An onsite audit of a supplier must be performed by a qualified auditor.

If the raw material or other ingredient at the supplier is subject to one or more FDA food safety regulations, an onsite audit must consider such regulations and include a review of the supplier's written plan (e.g., Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan or other food safety plan), if any, and its implementation, for the hazard being controlled (or, when applicable, an onsite audit may consider 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).

The following may be substituted for an onsite audit, provided that the inspection was conducted within 1 year of the date that the onsite audit would have been required to be conducted:

The written results of an appropriate inspection of the supplier for compliance with applicable FDA food safety regulations by FDA, by representatives of other Federal Agencies (such as the United States Department of Agriculture), or by representatives of State, local, tribal, or territorial agencies; or

For a foreign supplier, the written results of an inspection by FDA or the food safety authority 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.

For inspections conducted by the food safety authority of a country whose food safety system FDA has officially recognized as comparable or determined to be equivalent, the food that is the subject of the onsite audit must be within the scope of the official recognition or equivalence determination, and the foreign supplier must be in, and under the regulatory oversight of, such country.

If the onsite audit is solely conducted to meet the requirements of this subpart by an audit agent of a certification body that is accredited in accordance with regulations in part 1, subpart M of this chapter, the audit is not subject to the requirements in those regulations.

At 80 FR 56145, Sept. 17, 2015, § 117.435 was added, effective Nov. 16, 2015, except for paragraph (d). FDA will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date for this paragraph.