FSSC 22000 Certification in Agadir

FSSC 22000 is a food safety certification scheme recognised by the GFSI, on a par with BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 and IFS Food version 8. Its version 7, published in May 2026, rests on ISO 22000:2018, on the prerequisite programmes of ISO 22002-100:2025 and of the sector part, and on the additional requirements of the FSSC Foundation.

In Souss-Massa, the choice between these three schemes is rarely free. Importers and retailers in the European Union and the United Kingdom state the certifications they accept, and a single exporter may have customers whose lists differ. FSSC 22000 suits sites that already have an ISO system or that later aim for ISO 14001:2026, because it shares its structure. The only safe rule remains to obtain from each customer, in writing, the list of schemes accepted for your products, and to check that it includes version 7 as long as its GFSI benchmarking is not complete.

Three families of companies in the region are concerned.

Packing stations for early vegetables, tomatoes and peppers first of all, for citrus and for berries, which fall under category BIII with ISO 22002-1. Good agricultural practice schemes cover the field; FSSC 22000 covers what happens in the station, from receipt to dispatch.

Fishing companies established around the port of Agadir, in Ait Melloul or at the Haliopolis park: fish canneries, freezing units, seafood processing workshops. They fall under category C. Their subjects are specific: histamine for the species concerned, control of heat treatment in canneries, cold chain from landing, fish, crustacean and mollusc allergens.

Fruit and vegetable processors and producers of food-grade argan oil and argan-based products, also in category C. A site that combines a station and a processing unit must build a scope covering both categories, with the corresponding HACCP studies.

Souss-Massa is one of Morocco's major fresh produce exporting regions. Early vegetables, in particular tomatoes and peppers, citrus and berries are produced there largely for the European Union and the United Kingdom, and pass through a dense network of packing stations spread across the plain.

The sea is the other pillar. The port of Agadir, a fishing and commercial port, feeds fish canneries, freezing units and seafood processing workshops. The Haliopolis industrial park was designed for these fishery activities, and the industrial zones of Ait Melloul and Tassila host many plants. Argan, finally, gives rise to processing activities intended for food.

These sectors have three common traits that weigh on an FSSC 22000 project. They work in campaigns, with peaks of activity and headcount that leave little room for works and training in full season. They export to markets whose regulations and specifications evolve, notably on labelling and residues. And they often occupy buildings extended over the years, where flows of products, personnel and waste cross.

For a Souss site, preparing version 7 therefore means fitting the diagnostic, works and training into the off-season, then proving in the middle of the campaign that the system holds.

European and British retailers and importers expect from a Souss supplier a GFSI-recognised certificate whose scope exactly covers the products shipped, and a body of evidence that their own teams examine. For fruit and vegetables: pesticide residue analyses entrusted to a competent laboratory, as requirement 2.5.1 asks, control of wash and cooling water, traceability from the pallet to the plot. For seafood: histamine monitoring, validation of sterilisation parameters, cold chain records from landing.

Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, the same product may have to meet two different labelling regulations. Requirement 2.5.2 asks that the label comply with that of the country of sale, allergens included.

In audits in the region, the recurring nonconformities are well known. Environmental monitoring in stations, mandatory in category BIII, is reduced to a few samples with no zoning. Nonconformities found in full season are not closed within 28 days. By-products sent to animal feed are not controlled under requirement 2.5.16. Cleaning between species or between recipes on cannery lines is not validated.