ISO 22005 certification and requirements for traceability you can prove, lot by lot.

What it is

What is ISO 22005 and what is it used for?

ISO 22005 is the ISO standard for traceability in the feed and food chain. It sets out the principles and the basic requirements for designing and implementing a traceability system, so that an organisation can document where a product came from, what happened to it and where it is now. Part of the ISO 22000 family, it uses the Codex Alimentarius definition of traceability and applies at any step, from primary production to consumption, leaving each business to set its own objectives.

Companies use it to recall product quickly and precisely, to prove origin or specification claims, and to give auditors a system they can test. It treats traceability as a tool inside a wider management system, so it sits naturally beside ISO 22000, FSSC 22000 and HACCP, with a narrower scope: no hazard analysis, only proof of where each lot has been.

Current edition. ISO 22005:2007, published in July 2007, is the first and current edition; ISO last confirmed it in March 2022. In March 2025 the responsible ISO subcommittee decided to hold off on a revision while it follows related Codex work, and no revised edition or transition has been announced. Organisations implement and are certified against the 2007 edition.

Who it is for

Who needs ISO 22005 certification?

No single rule makes ISO 22005 compulsory everywhere, yet traceability itself is expected at every link of the chain. The certificate matters most where a buyer or a market wants that expectation proven by an independent body. Food and feed businesses usually reach us from one of four directions:

• A customer wants origin and lot history you can prove. Retailers, brand owners and importers want the path from raw material to dispatched pallet shown, and a certified system answers before they ask.
• A tender or a supply programme names ISO 22005. Some tenders, cooperatives and export programmes score or require certified traceability. Confirm the scope and accreditation expected first.
• Regulators and inspectors test your one-step-back, one-step-forward records. Where food law expects operators to identify their suppliers and customers, a designed system turns that obligation into records that reconcile. We work alongside your legal advisers on what the law requires.
• A group company or parent wants one traceability method across sites. Different codes and software make a group recall slow; one tested design gives headquarters one answer.

You gain speed when something goes wrong and credibility when nothing has, provided the system is used every shift.

Requirements

What are the main ISO 22005 requirements?

ISO 22005 is a short standard. After scope, references and definitions, it moves from the principles and objectives of traceability to the design of the system and then to its implementation. The list below maps the areas as ISO titles them; your system is checked against the full standard during the programme.

• Principles: the system must be verifiable, cost effective, practical to apply and compliant with any regulation or policy that applies to you.
• Objectives: decide what traceability is for, such as supporting food safety, meeting customer specifications, proving origin, enabling withdrawal or recall, or identifying the responsible organisation.
• General design considerations: design traceability inside your broader management system, not as a separate filing exercise.
• Regulatory and policy requirements: identify the legal, customer and company rules that shape what you must record.
• Products and ingredients: define the products, ingredients and materials the system covers and how each lot is identified.
• Steps for the design: establish your position in the chain, document the flow of materials, and define the information to be recorded at each step.
• Procedures and documentation: set the procedures that run the system and determine the documents needed to achieve its objectives.
• Implementation: put the designed system into daily operation, with responsibilities, training and the records that show it works.

Certification process

How do you get ISO 22005 certified?

The system is designed, used and tested first; only then does an accredited certification body assess it. Sterling supports design, build and preparation, while the certification body audits and takes the decision, which is exactly what gives a traceability certificate its value to a buyer.

1. 01
   Set the objectives and the boundary.Agree what traceability must achieve, which products, sites and steps it covers, and which customer, legal and certification expectations apply.
2. 02
   Gap analysis: review current traceability against the requirements.Existing lot coding, records, software and supplier data are tested against the standard, and actions, owners and dates are agreed.
3. 03
   Design and implement the system.Map the material flows, fix the lot identification rules, write the procedures, train the people and start recording in daily work.
4. 04
   Test, audit and review.Timed traceability exercises backwards and forwards, mass balance checks, internal audit and management review; weaknesses are found by us first and closed with evidence.
5. 05
   Complete the independent certification.Where your market offers it, an accredited certification body audits the system and decides; in Italy, for example, bodies are accredited for ISO 22005 under ISO/IEC 17065 by the national accreditation body.

Check the route before you sign. Ask which certification body will audit, which accreditation body accredits it specifically for ISO 22005, and under which scheme, then confirm it on the accreditation body's own register. Where accredited ISO 22005 certification is not offered in your market, ask whether ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000 certification, both of which test traceability, answers your customer better. How to choose a credible provider · The certification buyer's checklist

Cost

How much does ISO 22005 certification cost?

Cost depends on how far material must be followed: a single-product packer needs far less work than a feed business that blends, reworks and splits lots across sites. Every Sterling proposal shows each component and one all-inclusive proposal.

Timeline

How long does ISO 22005 certification take?

A traceability system proves itself only through use: lots have to be coded, moved and recorded over enough production, and tests have to be run and repeated, before an auditor will trust it. As an estimate, most organisations need two to five months, less where coding and supplier records already work, more where the line or the software must change.

If a customer audit or tender date is fixed, tell us at the first call. We will say plainly what is achievable, and which decisions need to be made early to protect the date.

Your engagement

What your ISO 22005 engagement includes

Your agreed scope covers everything the traceability system and the people who run it need, delivered by one Sterling team for one all-inclusive proposal. Sterling does not certify; an independent, accredited certification body audits your system and decides.

• Objectives, gap analysis and plan

  Traceability objectives, scope and a dated plan with owners, agreed before work begins.

• Flow mapping and procedures

  Material flows, lot identification rules and procedures built with your production, stores and dispatch teams.

• Effivity ISO & GRC software

  Documents, registers, tests and actions run in Effivity from day one, included with the engagement at no additional cost.

• Training for everyone

  Internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.

• Traceability tests and internal audit

  Timed exercises in both directions and an internal audit, with every weakness closed with evidence.

• Certification readiness and support

  Preparation for the certification body's audit and support until its decision.

The work follows Sterling OS™. You choose the support level: Design™, where we guide and your team builds, or Drive™, where we manage the build with your team; they are alternatives, not stages. Automate™ is Effivity, running the system from the start. After certification, Sustain™ keeps tests, audits and supplier data current.

Certification decisions remain with the independent certification body.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with ISO 22005

• AEOAuthorised Economic Operator (AEO) readiness: what customs examines, who can apply and how Sterling prepares your controls and evidence for the customs visit.
• BRCGS Food SafetyBRCGS Food Safety certification consulting for food manufacturers: HACCP plan, site standards and controls ready for a graded audit, announced or unannounced.
• BRCGS Storage and Distribution · Agents and BrokersBRCGS Storage and Distribution certification and Agents and Brokers: Issue 4 and Issue 3 requirements, scopes, audits and cost factors, with Sterling's support.
• C-TPATC-TPAT requirements and validation readiness for US importers and overseas suppliers: the Minimum Security Criteria, CBP's process and how Sterling helps.
• CBAMCBAM compliance and requirements explained: authorised declarant status, the 50-tonne threshold, verified embedded emissions and how Sterling helps you prepare.
• EcoVadisEcoVadis rating consulting: evidence on environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement, prepared for the assessment EcoVadis runs.