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(a) The supply-chain program must include:
(1) Using approved suppliers as required by § 117.420;
(2) Determining appropriate supplier verification activities (including determining the frequency of conducting the activity) as required by § 117.425;
(3) Conducting supplier verification activities as required by §§ 117.430 and 117.435;
(4) Documenting supplier verification activities as required by § 117.475; and
(5) When applicable, verifying a supply-chain-applied control applied by an entity other than the receiving facility's supplier and documenting that verification as required by § 117.475, or obtaining documentation of an appropriate verification activity from another entity, reviewing and assessing that documentation, and documenting the review and assessment as required by § 117.475.
(b) The following are appropriate supplier verification activities for raw materials and other ingredients:
(1) Onsite audits;
(2) Sampling and testing of the raw material or other ingredient;
(3) Review of the supplier's relevant food safety records; and
(4) Other appropriate supplier verification activities based on supplier performance and the risk associated with the raw material or other ingredient.
(c) The supply-chain program must provide assurance that a hazard requiring a supply-chain-applied control has been significantly minimized or prevented.
(d)(1) Except as provided by paragraph (d)(2) of this section, in approving suppliers and determining the appropriate supplier verification activities and the frequency with which they are conducted, the following must be considered:
(i) The hazard analysis of the food, including the nature of the hazard controlled before receipt of the raw material or other ingredient, applicable to the raw material and other ingredients;
(ii) The entity or entities that will be applying controls for the hazards requiring a supply-chain-applied control;
(iii) Supplier performance, including:
(A) The supplier's procedures, processes, and practices related to the safety of the raw material and other ingredients;
(B) Applicable FDA food safety regulations and information relevant to the supplier's compliance with those regulations, including an FDA warning letter or import alert relating to the safety of food and other FDA compliance actions related to food safety (or, when applicable, relevant laws and regulations of a country whose food safety system FDA has officially recognized as comparable or has determined to be equivalent to that of the United States, and information relevant to the supplier's compliance with those laws and regulations); and
(C) The supplier's food safety history relevant to the raw materials or other ingredients that the receiving facility receives from the supplier, including available information about results from testing raw materials or other ingredients for hazards, audit results relating to the safety of the food, and responsiveness of the supplier in correcting problems; and
(iv) Any other factors as appropriate and necessary, such as storage and transportation practices.
(2) Considering supplier performance can be limited to the supplier's compliance history as required by paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(B) of this section, if the supplier is:
(i) A qualified facility as defined by § 117.3;
(ii) A farm that grows produce and is not a covered farm under part 112 of this chapter in accordance with § 112.4(a), or in accordance with §§ 112.4(b) and 112.5; or
(iii) A shell egg producer that is not subject to the requirements of part 118 of this chapter because it has less than 3,000 laying hens.
(e) If the owner, operator, or agent in charge of a receiving facility determines through auditing, verification testing, document review, relevant consumer, customer or other complaints, or otherwise that the supplier is not controlling hazards that the receiving facility has identified as requiring a supply-chain-applied control, the receiving facility must take and document prompt action in accordance with § 117.150 to ensure that raw materials or other ingredients from the supplier do not cause food that is manufactured or processed by the receiving facility to be adulterated under section 402 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or misbranded under section 403(w) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
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