The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) has announced two new calls for participation in Technical Working Groups (TWG) aimed at advancing work on Food Service/Catering and Regional Outreach with GFSI.

1. Food Service/Catering Technical Working Group

Length of mandate: 1 year

No. of positions: 21 (4 Food Service/Catering, 4 Retailers, 3 Manufacturers, 4 Accreditation Body/Certification Body, 3 Service Providers, 3 Academics/Regulators)

Mandate: Review and where appropriate, modify the details of the standard Food Safety Management and Good Manufacturing benchmarking requirements common to all the scopes, so as to meet the demands of this scope.

Frequency of meetings and commitment: Applicants must have permission from their organisation to be involved in at least two face-to-face meetings. Some conference calls may also take place between meetings.

First face-to-face meetings scheduled: Düsseldorf, Germany from September 15-16, 2015; Berlin, Germany from March 3-4, 2016.

2. GFSI Regional Outreach Technical Working Group

Length of mandate: 18 months

No. of Positions: 10 (2 Manufacturers, 2 Retailers, 2 Accreditation Bodies/Certification Bodies, 2 Service Providers, 2 Academics/Regulators)

Mandate: The GFSI board has mandated this working group to consider GFSI's global reach over the next five years. The group's aim will be to develop a strategy and action plan for GFSI's local group network, including the following specific aspects:

Identify measurable KPIs for GFSI local groups

Identify tools for measurement of those KPIs

Work with current GFSI local groups to develop governance models allowing for increased opportunities for engagement of all GFSI stakeholders

Identify key elements for GFSI focus days toolkit including objectives, outreach, and programme development

Frequency of meetings and commitment: Applicants must have permission from their organisation to be involved in at two face-to-face meetings. Some conference calls may also take place between meetings.

First face-to-face meetings scheduled: Düsseldorf, Germany from September 15-16, 2015; Berlin, Germany from March 3-4, 2016.

Eligibility

Applicants must be employed by an organization that agrees to sponsor their participation in the TWG.

All costs and expenses for participants’ participation in any or all activities of GFSI must be covered by the organizations that they represent.

TWG will be accepting applications from May 29, 2015 through June 19, 2015.