FSSC 22000 Certification in Rabat

FSSC 22000 version 7 is the current edition of a certification scheme recognised by the GFSI since 2010; the FSSC Foundation published it in May 2026 and the GFSI is still benchmarking it. The certificate attests that three sets of requirements are met on the site: ISO 22000:2018, the prerequisite programmes of ISO 22002-100:2025 and of the sector part, and the additional requirements specific to the scheme.

In the Rabat region, two families of buyers ask for it. On one side, industrial customers and retail, who want a GFSI-recognised scheme from their suppliers. On the other, public buyers and large institutions, whose specifications often cite an ISO certification among the selection criteria. As FSSC 22000 incorporates ISO 22000:2018, it can answer both. For each consultation, however, you must check that the rules accept an FSSC 22000 certificate and have this confirmed in writing.

In the region, food processing is mostly carried by SMEs and family companies, located in Ain Atiq, Temara, Skhirat or Sale. FSSC 22000 concerns them whether they make bakery products, pack dry goods or process fruit and vegetables.

The scheme also addresses companies that do not manufacture. Warehouses and hauliers that deliver to retail along the Rabat-Sale-Temara axis can be certified in category G. Traders and importers who buy and resell without handling the product fall under category FII. Food suppliers on public contracts find in it a way to stand out in their bids.

For a small structure, version 7 brings useful flexibility: a site with fewer than 20 full-time equivalents and at most two HACCP studies can benefit from a reduced audit duration, without the "simple process" condition that version 6 imposed. The level of requirement, however, remains that of a large plant.

Rabat is the administrative capital of the Kingdom and the centre of the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region. Ministries, public institutions and many institutional buyers are located there, which gives tenders particular weight in the local economy. Many of these consultations ask bidders for ISO certificates, and food suppliers are no exception.

The region's economy rests largely on services, information technology, building and public works. In Sale, Technopolis brings together technology and service companies. Industry is lighter than in Casablanca or Tangier and clusters in zones such as Ain Atiq and Temara, with Skhirat on the road south. Food processing has a real place there, often run by SMEs that have no large quality department.

This is what gives the FSSC 22000 approach its particular face here. The quality manager often holds several functions, documentation is sometimes limited to an isolated HACCP plan, and the building was not always designed for food. Version 7, with its prerequisite programmes based on ISO 22002-100:2025, requires these basics to be reworked methodically: flows, cleaning, maintenance, pest control, personnel hygiene.

Proximity matters too. Our head office is in Hay Riad: for a company in Rabat, Sale or Temara, a follow-up visit, a pre-audit review or a training session can be organised quickly, without a long trip.

Buyers in the region first look at the validity and scope of the certificate: which products, which site, which FSSC category. With the transition, they will also look at the version. Audits against version 6 stop on 30 April 2027, and version 6 certificates still registered will be removed from the public FSSC register after 30 June 2028; a public or private buyer can check this online themselves.

A tender file may ask for a copy of the certificate, sometimes an attestation from the certification body, and proof of the sanitary authorisation or approval issued by ONSSA. Industrial customers add their questionnaires, their own supplier audits and signed specifications.

In the SMEs we prepare, the weak points in audit are similar. The hazard analysis is too generic and does not describe what the workshop actually does. PRP verification, requirement 2.5.12, boils down to a ticked grid with no frequency justified by risk. Food safety culture, requirement 2.5.8, has neither objectives nor a plan followed in management review. Service providers, analysis laboratories included, are not evaluated. These nonconformities can be corrected before the audit, provided you start early.