ISO 22000 certification in the Netherlands and Europe: RvA accreditation, EU food law and retail schemes

Why food businesses in the Netherlands and Europe pursue ISO 22000

For a Dutch food business selling across borders, a food safety certificate is often the entry ticket. A dairy ingredient plant, a bakery supplying private label, a cold store serving export routes or a packaging converter in Twente will typically be asked for it in a customer's supplier approval file, next to the specification and the HACCP study.

The request takes three forms. Some customers accept ISO 22000 itself as proof of a structured food safety management system. Others, mostly retailers and large brand owners, write "GFSI-recognised" into their supplier programme, which points to FSSC 22000 or IFS Food. Many Dutch firms near the German border hear the question first from a German buyer. Which of the three applies decides the project, so settle it before the gap analysis.

Accreditation in the Netherlands and Europe, and checking a certificate

ISO 22000 certificates are issued by certification bodies, and in the Netherlands those bodies are accredited by the RvA, an independent, not-for-profit administrative body. The RvA keeps a public register of accreditations with separate lists of suspensions and withdrawals.

For food safety, the accreditation that matters is specific: a body certifying food safety management systems works to ISO/IEC 17021-1 and to ISO 22003-1, which sets the food chain categories, auditor competence and audit time. Check that the accreditation scope names ISO 22000 and your food chain category. The guide to choosing a certification body goes through the questions.

Across the EU, each country has one national accreditation body, and the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) maintains the multilateral agreement under which accreditations are accepted between its members. EA states that it holds recognition within Global ACI, which took over from the IAF and ILAC arrangements on 1 January 2026. The RvA's own entry on the Global ACI list could not be confirmed, so check it on the RvA and Global ACI sites if a customer outside Europe asks. In Germany the counterpart is DAkkS, which states that it signs the Global ACI arrangement.

EU food hygiene law and the European retail schemes

Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs requires food business operators after primary production to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles. ISO 22000 does not replace it; it wraps the HACCP procedure in prerequisite programmes, a validated hazard control plan, traceability, recall testing, internal audit and management review. The comparison of HACCP, ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 covers the differences.

The retail schemes change the target. FSSC 22000 is ISO 22000 plus the ISO 22002 prerequisite programmes for the sector and the scheme's additional requirements, recognised by GFSI; Version 7 was published on 1 May 2026, with Version 6 audits allowed until 30 April 2027. IFS Food began in 2003 with the German retail federation HDE and the French federation FCD and scores every requirement. A plant supplying German or French private label should confirm which scheme the customer names before it chooses ISO 22000 alone.

Local practice that changes the project

Records in Dutch, audits in the language of the floor

CCP and PRP monitoring sheets are filled in on the line, so they belong in the language the operators read: usually Dutch, sometimes with translated versions for agency staff. Ask the certification body for an auditor who can read them, or plan for an interpreter.

Several sites, one system

Groups with plants in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany can seek one certificate, but ISO 22003-1 governs multi-site sampling and audit time by food chain category, and a processing site is audited differently from a warehouse. Agree the site list with the body early.

How Sterling works in the Netherlands

Dutch and European food businesses are supported from Sterling's office in Enschede, backed by 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries since 2003 and offices in 21 countries. Sterling does not certify: an independent, accredited certification body audits your plant and decides.

ISO 22000 in the Netherlands and Europe: questions buyers ask