FMCG Security Legislation & Guidelines
Legislation & Guidelines
Legislation & guidelines to safeguard FMCGs from the threat of terrorism.
Legislation & guidelines to safeguard FMCGs from the threat of terrorism.
Few comprehensive initiatives have been implemented to secure the UK food supply chain from deliberate attack. The following provides details of FMCG security legislation and guidelines to help implement processes to minimise the risks associated with a potential terrorist attack or deliberate food contamination.
Examples of FMCG Security Legislation & Guidelines
The European Commission
The European Commission’s Green Paper on Bio-Preparednes
The European Commission’s Green Paper on Bio-Preparedness highlights efforts for reducing biological risks and enhancing preparedness and response with regard to the food supply chain.
TACCP
Threat Assessment Critical Control Points
TACCP was developed to defend against intentional contamination.
The PAS 96:2017 Guide to protecting and defending food and drink from deliberate attack is the first standard to holistically address potential threats and mitigation of deliberate attacks on a food system, process or product.
Food safety management systems are focused on the prevention of accidental contamination. However a deliberate attack on your organisation, operation, process or product may bypass food safety protocols – getting past even the most rigorous systems. PAS 96 covers deliberate attacks and addresses specific threats including:
Read More on TACCP
- Extortion
- Malicious contamination
- Cybercrime
- Espionage
- Economically motivated adulteration
- Counterfeiting
TACCP methodology is used to:
- Identify potential types of threats and attackers
- Prioritise threats to be addressed
- Determine critical controls required to mitigate threats
- Add rigour to incident response strategies to strengthen food protection arrangements
TACCP should be used by food organisations as a part of a broad risk management strategy to:
- Reduce the likelihood of a deliberate attack
- Reduce the impact of an attack on your food business
- Reassure stakeholders about the safety of your production and supply chain
Certification to PAS 96:2017 will demonstrate an organisations commitment to a preventative, risk-based food defence plan with the added benefits of:
- Recognition to globally recognised TACCP principles for food defence
- Providing a systematic methodology to effectively identify and manage threats to food and drink from deliberate attack
- Showing your commitment to food defence, providing increased brand protection and confidence to your customers
- Promoting the review and continual improvement of incident response protocols and food defence strategies
- Consistent application across international sites, facilitating internal benchmarking and strategic risk management.
Source: British Standards Institution
VACCP
Vulnerability Assessment Critical Control Point
VACCP is best identified as a management process to defend a food supply chain from any form of dishonest conduct that impacts detrimentally on the quality or authenticity of food and drink.
The key to a successful VACCP assessment is identifying vulnerabilities based on historical and potential opportunities for dishonest activity and, once identified, to introduce mitigation strategies to ensure your exposure is reduced or eliminated.
TACCP and VACCP are closely interlinked and help FMCGs to ensure the safety of their products from intentional contamination.
There is evidence that threats to and within the food manufacturing process are moving faster than solutions provided under TACCP and VACCP. Vulnerability is correctly identified in ‘The White Paper’ (noted in PAS 96 2014) but fails to understand the magnitude of the threat created by rapidly moving geopolitical dynamics and gives only basic remedies under the broad heading of ‘Know your people’.
There is evidence that threats to and within the food manufacturing process are moving faster than solutions provided under TACCP and VACCP. Vulnerability is correctly identified in ‘The White Paper’ (noted in PAS 96 2014) but fails to understand the magnitude of the threat created by rapidly moving geopolitical dynamics and gives only basic remedies under the broad heading of ‘Know your people’.
Preventing threat from within
Implementing FMCG Security Legislation & Guidelines can prove to be ambiguous.
Implementing FMCG Security Legislation & Guidelines may prove to be ambiguous.
Without understanding the location, motive and capability of a terrorist cell it is difficult to predict how and where an attack may occur. But we can implement internal measures to prevent an attack by rigorously checking the personal and social status of employees and agency staff.
Our intelligence-led employee background checks, implemented in tandem with FMCG security guidelines (such as TACCP) will identify if an individual has links to criminal or terrorist influences. It makes sound business sense to safeguard your organisation using preventative rather than reactive measures.
Associations
