

At a minimum, you would need to supply the following:

• Product and process descriptions.
• Documented food safety risks and control measures.  
• Process flow charts, facility map, sanitation procedures, pest control procedures, regulatory inspection report issue in the past 24 months where applicable (federal, state, or local reports), and the associated corrective actions, (remote audits included). 
• Evidence of corrective measures such as pictures, work orders, and documents and records corrective action evidence if applicable.  
• and qualifications of the person responsible for the food safety plans.  

No, this program is not a certification and does not satisfy requirements for onsite audits such as SQF Fundamentals Certification or SQF Food Safety Code GFSI Benchmarked Certification.   

Our FVA demonstrates your site’s capacity to identify, correct, and control any risks to food safety in the facility as documented in the required self-assessment. The verification provides a basis for initial qualification for supplier approval by your customers who accept the SQF FVA program.  

Upon successful completion of the process, you will receive a Verification Declaration that you can supply to your customer who accepts it, which your customer can validate by contacting EAGLE Certification Group.

This program assesses readiness against the SQF Fundamentals Basic or Intermediate checklist and standard, which includes expectations regarding GMPs, risk assessment, and preventive controls. Contact your customer’s supplier management representative to inquire if your facility qualifies to use the program for initial supplier approval according to their supplier qualification program Supplier must indicate on the application form which level they wish to be assessed against, basic or intermediate. 

An onsite audit is not required to achieve the SQF Fundamentals Verification Declaration. The assessment, approximately five hours long, is completed remotely using a virtual meeting platform, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, and live stream connection through your mobile device. 

If you’ve already established your written food safety plan and procedures, completed a thorough internal audit and corrected any issues, you can schedule your assessment. We recommend calling to schedule several weeks in advance so you can receive your SQF Fundamentals Verification Declaration about 60 days later, taking into account time required to correct any major issues that arise during the remote assessment. 

A major non-conformance would be cited for conditions or practices that pose a direct threat to food safety and has a moderate to high likelihood to cause a food-borne illness or injury from chemical, physical, or microbiological hazard. The assessor may also issue a major non-conformance if there are several minor issues that do not pose a direct threat to food safety, but that add up to indicate a failure to properly identify and implement management practices necessary to maintain food safety. 

Depending on the issue, different kinds of objective evidence are appropriate for demonstrating corrective action. Here are some examples: 

• A revised procedure may be sufficient to demonstrate you understand the requirements. Other issues may require you to submit photographs of a corrected area of the process or facility. Records demonstrating a process change may be appropriate for a corrected process monitoring.  
• You might provide email communications or training records as evidence of communication of requirements to employees, accompanied by a record showing you observed the new practices being conducted by the employee.  
• Work orders, quotes, and contracts for work or materials required for correcting a physical issue may be provided to demonstrate action being taken.  

Depending on the assessment level chosen, Basic or Intermediate, the assessor will evaluate the site accordingly. Suppose the site applies for Intermediate level but only meets Basic level expectations. In that case, the assessor may issue a Declaration in favor of Basic but will provide information on the areas for improvement required for the site to achieve Intermediate level. If the site can correct the areas within thirty days satisfactorily, the assessor may issue the Declaration in favor of the Intermediate level. 

If your self-assessment does not demonstrate the ability to identify and control food safety risks required according to the assessment level requested, or you are not able to effectively correct issues identified, the Verification Declaration will not be issued. However, you would be responsible to pay program fee to the CB associated with the work conducted in the process. A site may apply again at any time as new applicant.  

Your customer may request you engage a consultant to improve the operations practices or may require an onsite customer audit if your SQF Fundamentals Verification Assessment results indicate a higher risk level that necessitates an in-person visit. This would be scheduled as a separate event, whether a simple surveillance visit to check GMP or even a GFSI-level certification if your customer requires it. These activities would be voluntary and not required by SQF or the CB as part of the SQF Fundamentals Verification Assessment process.