Preventive Control Plans (PCP)
PCPs, an old new way of doing things
PCPs are in fact a simple reorganization of the measures to be taken to reduce the potential hazards posed by the products and processes used by the food industry to an acceptable level from the human health point of view.
This allows to better meet compliance requirements with respect to food safety in addition to better integrate concepts such as traceability and the inclusion of normative documents incorporated by reference that have force of law even if they are not.
PCPs are a simple and inclusive tool that aims to provide a model that makes it easy to remember and navigate through. The format it takes will depend on each company and this is one of the great strengths of this regulatory renewal.
This therefore allows all companies in the agri-food sector to use the means they deem relevant to comply with regulatory compliance requirements. This new built-in flexibility takes away much of the prescriptive aspect of the old regulations and allows companies to innovate and develop their own ways of complying.
This is an important advantage that all businesses can benefit from as of now.
The basics of PCPs
Before going ahead, it is important to check what are the obligations incumbent on your establishment .
It is understood here that you are an agri-food company that manufactures food that operates in Canada and that you need a license (For importers go here).
The first step is therefore to use the interactive tool for PCPs .
Once that is done for each category of products that you manufacture; you will be able to find out if you need to set up a PCP.
The CFIA has planned for it and a guide is available here to accompany you. This guide includes many links to the resources you need to build your PCP.
It is important to use the PCP guide by first reading the CFIA Guide for Food Businesses.
One or more PCP
The choice belongs to you.
The tendency is to create several PCPs and have them validated and/or accepted one by one by the CFIA. This makes it easier to understand your system and your control measures which can vary greatly from one sector to another as it is the case of a slaughter company which will have to put in place measures for animal welfare and others for slaughtering, cutting or packaging operations, etc.
So separate and conquer seems to be the rule in companies that have well-defined activities that are very different from each other.
We are able to assist you with the development and implementation of PCP including the implementation of your control measures so that you are able to meet regulatory compliance requirements, norms , standards as well as your customers' requirements (including those stipulated in the GFSI standards). This will allow you to have a better overview of your control measures, procedures and programs as well as to manage your obligations more clearly and efficiently. This will minimize non-compliances and allow you to operate more smoothly and without interruptions.