Cultivating Quality, Safety & Sustainability
Food hygiene, food-contact materials, machinery and timber sourcing involve different legal and technical questions. Use the relevant standard as part of an evidence plan, and verify the product-specific and national rules separately.
🌾 Sustainable Agriculture
Check the relevant EN ISO 4254 part for the agricultural machine concerned, alongside the applicable machinery-safety requirements.
🥫 Food Safety & Hygiene
Use EN ISO 22000 for a food-safety management system. HACCP-based legal duties and certification requirements must be assessed separately.
🌲 Wood Chain of Custody
Use ISO 38200 to control and track wood and wood-based materials through the supply chain. It does not cover forest management.
Essential Standards for the Supply Chain
Select references according to the activity, product, legal requirements and customer specification. This is not a universal mandatory checklist for every food, agricultural or forestry business.
| Standard | Title / Scope | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| EN ISO 22000 | Food Safety Management Systems | Requirements for a food-safety management system. |
| EN 1672-2 | Food Processing Machinery - Hygiene | Hygiene and cleanability requirements within the machinery standard's scope. |
| EN 15593 | Packaging Hygiene | A hygiene-management standard for food-packaging production, not a regulation. |
| EN ISO 14001 | Environmental Management | Demonstrates commitment to sustainability. |
| EN ISO 22005 | Traceability in Feed/Food Chain | Requirements for designing and implementing feed/food traceability systems. |
| ISO 38200 | Chain of Custody of Wood | Tracking materials through the supply chain; forest management is outside its scope. |
Separate Legal Duties, Certification and Product Evidence
- Certification: Review the standard, certificate scope, sites and certification body. A management-system certificate is not a safety approval for each food or packaging product.
- Hygiene controls: Identify hazards, implement appropriate controls and verify their effectiveness. A certificate does not eliminate contamination or recall risk.
- Market access: Identify the legal import, food-safety and product requirements for the commodity and origin. Purchasing a standard or obtaining ISO certification does not replace these duties.
- Sourcing claims: State exactly what has been assessed. Chain-of-custody evidence can support traceability, but ISO 38200 does not establish forest-management performance or prove every sustainability claim.
📥 Access Official Agro-Food Standards
Browse EN and ISO references in the Genorma catalogue. Check the scope, edition, amendments and licence before purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ISO 22000 mandatory for food companies?
ISO 22000 certification is not a general EU legal requirement for all food companies; a customer may specify it contractually. Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires HACCP-based procedures for covered food businesses operating after primary production and the associated operations listed in Annex I. Check the activity, applicable exemptions and national implementation rather than treating certification as a substitute.
What is the "Farm to Fork" strategy?
It is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. Standards like EN ISO 14001 support this strategy.
Why are packaging standards (EN 15593) important?
EN 15593 specifies hygiene-management requirements for food-packaging manufacture and supply. Food-contact compliance is a separate assessment under Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, the applicable good-manufacturing-practice rules and any material-specific measures. Assess the actual packaging and intended food-contact conditions; a hygiene-management certificate does not establish migration compliance.
Define the Food, Packaging or Management-System Task
For food or packaging testing, request laboratory support. Identify the product or material, intended use, target market, question to resolve and required report; agree suitable methods and accreditation scope. For ISO 22000 or ISO 14001 implementation, audit or certification-body selection, submit an ISO specialist enquiry with the activities and sites to be covered.
Official Sources and Scope References
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Article 5 and Annex I: HACCP-based procedures and activity scope.
- European Commission: food-contact-material legislation; BSI's EN 15593 scope.
- ISO 38200: chain of custody, excluding forest management; ISO 22000 food-safety management.
Source and scope checks completed on 28 September 2026. Verify applicable commodity, material and national rules before relying on a particular certificate or report.
Explore Standards for Other Industries
Navigate to other key sectors to find relevant European and International standards.