SQF Certification for Meat & Poultry Processors

Yes. Meat and poultry plants use the SQF Food Safety Code: Animal Product Manufacturing. It combines the Module 2 System Elements with Module 9, Good Manufacturing Practices for Processing of Animal Products, and covers Food Sector Categories 7 (slaughtering, boning and butchery), 8 (manufactured meats and poultry) and 9 (seafood processing).

FSC 7, Slaughtering, Boning, and Butchery, covers slaughter, dressing, chilling, freezing and wholesaling of all animal species, including raw cuts and raw ground meat and poultry. FSC 8, Manufactured Meats and Poultry, covers products where meat or poultry is the major ingredient that are cooked, cured, smoked, dried, fermented, breaded or vacuum packed, such as hot dogs, bacon, sausages, salami and pepperoni.

Canned or retorted meat and poultry are not in FSC 8, which excludes canning. They fall under FSC 15, Canning, UHT and Aseptic Operations, audited to the SQF Food Safety Code: Food Manufacturing.

No. FSIS inspection is mandatory for establishments that slaughter or process amenable (FSIS-inspected) livestock and poultry for commerce, and FSIS rules on Sanitation SOPs, HACCP and Listeria still apply. SQF certification is voluntary and sits on top of those rules: the SQF code requires you to comply with the food law that applies to your products.

Yes, if it meets both sets of rules. SQF requires a HACCP-based food safety plan built on the Codex steps, and says a plan must also meet any regulatory food safety method you're required to follow. FSIS requires a written HACCP plan under 9 CFR 417, developed or reassessed by a person trained in applying HACCP to meat, poultry or egg products processing (417.7).

Yes, for slaughter operations. Module 9 requires humane slaughter methods approved for the species by national or international regulations, where a two-stage process is used, a stun-to-kill interval within regulatory limits, ante-mortem inspection by a qualified person, and training in animal handling and welfare for employees who care for animals before slaughter. For livestock, FSIS humane handling rules in 9 CFR Part 313 apply as well; poultry must be slaughtered under good commercial practices (9 CFR 381.65(b)).

Through environmental monitoring and segregation. Clause 2.4.8 requires a risk-based environmental monitoring program with set organisms, sites and frequency, and results that are tracked and trended. Clause 9.7.1 requires areas where product has been through a kill step to be protected from raw materials and staff who handle them. FSIS's Listeria rule (9 CFR 430.4) still sets your regulatory alternative.

Yes. FSIS determined that Salmonella at 1 colony forming unit per gram or more makes raw breaded stuffed chicken products adulterated, effective May 1, 2025. FSIS did not begin its planned November 3, 2025 verification sampling, and its December 2, 2025 notice set no new start date. Your hazard analysis should account for the determination.

No. FDA's Food Traceability Rule doesn't apply to meat, poultry and egg products during or after the time they are under USDA's exclusive jurisdiction. Shell eggs, which FDA regulates, are on the Food Traceability List. SQF certification still requires traceability and recall testing under clause 2.6.

Yes. SQF's FSC 7 covers the slaughter and processing of "all animal species and game animals for consumption." Note that game meats such as bison, deer and elk are FDA-regulated in the U.S., with voluntary, fee-for-service FSIS inspection available for certain species.

No. SQF certification is voluntary. The legal requirements are USDA FSIS inspection and rules, or a state meat and poultry inspection program for plants that sell only within their state (FDA rules apply to non-amenable species such as bison, deer and elk). A retailer, foodservice company or brand owner may still ask its meat and poultry suppliers for GFSI-recognized certification such as SQF.

Several, listed here A to Z. For meat and poultry processing (GFSI scope CI, processing of perishable animal products), GFSI recognizes BRCGS Food Safety, FSSC 22000, IFS Food and SQF, among others. Each customer decides which programs it accepts, and SQF is more common in the U.S. BRCGS Food Safety, FSSC 22000 (Version 6) and IFS Food certificates are issued by Kiwa group certification bodies, not by Kiwa ASI; ask us, and we'll check auditor coverage for your products before quoting. Each program's own scope rules decide whether your products are covered.

Yes, for the SQF Food Safety Code: Animal Product Manufacturing, Edition 9. ASI Food Safety, LLC (Kiwa ASI) is licensed by SQFI and accredited by ANAB (accreditation ID 1222) to ISO/IEC 17065 for that code. SQFI places FSC 7 and FSC 8 under that code, and ANAB's listing names codes, not food sector categories. SQF rules require an auditor registered with SQFI for your food sector category, or a registered auditor assisted by an SQFI-approved technical expert. Before we quote, we check whether we can meet that rule for your categories, and we'll tell you if we can't.

Every 12 months. Recertification audits fall within 30 days either side of the anniversary of the last day of your initial certification audit. Sites rated C – Complies (70–85) under Edition 9 also get a surveillance audit at six months, and at least one recertification audit every three years is unannounced and fully on-site.

Edition 9, for now. SQF audits use Edition 9 until Edition 10 audits begin, which SQFI says will be no earlier than January 2, 2027, depending on GFSI benchmarking. GFSI opened its public consultation on Edition 10 on September 29, 2026. A single audit won't mix requirements from both editions, and a surveillance audit that follows an Edition 9 audit stays on Edition 9, even if it falls after Edition 10 audits begin. Kiwa ASI's ANAB accreditation currently covers specific SQF Edition 9 codes, so ask which edition your first audit will use, and about our Edition 10 status, when you request a quote.

Yes, if we can meet SQF's auditor registration rule for your food sector categories, which we check before we quote. Under Edition 9, you can change to another SQFI-licensed certification body after one certification cycle (the annual period between certification audits), once all non-conformances are closed, as long as the certificate isn't suspended or under threat of suspension or withdrawal. If a surveillance audit is due, change after it. Your certification number, recertification date and unannounced audit schedule carry over, and your current certificate stays valid until it expires. Once Edition 10 applies (no earlier than January 2, 2027), you can switch after your certificate is issued and before your next audit window opens. Kiwa ASI's ANAB accreditation currently covers specific SQF Edition 9 codes, so ask us about Edition 10 status before you plan an Edition 10 transfer. Send your current certificate and your last recertification and surveillance audit reports.

Plan on at least four to five months from the day your system starts producing records, and longer if you're building it from scratch. SQFI recommends at least 90 days of records before the certification audit, the audit takes at least two days, non-conformances must be closed within 30 days, and SQF gives the certification body up to 45 days after the audit to make its certification decision. The biggest variables are whether a HACCP plan and environmental monitoring program already exist.

First-year cost can range from about $6,000 for a small, well-prepared site to $25,000 or more for a larger plant that needs outside help and upgrades. These are estimates only; your audit fee depends on the audit duration your certification body calculates. The first-year total includes the audit fee (roughly $4,500–$9,000+), SQFI registration ($650 for the Animal Product Manufacturing code, capped at $800 for two or more codes), training, any outside help and any facility upgrades.

70 out of 100 under Edition 9, with no non-conformances left outstanding. Every audit starts at 100 points; each minor non-conformance deducts 1 point, each major 5 and each critical 50. A score of 70–85 (C – Complies) adds a six-month surveillance audit, and a score below 70 or any critical non-conformance fails an initial audit.

No. Kiwa ASI audits and issues SQF certificates; it doesn't provide laboratory testing. SQF requires external testing to be done by laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 or an equivalent standard (2.4.4.2). The auditor reviews your results, such as pathogen tests on ready-to-eat product, environmental swab results and water tests, as part of the audit.