3-A SSI Offers New Draft Procedures
Mid-August deadline set for submitting comments.
3-A Sanitary Standards Inc.
(3-A SSI) has announced the availability of new draft Procedures for the Development and Maintenance of 3-A Sanitary
Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices.
The new procedures reflect the effort of the group’s founding-member
organizations and other stakeholders over the past 18 months to enhance and
upgrade the process for developing and maintaining 3-A SSI consensus documents
consistent with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Essential Requirements:
Due Process Requirements for American National Standards.
“Modernizing the procedures for developing 3-A
SSI consensus documents was one of our mission objectives when the group
was organized in late 2002,” says 3-A SSI chairman Stephen Perry,
Ph.D., of the International Association of Food Industry Suppliers (IAFIS).
“Specifically, the founding-member organizations wanted to assure
that we met the ANSI requirements, since this is the benchmark for
today’s standards developer organizations.”
Earlier this year, 3-A SSI attained a major milestone
by earning accreditation by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) as a standards developer organization (SDO). The accreditation was
granted by ANSI on the basis that new 3-A SSI procedures would reflect the
attributes described in the ANSI Essential
Requirements, including openness, balance of
interest, due process, an appeals process and a level of consensus
necessary to maintain the very high integrity 3-A Sanitary Standards and
3-A Accepted Practices now convey.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
of 1995 mandates that all federal agencies “shall use technical
standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus
bodies,” and participate in the development of technical standards
when consistent with the agency’s mission. The federal regulations
under the Act define a “voluntary consensus standards body” as
one that meets the attributes described in the ANSI Essential Requirements.
The new draft procedures represent the framework for
3-A SSI to create and maintain American National Standards. Designation as
American National Standards will enhance the recognition of new consensus
documents and will help promote the stature of 3-A SSI as a standards
development organization.
Since the launch of 3-A SSI in 2003, the
founding-member organizations and other stakeholders represented on the 3-A
SSI board of directors and the 3-A steering committee have cooperated in
developing the new procedures. These founding-member organizations include
the 3-A Sanitary Standards Symbol Administrative Council (Council),
American Dairy Products Institute (ADPI), International Association for
Food Protection (IAFP), IAFIS and the International Dairy Foods Association
(IDFA).
The 3-A SSI board of directors includes three
non-voting directors consisting of one member of the 3-A steering committee
and one representative each of the Food and Drug Administration/Public
Health Service (FDA/PHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Copies of the new draft procedures are available at www.3-a.org.
The closing date for all comments is August 13. All comments must be conveyed
in writing to 3-A SSI by mail or via e-mail to executive director Timothy Rugh
(trugh@3-a.org).
The Votes Are In 3-A SSI announces approval of new standards
and practices.
3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. (3-A SSI) announced the approval
of three new 3-A Sanitary Standards and three new Accepted Practices based on
final voting at 3-A SSI annual meeting last month in Milwaukee.
A series of other tentative documents will remain
under discussion and revision as described in a comprehensive summary of
meeting actions posted on the 3-A SSI Web site.
The new 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices approved
in a plenary session at the meeting include the following:
•Multiple-Use Plastic Materials Used as Product Contact Surfaces, Number 20-23
•Silo-Type Storage Tanks, Number 22-08
•Double-Seat Mixproof Valves, Number 85-00 (Appendix information)
•3-A Accepted Practices for Supplying Air Under Pressure for Contact With Product or Product Contact Surfaces, Number 604-05
•3-A Accepted Practices for Spray Drying Systems, Number 607-05
•3-A Accepted Practices for Method of Producing Steam of Culinary Quality, Number 609-03
•Multiple-Use Plastic Materials Used as Product Contact Surfaces, Number 20-23
•Silo-Type Storage Tanks, Number 22-08
•Double-Seat Mixproof Valves, Number 85-00 (Appendix information)
•3-A Accepted Practices for Supplying Air Under Pressure for Contact With Product or Product Contact Surfaces, Number 604-05
•3-A Accepted Practices for Spray Drying Systems, Number 607-05
•3-A Accepted Practices for Method of Producing Steam of Culinary Quality, Number 609-03
Details on final versions of the documents approved in the plenary
session are described in the new 3-A SSI meeting report. The new documents
will be available this fall, with an effective date to be assigned after
final signatory approval.
The status of other documents considered at the
meeting is also detailed. It is anticipated work on these documents will
continue under 3-A SSI’s new Procedures
for the Development and Maintenance of 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A
Accepted Practices, after the new procedures
become final.
The 3-A SSI meeting report also describes
presentations made during a special educational session held prior to the
standards working sessions, “Challenges of Equipment Design and Food
Sanitation.” Copies of the presentations are available for
downloading along with the meeting report.
3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. is a non-profit
organization aimed at enhancing product safety for consumers of food,
beverages and pharmaceutical products through the development and use of
3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices. More information can be
found at www.3-A.org.
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