This Technical Specification
defines the rules applicable for the audit and certification of a food safety management system (FSMS)
complying with the requirements given in ISO 22000 (or other sets of specified FSMS requirements), and
provides the necessary information and confidence to customers about the way certification of their
suppliers has been granted.
Certification of FSMSs (named “certification” in this Technical Specification) is a third-party conformity
assessment activity (see ISO/IEC 17000:2004, 5.5). Bodies performing this activity are therefore third-party
conformity assessment bodies (named “certification body/bodies” in this Technical Specification).
NOTE 1 Certification of an FSMS is sometimes also called “registration”, and certification bodies are sometimes called
“registrars”.
NOTE 2 A certification body can be non-governmental or governmental (with or without regulatory authority).
NOTE 3 This Technical Specification is primarily intended to be used as a criteria document for the accreditation or
peer assessment of certification bodies which seek to be recognized as being competent to certify that an FSMS complies
with ISO 22000. It is also intended to be used as a criteria document by regulatory authorities and industry consortia which
engage in direct recognition of certification bodies to certify that an FSMS complies with ISO 22000. Some of its
requirements could also be found useful by any other parties involved in the conformity assessment of such certification
bodies, and in the conformity assessment of any bodies that undertake to certify the compliance of FSMSs with criteria
additional to or other than those in ISO 22000.
FSMS certification does not attest to the safety or fitness of the products of an organization within the food
chain. However, ISO 22000 requires an organization to meet all applicable food-safety-related statutory and
regulatory requirements through its management system.
It is important to note that certification of an FSMS according to ISO 22000 is a management system
certification and not a product certification.
Other FSMS users can use the concepts and requirements of this Technical Specification provided that the
requirements are adapted as necessary.
ISO/TS 22003:2007 history
2013ISO/TS 22003:2013 Food safety management systems.Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems
2007ISO/TS 22003:2007 Food safety management systems - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems