ISO 22000 certification in Egypt

ISO 22000 certification in Egypt at a glance

A food factory in Egypt answers to two audiences at once. The National Food Safety Authority, set up by Law No. 1 of 2017, registers factories, warehouses and other establishments and keeps a register of bodies certifying export and import consignments. Customers, meanwhile, ask for ISO 22000 as proof that hazards are controlled across the plant, and the Egyptian Accreditation Council has been recognised for it, with ISO 22003-1, since 2017. The two routes complement each other: registration is regulatory, the certificate voluntary. Beverage makers, ingredient and packaging suppliers, exporters and institutional caterers meet the same questions. Sterling's Dubai office helps plants build prerequisite programmes, hazard analysis, traceability and recall controls and run internal audits, with Effivity software and Sterling Academy training included, while an accredited certification body decides on the certificate.

Who needs ISO 22000 in Egypt, and what happens without it

In Egypt the question rarely comes from a law. It comes from the buyer, the regulator or the partner that wants proof before it signs. These are the organisations that get asked.

• Food and beverage manufacturersRetailers, brand owners and export customers ask for a certified food safety system, and NFSA registers factories separately.
• Factories registering with the National Food Safety AuthorityNFSA's site lists registration and control of factories, and a food safety system supports the controls its inspectors expect.
• Packaging, ingredient and cold-chain suppliersFood manufacturers push food safety requirements down to the suppliers around them.
• Exporters of processed foodImporting countries and buyers ask for evidence of hazard control; NFSA's site lists a register of conformity assessment bodies for export consignments.
• Caterers and institutional food-service operatorsHotels, hospitals and corporate customers ask for documented hazard control.

ISO 22000 requirements in Egypt

Strip away the vocabulary and ISO 22000 requires a company to prove six things about keeping food safe from supplier to customer.

In Egypt these six sit alongside the local laws and regulations listed under drivers below; one system can evidence both. The detail is on the global hub: ISO 22000 explained →

• ISO 22000 requirements, clause by clause in plain language
• The documents ISO 22000 expects
• ISO 22000 checklist

How to get ISO 22000 certified in Egypt

One team from the Dubai office carries the work from scoping to certificate. Clients across Egypt are served from Sterling's Dubai office, on-site where the work needs it and remotely otherwise.

1. Discovery call and scopeEntities, locations, regulators and target date, agreed before any proposal.
2. Gap assessment against ISO 22000 and the Egyptian requirements that apply to youControls you already run for your regulators and customers are reused, not rebuilt.
3. Your system built with your team in EffivityRisks, controls, evidence, incidents and reviews in one live system the auditor can see.
4. Internal audit, management review and corrective actionsYour internal auditors trained by Sterling; the evidence proven before the certification body arrives.
5. Certification body stage 1 and stage 2, then surveillanceAn accredited body audits and decides. Sterling supports the audits and the three-year cycle.

The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements.Sterling does not certify. Certification decisions stay with independent bodies.

• The ISO 22000 certification process, step by step
• ISO 22000 gap analysis
• ISO 22000 implementation plan
• ISO 22000 internal audit

How long does ISO 22000 certification take in Egypt?

There is no standard duration: it depends on your scope and on how much of the system already runs. In Egypt these are the factors that set the timeline.

• Number of product lines, sites and process steps
• State of prerequisite programmes and hygiene zoning
• Traceability, recall and supplier control maturity
• Certification body scheduling around Ramadan production peaks

Sterling agrees a dated plan with you on the discovery call, once the scope is known.

• What drives the ISO 22000 timeline
• Scope and timeline estimator

How much does ISO 22000 certification cost in Egypt?

The cost has two parts: the consulting work to build and prove the system, and the certification body’s audit fees, which are quoted separately. In Egypt these factors move both.

• Number of sites, lines and products in scope
• Premises, equipment and monitoring upgrades
• Certification body audit fees, quoted separately from consulting
• Laboratory testing used for verification

Sterling gives one customised, all-inclusive proposal after the discovery call, never before the scope is agreed.

• What makes up the cost of ISO 22000

ISO 22000 consultants and certification bodies in Egypt

Two different organisations are involved. A consultant helps you build the system and prove it works; an accredited certification body then audits or assesses it and decides. Keeping the two separate is what makes the result credible to buyers and regulators.

• Check that the body’s accreditation or approval covers ISO 22000 and your sector, and that its certificates can be verified online.
• Ask the consultant how the local requirements in Egypt are mapped into the same system, so nothing runs twice.
• Ask for client references in your sector; Sterling’s client letters are available on request.
• Agree who owns the evidence and the tool after the engagement; with Sterling the system stays yours, in Effivity.

• Choosing an ISO 22000 certification body
• How to verify an ISO 22000 certificate

ISO 22000 in Egypt: questions clients ask

More on ISO 22000 for Egyptian organisations

• ISO 22000: the complete guide
• Watch: How to implement ISO 22000
• Catering and hotels: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Feed and animal food: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Food and beverage manufacturing: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Food packaging manufacturing: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Ingredients and supplements: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Retail and wholesale: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Transport, storage and distribution: ISO 22000 for the sector
• ISO 22000 certification in Egypt and every other standard Sterling delivers there

Other standards Egyptian businesses ask Sterling for

Organisations in Egypt often combine ISO 22000 with one of these, under one management system where the scopes allow.

All 21 standards Sterling delivers in Egypt →