Bond prepares ISO 22000 certification in Iraq and Kurdistan.
The food safety management system. It puts HACCP inside a management system across the whole food chain, and it is the certificate camp catering contracts and Gulf food buyers ask for.
ISO 22000 Food safety management systems · Food safety
What ISO 22000 is
ISO 22000:2018 is the international standard for a food safety management system. It puts HACCP inside a management system, so prerequisite programmes, hazard analysis, critical control points, traceability and recall run under one set of controls with objectives, internal audits and a management review. It applies to any organisation in the food chain, from farming and production to catering, packaging and transport. The certification body issues the certificate to the company.
What the standard requires
- Clauses 1 to 3 cover scope, normative references and terms. Clauses 4 to 10 are the requirements an auditor checks.
- Clause 4, context. Name the parties that matter, fix the scope by site, product and process, and state where your part of the food chain starts and stops.
- Clause 5, leadership. Management signs the food safety policy, appoints the food safety team leader, and gives that team the authority to hold or reject product.
- Clause 6, planning. Record the food safety risks, set objectives with numbers and dates, and plan changes to the system before they are made.
- Clause 7, support. Competence and health records for food handlers, calibration of thermometers and scales, and communication with suppliers, customers and the health authority.
- Clause 8.2, prerequisite programmes. Building, water, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, personal hygiene, allergen control and waste, written against the ISO/TS 22002 part for your sector.
- Clause 8.5, hazard analysis. Flow diagrams verified on the floor, hazards listed at every step, and each significant hazard assigned to a critical control point or an operational prerequisite programme with a limit and a monitoring record.
- Clause 8.4 and 8.9, emergency and recall. A written recall procedure, and a mock recall that traces one batch forward to the customer and backward to the raw material inside the time you claim.
- Clause 9, performance evaluation. Verification of the monitoring results, internal audits on a plan, the food safety team review of the system, and the management review.
- Clause 10, improvement. Correction and corrective action for every deviation from a critical limit, and an update of the system after any change to product, process or building.
Who needs ISO 22000 in Iraq and Kurdistan
The buyers that ask for ISO 22000
| Buyer or list | What they ask for |
|---|---|
| Kurdistan and Basra operators | DNO, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone, HKN, Basrah Gas Company and Rumaila audit camp kitchens through their catering contractors before mobilisation and during the contract. |
| Ministry of Natural Resources Approved Vendor List | mnronline.com/avl. Camp and catering service categories are evaluated on finances, quality system and HSE. A government fee applies by category, renewed each year. We confirm the current fee before you apply. |
| KRG Approved Suppliers Center | asc.gov.krd. Annual registration. Food and catering suppliers need certificates from a recognised conformity body to clear the quality criteria. |
| UN agencies through UNGM | ungm.org. One free registration covers WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP, IOM and FAO. WFP food and catering suppliers are assessed on the food safety system. |
| Gulf supermarket chains and importers | Most ask for a scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative. FSSC 22000 is built on ISO 22000 plus ISO/TS 22002-1 and additional scheme requirements. |
| Saudi Food and Drug Authority | Exporters to Saudi Arabia register the production facility and are asked to show a food safety system based on HACCP for the products they ship. |
| Iraqi Ministry of Health and COSQC | The Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control sets the Iraqi standards applied at import and in local production, and health inspectors check the same hygiene controls. |
| EPC and facilities management contractors | Subcontractor files for camp kitchens on projects in Kurdistan and Basra carry a food safety section next to HSE. |
Two tracks, you choose one
Certificate track
5 daysA company that needs a valid certificate to bid for a camp catering contract, to register on the KRG ASC or the MNR AVL, or to answer a food safety clause before a tender deadline. We prepare the compliance system in five working days. The certification body then issues the certificate, and its calendar sits outside those five days.
Steps- We read the tender or the registration form and confirm the scope, the sites and the body the buyer accepts.
- We survey the site against the ISO/TS 22002 prerequisite programme for your sector on the first of the five working days and list the building items that have to change first.
- We write the hazard analysis with your production people: flow diagrams, hazards at every step, critical control points with limits and monitoring.
- We write the document set inside those five days: policy, objectives, procedures, monitoring forms, and the traceability and recall procedure.
- We train the food safety team and each supervisor in a half day session on the records that person keeps.
- We run one mock recall, the first internal audit and the management review in the same five days, then close the findings.
- We book the certification body, prepare the site, attend stage 1 and stage 2, and answer the findings with your team.
- The compliance system, prepared in five working days
- Scope statement by site, product and process
- Prerequisite programme file against the ISO/TS 22002 part for your sector
- Verified flow diagrams and the hazard analysis
- HACCP plan with critical limits, monitoring and correction
- Monitoring forms in the language the staff read
- Traceability procedure and one mock recall record
- Internal audit report and management review minutes
- A three year surveillance and renewal calendar
Implementation track
6 to 14 weeksA company whose kitchen or plant will be audited by an operator or a Gulf importer, and that wants the monitoring records to come from daily work.
Steps- We analyse what the company produces, who buys it, and what those buyers and tenders require, then send a proposal.
- We survey every site and set the prerequisite programmes: building and layout, water, cleaning, pest control, personal hygiene, allergen control and waste.
- We build the food safety team from the people who run production, and write the hazard analysis with them on the floor.
- We write the documentation in Arabic, Kurdish or English and keep the monitoring forms to what a supervisor can fill in during a shift.
- We train every shift and hand the monitoring records to the supervisors who own them.
- We let the system run live for three to four weeks so the certification body sees real temperature, cleaning and verification records.
- We run the internal audit programme, one mock recall and the management review, then prepare the site and attend stage 1 and stage 2.
- Site survey and prerequisite programme file for every location
- Verified flow diagrams and hazard analysis built with the production staff
- HACCP plan with critical limits, monitoring, correction and verification
- Full documented system in the working language
- Training records for every shift
- Three to four weeks of live monitoring records before the audit
- Supplier approval file and mock recall record
- Internal audit programme, management review minutes and a three year surveillance calendar we run with you
The certification body issues the certificate.
The implementation track, week by week
| Phase | Weeks | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and buyer requirements | Weeks 1 to 2 | We confirm which sites, products and processes the certificate covers and which body the buyer accepts. Nothing is written before this is fixed. |
| Site survey and prerequisites | Weeks 2 to 5 | We walk every kitchen, store and production area against ISO/TS 22002 and list the building and hygiene items that have to change. The owner starts that work while documentation runs. |
| Hazard analysis and HACCP plan | Weeks 3 to 6 | We draw the flow diagrams with the production staff, verify them on the floor, and set the critical control points, the limits and the monitoring. |
| Documentation | Weeks 4 to 8 | Policy, procedures and monitoring forms written in Arabic, Kurdish or English. Forms are built around what a supervisor can complete during a shift. |
| Training and rollout | Weeks 7 to 9 | A session per shift on the records that shift owns, a session for the food safety team on verification, and a session for management on the review. |
| Records running live | Weeks 8 to 11 | The system runs in daily operations for three to four weeks so there is real temperature, cleaning and receiving evidence for the auditor to sample. |
| Internal audit and mock recall | Weeks 11 to 12 | We run the first internal audit against every clause, trace one batch in both directions, log the findings, and hold the management review with the owner. |
| Certification audit | Weeks 12 to 14 | The accredited body runs stage 1 on the documents and stage 2 on site, including the kitchen or production floor. We prepare the site, attend both, and answer the findings. |
What we do, what you do
We do
- Confirm the scope, the sites and the certification body the buyer accepts, before any work starts.
- Survey each site against the ISO/TS 22002 prerequisite programme for your sector and list what has to change in the building.
- Write the hazard analysis and the HACCP plan with your production staff and verify the flow diagrams on the floor.
- Write the whole documented system and the monitoring forms in the language the staff read.
- Train the food safety team, the supervisors and every shift on the records they keep.
- Run the first internal audit, one mock recall and the management review.
- Select certification bodies, collect their quotes, and book the audit dates.
- Prepare the site, attend stage 1 and stage 2, and write the corrective actions for every finding.
- Keep the surveillance and recertification dates in a calendar and prepare each audit.
You do
- Name a food safety team leader who can give about six hours a week.
- Give us the site layout, the water source and its test results, the pest control contract, the supplier list and any records the company already keeps.
- Release each supervisor for a half day of training and a half day for the internal audit.
- Carry out the building items the prerequisite survey finds, such as fly screens, hand wash points, drainage falls and the separation of raw and cooked flow.
- Have the staff complete the temperature, cleaning and receiving records during the live period as part of normal work.
- Have the owner or general manager attend the management review, which takes about two hours.
- Pay the certification body directly, or through us at cost with the receipts.
- Have the owner or general manager present at the opening and closing meetings of the certification audit.
What moves the price
- Number of sites and kitchens, and whether the auditor has to travel to Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Baghdad or Basra.
- Number of HACCP studies in the scope, which is the main driver of audit duration under ISO/TS 22003-1.
- Effective headcount across all shifts, including seasonal and contract staff.
- Whether the buyer accepts ISO 22000 alone or asks for a scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative, such as FSSC 22000.
- Whether the certificate has to come from a body accredited under an IAF member or a locally accredited body is enough.
- Languages the documentation and the monitoring forms are written in.
- How much of the prerequisite programme already exists, and what building work the site survey finds.
- Which track the company takes, the five day certificate track or the 6 to 14 week implementation track.
- Whether ISO 22000 is built alone or together with ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 as one system, which lowers total auditor days.
- Number of findings at stage 2 and how much evidence the body asks for to close them.
The proposal names the scope, the deliverables and the dates before work starts.
ISO 22000 questions we are asked
We prepare the compliance system in five working days on the certificate track. The implementation track runs six to fourteen weeks. The certification body then issues the certificate on its own calendar. Bureau Veritas, SGS, TUV and KQC in Erbil each set their own audit dates.
The proposal names the scope, the deliverables and the dates before work starts.
A certificate from a body accredited by IQAS, for example KQC in Erbil, is valid in Iraq and accepted for KRG lists. IQAS is not a member of the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement. Operators such as DNO and Basrah Gas Company, UN agencies, and importers in the Gulf and Europe normally require a body accredited under an IAF member, such as Bureau Veritas, SGS or TUV. We confirm which one the buyer accepts before any body is booked.
Camp catering contracts come first. DNO, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone, HKN, Basrah Gas Company and Rumaila audit the kitchens that feed their crews. The MNR Approved Vendor List at mnronline.com/avl evaluates catering suppliers on quality and HSE, with an annual government fee by category, and the KRG Approved Suppliers Center at asc.gov.krd renews annually. WFP suppliers are assessed through ungm.org. A HACCP file on its own does not clear those criteria, because ISO 22000:2018 puts the same HACCP work inside a certified management system.
Often it is not. Most large retail and importer programmes ask for a scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative, and ISO 22000 on its own is not one of them. FSSC 22000 is recognised, and it is ISO 22000 plus ISO/TS 22002-1 and a set of additional scheme requirements. An exporter in Erbil or Basra that already holds ISO 22000 usually reaches FSSC 22000 with 2 to 4 further weeks of preparation and one extended audit. We confirm what the specific buyer asks for before the body is booked.
Three years from the date of issue. The certification body runs a surveillance audit each year and a recertification audit in year three. We keep those dates in a calendar and prepare the company for each one. If a surveillance audit is missed the body can suspend the certificate, and a suspended certificate will not pass a list renewal at the KRG ASC or the MNR AVL.
Yes. We work anywhere in Iraq, in Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok, and in the Gulf. The office is in Erbil and the team travels to the site.
Business inquiry
Select a target. Two questions follow, and the file reaches the desk on WhatsApp. A reply comes within four working hours.