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IFFO RS trains one of its approved certification body

The IFFO RS team visited the SAI Global Ireland office Dundalk, Ireland in order to provide up to date training on the IFFO RS programme as well as training for newly appointed IFFO RS auditors. It was also an opportunity to have the annual management and KPI meeting with SAI Global as one of the approved IFFO RS certification bodies.

On the first day, Francisco Aldon, CEO of IFFO RS provided an overall update on the programme as well as the strategy IFFO RS are driving, after which Laura Shepherd, Compliance and Integrity Manager, went through the different aspects of the IFFO RS Governance, Quality Management System and Benchmarking projects designed to ensure IFFO RS remains relevant in an every-changing standard landscape. In the afternoon, Deirdre Hoare, Fisheries Science Manager held a workshop with the fishery assessors at SAI Global to discuss a recent review of the fishery assessments carried out and allow for discussion on specific aspects of the assessment criteria. On the second day Mike Platt, a consultant from RS Standards, provided IFFO RS audit training to auditors who are training to carry out production site audits against the IFFO RS standard. This training went through the standard and highlighted the main areas of potential risk and facilitated discussion regarding specific clauses. In the afternoon Nicola Clark, Impacts Manager provided training on the IFFO RS Improver Programme, the aspects associated with the fishery and production site and also highlighted areas of increased risk where the auditors should be aware of.

These training sessions will become more frequent as part of IFFO RS’s commitment to ensure the programme remains credible and relevant. They are also an important method of communication with those certification bodies who carry out IFFO RS assessment and audits as IFFO RS continue to develop its programme, in particular as V2.1 of the standard and V2.0 of the Chain of Custody standard are being developed.

Author: Nicola Clark, Impact Manager at IFFO RS