cGDP Certification: Food Storage & Distribution Audits

cGDP (current Good Distribution Practices) certification confirms that a warehouse or distribution site meets Kiwa ASI's cGDP Audit Program – Storage and Distribution. It's a HACCP-based standard founded on 21 CFR Part 117 that covers the food safety management system, 15 areas of good distribution practice and the HACCP plan, plus a mock recall completed in under two hours. Sites that score 70% or higher are certified, with an audit every year.

Current Good Distribution Practices: the conditions and practices for handling, storing and distributing food and food contact products under sanitary conditions. "Current" means applying up-to-date practices. In FDA's rules these practices sit within 21 CFR Part 117, including §117.93, which requires storage and transportation of food to protect against allergen cross-contact, contamination and deterioration of the food and its container.

Sites that receive, store and ship packaged food or food contact products: food warehouses and distribution centers, 3PL providers, distributors and wholesalers, cold storage facilities, cross-docks and freight terminals, and fulfillment centers. Certification is voluntary, but customers often ask warehouse and distribution partners for a third-party food safety audit. Sites that manufacture or process food need a cGMP Food Processing audit instead.

No. cGDP certification is voluntary, and the standard says its criteria can't be used in place of regulatory requirements. Warehouses still have to meet the FDA and USDA rules that apply to them, such as the current good manufacturing practices in 21 CFR Part 117 and, for shippers, loaders, receivers and carriers, FDA's sanitary transportation rule (21 CFR Part 1, Subpart O).

No. cGDP is Kiwa ASI's own audit standard. It isn't GFSI-benchmarked or accredited. It draws on best practices from FSMA, Codex Alimentarius, ISO standards and GFSI-benchmarked schemes. If a customer requires GFSI-recognized certification, Kiwa ASI also offers SQF Storage and Distribution certification and BRCGS Storage and Distribution audits.

Version 2.0 took effect on January 1, 2026, replacing the version 1.1 program from 2018; certificates issued before then stay valid until they expire. It organizes the requirements into three modules, states them in measurable terms, and adds or expands management commitment and food safety culture (1.1), business licensing (1.5), certification integrity (1.6), electronic records, allergen management in distribution, environmental monitoring, one-forward and one-back traceability exercises, and a FSMA Food Safety Plan requirement (3.13). Scoring and ratings didn't change. See the 2.0 change summary.

A certification audit takes at least one full day (about 8 hours), and a scope extension audit at least half a day. Audits are planned in half-day increments and quoted during the application, based on facility size and any satellite sites, the number of employees, product types and HACCP plans, and the scope. Duration is reviewed every year.

During the audit, you trace a product one step back to the Ship-From vendor and one step forward to the Ship-To customer, accounting for 100% of the affected product, in under two hours with the auditor present. The exercise covers product identification, lot numbers, quantities received, in house and shipped, and lot linkage on mixed pallets. It doesn't count as your own annual mock recall, which the standard also requires.

The audit starts at 100%. Each minor nonconformity deducts 1%, each major 5% and a critical 100%, so any critical fails the audit. Ratings are Excellent (90–100%), Good (80–89%), Complies (70–79%) and Fails (0–69%). A certificate is issued at 70% or higher, and two Excellent ratings in a row earn a Superior rating.

A clear deficiency that could cause serious illness or death, or any falsification of food safety records. Examples in the standard include active or likely contamination of products, live rodents in the facility, allergen mislabeling or cross-contact, use of non-potable water on product contact surfaces, equipment out of calibration that could lead to unsafe food, improper chemical use that could contaminate product, and anything that would make the site start a recall or withdrawal.

No. Corrective actions aren't required to receive a certificate, but Kiwa ASI strongly recommends root cause analysis and corrective and preventive action. Findings that aren't corrected can be cited as repeat nonconformities, and auditors can upgrade them, for example from minor to major, at recertification.

cGDP audits are annual. The certificate expires 30 days after the one-year anniversary of the last certification audit. Because technical review can run past that date, schedule your audit early enough to avoid a lapse in certification.

At least 60 days of receiving and shipping records; if you can't provide them, Kiwa ASI can decide whether to continue or stop the audit. Your documented programs, training records, corrective action records and HACCP or Food Safety Plan should also be current and available when the auditor arrives.

It depends on FDA's rules. A facility solely engaged in storing unexposed packaged food is exempt from the hazard analysis and preventive controls requirements of 21 CFR Part 117 (§117.7). If it stores refrigerated packaged food that needs time and temperature control for safety, it must still meet modified requirements for temperature controls, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and records (§117.206). Where FSMA's preventive controls requirements do apply, cGDP requirement 3.13 calls for a Food Safety Plan overseen by a PCQI, and a HACCP certificate alone doesn't qualify someone as a PCQI. Every cGDP site needs a HACCP plan under Module 3.

For cGDP certification, yes. Requirement 2.4.1 calls for a documented food defense plan, a threat assessment and a Food Defense Qualified Individual with formal food defense training. FDA's intentional adulteration rule (21 CFR Part 121) doesn't apply to holding food, except in liquid storage tanks, so for most warehouses the cGDP requirement goes further than the regulation.

They're sister standards in Kiwa ASI's 2.0 program, with the same three-module structure, scoring and certification rules, and both are founded on 21 CFR Part 117. The cGMP Food Processing and cGMP Food Packaging audits are for manufacturing sites. The cGDP audit is for storing and distributing packaged products, and it asks for 60 days of receiving and shipping records rather than production records.

Yes, with Kiwa ASI's written approval. Certified sites can use the ASI Certification Mark on marketing materials, websites, brochures and product displays while they're certified. It can't appear on finished product labels or packaging.

Notify the appropriate regulatory agency and Kiwa ASI within 24 hours, then share a summary of the event, updates on your investigation and the corrective actions taken. Kiwa ASI decides whether follow-up is needed to maintain certification and can withdraw certification if the recall wasn't communicated as required.

Certification is tied to the audited address, so moving to a new facility needs a new certification audit. After a sale, the new owner must notify Kiwa ASI within 30 days; if the staff responsible for the food safety system stay on, Kiwa ASI may keep the same certificate number and dates.