The HACCP+ Standard
A voluntary standard for managing the safety of products and services in the food chain, the feed chain and dependent industries — combining HACCP, management-system, sustainability and carbon-footprint requirements.
Executive summary
- HACCP+ applies to organisations that supply products and services to consumers in the food, feed, food-packaging and chemicals chains, and to auxiliary services.
- The standard has eight chapters. Chapters 3–6 and 8 are mandatory; chapter 7 (climate and sustainability) is optional and applies when declared.
- Every clause states requirements a), b), c)… and auditor guidance; “must” is mandatory, “should” is a recommendation, “may” is a permission.
- Certificates of ISO 9001, ISO 22000/FSSC 22000 and ISCC can demonstrate compliance with parts of the standard (Annex F).
What the HACCP+ Standard is
The HACCP+ Standard is a voluntary standard for managing the safety of products and services in the food chain, the feed chain and dependent industries. It links the HACCP system with management-system requirements, sustainability and carbon footprint, and is written in the convention of ISO 22000 and ISO 9001.
The standard was designed in 2019 on the basis of many years of experience of certification-body auditors, consultants and companies’ demand for HACCP certificates. The first audits against the HACCP+ assumptions took place in 2020, and version 001 of the standard was published in April 2021. The current reference text is version 01/2026, a working draft dated 4 October 2026, which adds clause 7.2.3 on the carbon footprint of services.
The aim of HACCP+ is to enforce the safety of products placed on the market. Its structure is aligned with the High-Level Structure (HLS) of ISO management-system standards, it builds on prerequisite programmes and legal requirements set out in law and sector guides, and it adds modules specific to the type of activity.
Scope
The standard applies to organisations supplying products and services to consumers, including in the food, feed, food-packaging and chemicals chains and auxiliary services. The organisation must define and document the scope of certification: locations, processes, products or services, basic scopes A1–A4 and the selected additional modules.
Production
All activities related to production, manufacturing, processing, packing, mixing etc.
Trade
Intermediaries, brokers, trading and distribution companies, including their own transport and warehouses.
Logistics
Logistics and transport processes, excluding trade and own production.
Other services
All other services not covered by A1–A3 (e.g. catering, cleaning, pest control, laundry).
Basic scopes can be combined: a single HACCP+ certificate may cover A1, A2, A3 and A4.
Sectors of interest
| Food processing | Feed processing | Packaging & chemicals | Agriculture | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production of food and food additives | Production of feed materials | Production of packaging | Primary production | Production of chemical agents |
| Trade in food and additives | Production of feed additives | Production of plastics | Animal welfare | Production of cosmetics |
| Food supplements and fortified food | Compound feed and premixes | Transport and logistics | — | Production of medical products |
| Gastronomy / HoReCa | Trade in feed | Production of chemicals | — | Services (laundry, cleaning) |
| Street / fast food | Transport and logistics | — | — | Security and other services |
| Transport and logistics | — | — | — | Pest control |
Source: HACCP+ system presentation, slide 11. Further scopes may be added.
Structure of the standard
The standard consists of chapters 0–8. The structure of chapters 3–8 is inspired by the ISO High-Level Structure and uses similar vocabulary, but is not identical to it. Equivalence tables in Annex F make integration with ISO 9001 and ISO 22000/FSSC 22000 easier.
Changes to the standard
Version history and transition periods.
Introduction
Structure, scope (A1–A4), exclusions.
Definitions
Hazard, CCP, validation, carbon footprint…
Requirements for the organisation
Leadership, policy, KPIs, risk, reviews, internal audits, legal compliance, documents.
HACCP 2.0 system
Safety culture, HACCP team, hazard analysis, preventive controls, CCPs, validation.
Achieving organisational goals
Operations, HR, customers, GDPR, supply chain, marketing, authorities, design.
Safety of products or services
Crisis team, traceability, non-conformity, food fraud/defence, recall, information security, anti-corruption.
Climate neutrality & sustainability
Carbon footprint of organisation, product and service; mass balance; environment, energy, biodiversity.
Social involvement
Fair pay, working time, OHS, no child or forced labour, non-discrimination, ILO conventions.
The standard also includes the core requirements catalogue, legal requirements, prerequisite programmes (GHP/GMP and others), sector catalogues and additional modules. Each clause is followed by auditor guidance, which is supportive and does not constitute a requirement.
Key requirements by chapter
Chapter 3 — Requirements for the organisation
An organisation holding an ISO 9001 certificate issued under an accredited procedure, whose scope covers the HACCP+ activity, meets the requirements of chapter 3. Other organisations must implement clauses 3.1–3.9:
- 3.1 Leadership — top management takes responsibility for the effectiveness of the system and defines roles, responsibilities and authorities.
- 3.2 Interested parties — consumers, customers, suppliers, employees, official control bodies and certification bodies, and their requirements.
- 3.3 Quality policy — a policy of quality and product/service safety with a commitment to legal compliance and continual improvement.
- 3.4 KPIs — measurable objectives with actions, resources, owners, deadlines and evaluation methods.
- 3.5 Risk management, 3.6 Management reviews (at least annually), 3.7 Internal audits (all HACCP+ requirements within a cycle of no more than one year), 3.8 Legal requirements and 3.9 Documented information.
Chapter 4 — HACCP 2.0 system
Chapter 4 implements the Codex Alimentarius HACCP principles and extends them with food-safety culture and preventive controls.
- 4.1 Food-safety culture — shared values, beliefs and behaviours, with objectives that are communicated and measured.
- 4.2 Resources and competence; 4.3 HACCP team with a designated leader trained in HACCP principles.
- 4.4 Product or service description, including intended use and foreseeable misuse; 4.5–4.6 Process flow diagram drawn up and verified on site, including all shifts and seasonal changes.
- 4.7 Hazard analysis — biological, chemical, physical and allergen hazards (and, for services, other hazards relevant to the consumer), assessed for likelihood and severity.
- 4.8 Preventive controls — process control (4.8.1), allergens (4.8.2), Good Hygiene Practice (4.8.3), Good Manufacturing Practice (4.8.4) and specialised good practices such as GDP, GAP or GMP+ (4.8.5).
- 4.9–4.12 Critical control points — determination of CCPs, critical limits, monitoring and corrective actions.
- 4.13–4.15 Verification, supervision and validation of control measures, before implementation and after every significant change.
Chapter 5 — Achieving organisational goals
Quality of products and services (5.1), operational management and business continuity (5.2), human resources (5.3), customers (5.4), personal data protection under GDPR (5.5), supply chain including supplier approval and chain-of-custody systems (5.6), truthful marketing and substantiated claims (5.7), financial indicators (5.8, recommended), public administration — permits, registrations and reporting (5.9), balanced scorecard (5.10, recommended) and product/service design (5.11).
Chapter 6 — Safety of products or services
Crisis team and crisis plan (6.1), identification and traceability one step back and one step forward, including rework (6.2), control of non-conforming products and services (6.3), food fraud and food defence (6.4), withdrawal and recall with annual testing (6.5), information security (6.6) and anti-corruption management (6.7).
Chapter 7 — Climate neutrality and sustainable development (optional)
Direct and indirect climate impact (7.1), carbon footprint of the organisation, of products and of services (7.2.1–7.2.3) expressed in CO₂ equivalent by scopes 1, 2 and 3, mass balance for materials with sustainability claims under ISCC, REDcert, 2BSvs, RSB, KZR INiG, FSC, PEFC, MSC or ASC (7.3), environmental management (7.4), energy management (7.5), sustainable development (7.6), biodiversity and land use (7.7), global responsibility (7.8) and social development (7.9).
Chapter 8 — Social involvement
Fair remuneration (8.1), working time (8.2), employment security (8.3), occupational health and safety (8.4), prohibition of child and forced labour (8.5), non-discrimination (8.6), freedom of association (8.7) and compliance with the core ILO conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (8.8).
Additional modules B1–B6
Modules extend the scope of certification with requirements specific to the type of activity or to claims made by the organisation. They supplement, and never replace, chapters 3–6. Until the HACCP+ scheme is accredited, compliance with a module may be demonstrated by a valid certificate of a reference standard covering the same activity. Organic certification is governed by law: module B5 defines integration with HACCP+ and does not replace certification by an authorised body. Claims such as “GMO-free” or “antibiotic-free” may only be used for products and sites within the certified module scope.
GMO-free
Reference: VLOG, MI105, PIM
Antibiotic-free
Reference: special standards; veterinary medicines law
Animal welfare
Reference: EU law, animal-welfare standards
Sustainability
Reference: ISCC PLUS, REDcert², SAI
Organic
Reference: Regulation (EU) 2018/848 — integration only
Feed
Reference: GMP+, FAMI-QS, GTP, EFISC
Applicability and exclusions
Every clause has a status in Annex E: O — mandatory, cannot be excluded; W — conditional, may be excluded only when the stated condition is met; X — optional, applied according to the declared scope.
| Clause | Status | Condition or remark |
|---|---|---|
| 4.8.2 Allergens | W | Hazard analysis shows no allergens in raw materials, products or on site, or the product is not food. |
| 4.8.3 GHP | O | Cannot be excluded. |
| 4.9–4.15 CCP, verification, validation | O | An organisation without CCPs justifies their absence. |
| 5.6 Supply chain | O | Sub-clause d) (chain of custody) is W: not applicable if the organisation does not take part in supply-chain schemes. |
| 5.8 Financial indicators · 5.10 Balanced scorecard | X | Recommended. |
| 5.11 Design | W | The organisation does not design or change its own products or services. |
| 6.1–6.7 | O | Proportionate to risk; cannot be excluded. |
| 7.1–7.2 · 7.4–7.9 | X | Applied when declared in scope. |
| 7.3 Mass balance | W | Applies to materials with declared sustainability properties. |
| 8.1–8.8 | O | Exclusion only if the organisation employs or engages no one. |
Size, complexity, cost or lack of time are never a basis for exclusion. They may influence how a requirement is implemented, but not whether it applies. The organisation keeps an applicability table approved by top management and reviewed at least annually.
Link with Codex Alimentarius
| Codex element | HACCP+ clause |
|---|---|
| HACCP team | 4.3 |
| Product description and intended use | 4.4 |
| Process flow diagram and on-site confirmation | 4.5, 4.6 |
| Principle 1: hazard analysis | 4.7 |
| Principle 2: determine CCPs | 4.9 |
| Principle 3: critical limits | 4.10 |
| Principle 4: monitoring | 4.11 |
| Principle 5: corrective actions | 4.12 |
| Principle 6: verification | 4.13, 4.14.4 |
| Principle 7: documentation and records | 3.9 |
| Prerequisite programmes (GHP, GMP) | 4.8.3, 4.8.4 |
Recognition of other certificates
Annex F sets out how valid certificates issued under accredited procedures are recognised. ISO 9001 covers chapter 3, with supplementary HACCP+ requirements (e.g. product-safety KPIs, recall and complaint inputs to management review). ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 cover most of chapter 4 and chapter 6; FSSC 22000 fully covers food-safety culture (4.1) and food fraud/defence (6.4). ISCC covers parts of chapter 7 such as mass balance and greenhouse-gas calculation within its scope. The auditor then focuses on integration and on the remaining requirements.
Benefits
- Confirmation that legal requirements are met, including Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
- Credibility for export and for buyers requiring independent verification.
- Control of allergens and correct consumer information (allergens, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, children’s food).
- One audit covering food safety, supply chain, social and — optionally — climate requirements.
Governance
The standard is owned and maintained by Belevo Sp. z o.o. It is subject to continual review so that it continues to meet the needs of interested parties. Every new version lists its changes, effective date and the transition period for certified organisations. Belevo supervises the certification scheme, approves auditors and reviews every audit result.
Frequently asked questions
Is the HACCP+ Standard publicly available?
Yes. The standard and its supporting documents can be downloaded free of charge from the Documents page. The documents are protected by copyright and may not be modified or reproduced without consent.
Which version of the standard applies?
Version 01/2026 (working draft of 4 October 2026) is the current reference text in Polish. Version 001 of 2021 is available in English as an overview of the structure. Each new version lists its changes, effective date and transition period.
Can requirements be excluded?
Only conditional (W) requirements, and only when the condition in Annex E is met. Mandatory (O) requirements — including legal requirements, prerequisite programmes and HACCP principles 4.3–4.15 — cannot be excluded. Size, cost or lack of time are never a basis for exclusion.
Is the carbon footprint chapter mandatory?
No. Chapter 7 applies when the organisation declares it in the scope of certification. If an organisation makes carbon-footprint claims without chapter 7 in scope, the auditor reports this as a risk of misleading communication.
What does “must”, “should” and “may” mean in the standard?
“Must” is a mandatory requirement — not meeting it is a non-conformity. “Should” is a recommendation — not implementing it is recorded as a remark and must be justified. “May” indicates a permission.
How does HACCP+ relate to Codex Alimentarius?
Annex C maps every Codex preliminary step and the seven HACCP principles to clauses of the standard: hazard analysis (4.7), CCPs (4.9), critical limits (4.10), monitoring (4.11), corrective actions (4.12), verification (4.13, 4.14.4) and documentation (3.9).
References
- HACCP+ Standard, version 01/2026 (PDF, PL) — normative text.
- HACCP+ Standard, version 001/2021 (PDF, EN) — structure and contents.
- HACCP+ system presentation (PDF, PL).
- Codex Alimentarius — General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969).
- Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, No 852/2004, No 183/2005, No 767/2009; Regulation (EU) 2018/848; Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).
- ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 37001, ISO 14064-1, ISO 14067; GHG Protocol; PAS 2050, PAS 2060.
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