FSSC 22000 Certification in Tangier

FSSC 22000 is a GFSI-recognised certification scheme that covers the whole food chain, from processing to storage and transport. Version 7, published in May 2026, requires the site to meet ISO 22000:2018, the prerequisite programmes of ISO 22002-100:2025 and of its sector part, as well as the additional requirements of the scheme.

This broad coverage is what makes it interesting in Tangier. A cold store or a temperature-controlled transport provider can be certified in category G, with ISO 22002-5. A trader who buys and resells without handling the product falls under category FII. Yet Spanish and European importers, and the retailers they supply, want evidence of control at every link: a product well made but badly stored before boarding remains a risk for them. A GFSI-recognised certificate held by the logistics provider can spare them from auditing every transit warehouse themselves.

Those first concerned are the logistics players of the food industry: cold and dry warehouses near Tanger Med or in the free zones, consolidation platforms for export, temperature-controlled hauliers. For them, category G and ISO 22002-5 frame the requirements: temperature control, packaging integrity, cleaning of vehicles and docks, batch traceability.

Next come companies trading with Spain and the rest of Europe, in seafood as in fruit and vegetables. Some pack or process, which places them in category BIII or C; others simply buy and resell, in category FII.

Packaging manufacturers in the region that supply the food industry, in category I, are also concerned, as are the processors of the Tetouan area. Many companies in the north already work for European customers in other sectors: the logic of a third-party audit and written requirements is familiar to them. It is the food-safety-specific content that must be built.

Tangier has become an industrial and logistics platform turned towards Europe. The Tanger Med port complex, one of the largest container ports in the Mediterranean, is its centre. Around it have developed the Tanger Med industrial zones, the Tanger Free Zone and Tanger Automotive City, and, at Melloussa, a large car-assembly plant surrounded by its suppliers. Automotive wiring, textiles and clothing for European brands, aeronautics and logistics are the main activities of the area.

Food processing occupies a different place there, one that passes largely through trade: seafood, fruit and vegetables and processed products exchanged with Spain and the rest of Europe, part of which is stored or consolidated in the region before crossing the Strait. Nearby Tetouan completes this fabric.

For food safety, the consequence is clear. The risk points lie in the breaks of load: receipt of a truck, waiting on a dock, passage from a cold room to a container, consolidation of batches from several suppliers. A cold chain break, a poorly identified pallet or an unchecked seal is enough to compromise an entire batch. The scheme also requires a food defence plan, requirement 2.5.3, which makes full sense on sites where many drivers and subcontractors circulate.

FSSC 22000 version 7 gives these sites a framework recognised by their European customers, with an ISO architecture that many companies in the region already know from their quality certifications in automotive or textiles.

European buyers who source via Tangier think in terms of chains. They ask for the manufacturer's certificate, but also for evidence on storage and transport: continuous temperature records, what to do when limits are exceeded, cleaning of vehicles and containers, handling of returns and nonconforming products, ability to isolate a batch quickly in case of an alert.

For a product sold in Spain or another European Union country, the label must comply with the regulations of the country of sale; FSSC 22000 takes this up in its requirement 2.5.2. Traders must show how they select and monitor their suppliers, and how they protect themselves from food fraud, requirement 2.5.4.

In audits, logistics sites in the region face typical difficulties. Temperature mapping of cold rooms has never been done, or not renewed after a modification. Alarms exist with no response procedure at night and at weekends. The food defence plan remains theoretical: control of access, seals and visitors not demonstrated in the field. Subcontracted hauliers are neither evaluated nor monitored. Finally, the obligation to inform the certification body within 3 working days in case of a serious event, requirement 2.5.17, does not appear in the crisis procedure.