CRITERIA FOR A NOFOTA RECOGNISED SUPERINTENDENT COMPANY PER 1 JANUARY 2025
Independence
1. The superintendent company shall not be engaged in any way in the trade of products typical the domain of NOFOTA and guarantees to operate fully independently from any other company in executing its activities under the NOFOTA Trading Rules. In case of one or more sister companies with other activities in the domain of NOFOTA (e.g. laboratory), these companies shall operate fully independently from the superintendence activities.
General conditions/insurance
2. All activities of the superintendent company shall be subject to its general conditions valid on the date of the activity and deposited either with the relevant District Court or with the relevant Chamber of Commerce or published on the companies website, which is easily accessible and findable. 3. The superintendent company shall cover its liability insurance with first class underwriters as appropriate to the services performed. It must be clear from the liability insurance policy that the recognised company is covered. In case the recognised company falls under a consolidated policy it should be clear from the insurance policy that the recognised company is covered, and that mutual intercompany liability is not ruled out.
Operational/technical
4. The superintendent company shall operate professionally in executing its activities within the trade of products typical the domain of NOFOTA. Subject to the Principal’s agreement, subcontracting shall only be allowed to another NOFOTA recognized superintendent company.
5. The superintendent company shall comply with the “FOSFA Code of Practice for Member Superintendents” (latest version), the ISO 5555:2001 for sampling of animal and vegetable oils and fats and with the applicable legal requirements. The superintendent company shall assure that all his equipment is in good condition, fit for their purpose and if relevant calibrated (f.i. thermometers).
6. The superintendent company shall have relevant knowledge of the NOFOTA Trading Rules as well as of relevant local and international law and regulations.
Certification
7. The superintendent company shall be certified for all its operations in accordance with ISO standard 9001 (latest version) or equivalent. This implies that the superintendent company shall operate with fully qualified staff and/or contractors at the highest standard customary in the country of operation and provide structural training facilities to its staff members for continuous improvement of its level of service and operations.
Application/duration/extension
8. A superintendent company applying for or operating under NOFOTA recognition shall be a member of the Association.
9. Initial NOFOTA recognition shall be subject to an audit by auditors to be appointed by the NOFOTA Technical Committee. Recognition will be granted by the NOFOTA Council, after positive advice from the Technical committee.
10. After recognition is granted the superintendent company will be requested every three years to fill in a questionnaire and deliver it together with their latest ISO certificate and audit report to the NOFOTA Secretariat.
11. If a physical audit is deemed to be necessary, the Technical Committee of NOFOTA will inform the company with a date of such audit.
12. If a superintendent does not comply with the aforementioned criteria, based on a physical or administrative audit and has received two warnings, NOFOTA holds the right to withdraw their recognition.
13. The recognition may be withdrawn at any time by the NOFOTA Council at its discretion.
Liability
14. Any liability of NOFOTA for or resulting from the (non-) recognition of a superintendent company is excluded.
CRITERIA FOR A NOFOTA RECOGNISED TANKSTORAGE COMPANY PER 1 JANUARY 2025
Independence
1. The storage company shall not be engaged in any way in the trade of products typical the domain of NOFOTA and guarantees to operate fully independently from any other company in executing its activities under the NOFOTA Trading Rules. In case of one or more sister companies with other activities in the domain of NOFOTA (e.g. superintendence), these companies shall operate fully independently from the storage activities.
General conditions/insurance/certification
2. The tank storage company’s approved releases shall be those reproduced in the NOFOTA Trading Rules, latest edition.
3. All activities of the tank storage company shall be subject to its general conditions valid on the date of the activity and deposited either with the relevant District Court or with the relevant Chamber of Commerce or published on the companies website, which is easily accessible and findable.
4. The tank storage company shall cover its liability insurance with first class underwriters as appropriate to the services performed. It must be clear from the liability insurance policy that the recognised company is covered. In case the recognised company falls under a consolidated policy it should be clear from the insurance policy that the recognised company is covered, and that mutual intercompany liability is not ruled out.
5. The tank storage company shall be certified for its operations in accordance with minimal ISO 9001 (latest version):
- In case the tank storage company facilitates the storage of food products the company should also be ISO 22000 (latest version) or equivalent certified.
- In case the tank installation facilitates the storage of feed products the company should also be GMP+ International (or equivalent) certified.
- In case the tank installation stores only non-food/non-feed products (technical oils & fats products) the company should at least have ISO 9001 (latest version) certification.
This implies that the tank storage company shall operate with fully qualified staff and/or contractors at the highest standard customary in the country of operation and provide structural training facilities to its staff members for continuous improvement of its level of service and operations.
Administration
6. The tank storage company shall be equipped to render the contractual administrative assistance to the trade as provided in the current edition of the NOFOTA Trading Rules. This includes the availability of an administrative batch tracking and tracing system enabling its principals and cargo-owners/-receivers to retrieve the full history of their cargoes from the moment these were brought under the custody of the tank storage company.
7. The tank storage company shall have facilities to allow for administrative work in connection with requirements from fiscal authorities, including financial security with those authorities.
Operational/technical
8. In case of storage of food products the previous cargoes in the tanks, lines and pump systems used for storage and handling of the oils at the tank storage company must have been a product in accordance with the E.U. Commission Regulation 579/2014 or any successive Directive in force at the time of the actual storage of the goods. All materials and equipment (tanks, lines, pipes, pumps and valves, including sampling apparatus etc.) used for storage and handling of other products shall be completely separated.
9. The tank storage company shall have available officially gauged/ calibrated facilities for establishing quantity and shall offer adequate sampling facilities.
Application/duration/extension
10. A storage company applying for and operating under NOFOTA recognition shall be a member of the Association.
11. Initial NOFOTA recognition shall be subject to an audit by auditors to be appointed by the NOFOTA Technical Committee and will be granted upon proposal of the Technical Committee by the NOFOTA Council for a 3 year period.
12. After recognition is granted the storage company will be requested every three years to fill in a questionnaire and deliver it together with their latest ISO certificate and audit report to the NOFOTA Secretariat.
13. If a physical audit is deemed to be necessary, the Technical Committee of NOFOTA will inform the company with a date of such audit.
14. If a storage company does not comply with the aforementioned criteria, based on a physical or administrative audit and has received two warnings, NOFOTA holds the right to withdraw their recognition.
15. The recognition may be withdrawn at any time by the NOFOTA Council at its discretion. The recognition remains in place for all parcels stored prior to the date of withdrawal. Parcels stored after the withdrawal has been published to the members are no longer subject to recognition.
Liability
16. Any liability of NOFOTA for or resulting from the (non-) recognition of a tank storage company is excluded.
CRITERIA FOR A NOFOTA RECOGNIZED LABORATORY PER 1 JANUARY 2024
Independence
1. The laboratory shall not be engaged in any way in the trade of products typical the domain of NOFOTA and guarantees to operate fully independently from any other company in executing its activities under the NOFOTA Trading Rules. In case of one or more sister companies with other activities in the domain of NOFOTA (e.g. superintendence), these companies shall operate fully independently from the laboratory activities.
General conditions/insurance
2. All activities of the laboratory shall be subject to its general conditions valid on the date of the activity and deposited either with the relevant District Court or with the relevant Chamber of Commerce or published on the companies website, which is easily accessible and findable.
3. The laboratory shall cover its liability insurance with first class underwriters as appropriate to the services performed. It must be clear from the liability insurance policy that the recognised company is covered. In case the recognised company falls under a consolidated policy it should be clear from the insurance policy that the recognised company is covered, and that mutual intercompany liability is not ruled out.
Operational/technical
4. The laboratory shall be accredited in accordance with the latest version of ISO 17025. The laboratory shall operate professionally in executing its activities within the trade of products typical the domain of NOFOTA. Analyses for which instructions have been given by a client shall be made by the laboratory instructed. Subject to the Principal’s agreement subcontracting of standard analysis shall only be allowed to another NOFOTA recognized laboratory.
5. The laboratory shall have relevant knowledge of the NOFOTA Trading Rules as well as of relevant local and international law and regulations.
6. Methods of analyses shall be documented and valid. If analyses are done in connection with the NOFOTA Trading Rules or any contract incorporating NOFOTA Arbitration, the laboratories shall use the NOFOTA Standards of Analyses. If no NOFOTA Standard of Analyses is available, the laboratory at least shall demonstrate that the method of analysis is suitable to determine the desired analyses or properties in a reliable and accurate way, by means of method validation.
7. Reporting of the analysis results to the client shall be done in writing (by means of an original certificate of the laboratory with an authorized signature) within a reasonable time.
Types of recognition/application/duration/extension
8. The NOFOTA recognition scheme for laboratories consists of a standard recognition, relating to the standard contractual analyses.
9. A laboratory applying for and operating under NOFOTA recognition shall be a member of the Association.
10. The laboratory shall participate in the yearly organized ring test. In order to judge laboratories on their correctness and reproducibility in standard and specific analyses, NOFOTA has decided to align to the yearly FOSFA Proficiency Test for the Oils and Fats section, under the condition that the results of the Proficiency Test for the NOFOTA laboratories are made available to NOFOTA. NOFOTA can decide to replace the aforementioned yearly ring test by a blind ring test or an additional ring test organized by NOFOTA.
11. Initial NOFOTA recognition shall be subject to an audit by auditors to be appointed by the NOFOTA Technical Committee and will be granted upon proposal of the Technical Committee by the NOFOTA Council for a 3 year period.
12. After recognition is granted the laboratory will be requested every three years to fill in a questionnaire and deliver it together with their list of accredited analyses and their latest ISO audit report to the NOFOTA Secretariat.
13. If a physical audit is deemed to be necessary, the Technical Committee of NOFOTA will inform the company with a date of such audit.
14. If a laboratory does not comply with the aforementioned criteria, based on a physical or administrative audit and has received two warnings, NOFOTA holds the right to withdraw their recognition.
15. The recognition may be withdrawn at any time by the NOFOTA Council at its discretion.
Liability
16. Any liability of NOFOTA for or resulting from the (non-) recognition of a laboratory is excluded.