Who certifies the certifiers? The ongoing contest between industry QA people and government regulators

Certification of a standard is a vital process in the making of food quality standards and safety assurance standards. However, who certifies the certifier? Can the quality and consistency of the certification processes themselves be assured? This article looks at the parallel operation of government and industry accreditation and benchmarking systems that exist for quality assurance systems used by the major supermarkets in Australia. This article also addresses the tensions between the certification system operating under the umbrella of JAS-ANZ and the benchmarking and assessment and endorsement systems of the food retailer-driven Global Food Safety Initiative.

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