GMP+ FSA Maturity · Feed Safety Assurance
Your feed safety, measured against GMP+ FSA and turned into an action plan.
10 themes, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
GMP+ FSA Maturity · Feed Safety Assurance
10 themes, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (GMP+ FSA), module of the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
This mechanism, a level, the level above, and the action that links the two, is what turns a finding into a trajectory.
Is the monitoring plan for undesirable substances defined, justified and put to use?
- N1
No formalised plan. Analyses are carried out on an ad hoc basis, at a client’s request or after an incident.
- N2
A plan exists for the main materials, but the substances selected and the frequencies are not justified by hazard analysis. Results are filed without being used.
- N3
The plan covers the materials and substances arising from hazard analysis, with documented frequencies. Results are compared against action limits and exceedances trigger a hold.
- N4
The plan is revised according to results, sector alerts and supplier changes. Trends by material and origin are tracked and presented at review.
- N5
The plan is risk driven: easing or tightening of frequencies is documented by historical data, decisions are traceable, and lessons learned are shared with suppliers and other chain participants.
Action to move from level 2 to level 3
Redo the hazard analysis material by material to justify each substance/frequency pairing, embed GMP+ action limits in the plan, and add review of results and holds to the monthly quality meeting.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurementon GMP.
What this framework covers
GMP+ FSA is the safety module of the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme, run by GMP+ International. It combines a feed safety management system, a full HACCP approach, traceability and hygiene prerequisite requirements, and product standards with action limits for undesirable substances. Requirements are broken down by activity: production of compound feed and premixes, ingredient production, storage and transhipment, road, inland waterway and sea transport, and trading. Certification is issued by an accredited certification body, based on the GMP+ documents applicable to the declared scope.
In practice, the difficulty rarely comes from the framework itself: it comes from the chain. Are all your ingredient suppliers covered by a recognised status, and is control actually exercised over the others, or only on paper? Does the monitoring plan genuinely cover the undesirable substances relevant to your materials, at the right frequencies? Are transporters and tank or hold cleaning procedures actually verified, or inherited from a practice never reassessed? When an action limit is exceeded, who decides on the hold, within what timeframe, and with what traceability?
The European regulatory context sits alongside GMP+ without replacing it. Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 requires registration or approval of feed sector establishments and the application of HACCP principles. GMP+ FSA goes further: product standards, alert mechanisms between participants, and incident and recall management across the chain. A common confusion is treating GMP+ as a mere equivalent of regulatory hygiene, when the scheme also commits the organisation on purchasing, transport and reporting information to other participants.
The certification audit concludes with a finding: compliant, non compliant, major or minor non conformity. The maturity assessment answers a different question: what level of control does each practice sit at, and what specific action moves it up to the next level. Across a multi-site group, it allows business units to be compared against each other and progress to be measured from one exercise to the next, before a gap turns into a non conformity raised during the audit.
The framework is ready to use in Datamensio and adaptable to your scope. AI adjusts themes, questions and levels according to your certified activities, transport or trading for example, or builds a tailored version from your own HACCP manuals and monitoring plans.
Reference standard: GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (GMP+ FSA), module of the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme
The themes assessed
Feed safety management system
Policy and management commitment, declared scope and certified activities, responsibilities and authorities, documentation and record control, management review.
HACCP and hazard analysis
Team and competencies, product descriptions and flow diagrams, identification of chemical, physical and microbiological hazards, determination of critical points, critical limits, monitoring and validation.
Prerequisites and facility hygiene
Design and condition of premises and equipment, cleaning and disinfection, pest control, foreign body control, allergen and cross-contamination management, personnel hygiene.
Purchasing, suppliers and recognised statuses
Supplier evaluation and approval, use of GMP+ recognised statuses, purchasing specifications, incoming checks, management of ingredients derived from co-products.
Product standards and monitoring plan
Undesirable substances monitored, action limits and legal limits, sampling frequencies and plans, laboratories and analytical methods, use of results and trends.
Traceability, storage and identification
Upstream and downstream batch traceability, product and silo identification, flow separation, retention and returns management, traceability tests and reporting times.
Transport, transhipment and previous cargoes
Transporter selection and monitoring, cleaning regimes for tanks, trucks and holds, previous cargo checks, transport documents, road, inland waterway and sea chartering.
Control of non conforming products and incident management
Hold and release decisions, notification to participants and authorities, withdrawal and recall, crisis management, root cause investigations.
Competencies, training and outsourcing
Skills matrix, training and awareness plans, qualification of key operators, oversight of activities outsourced to third parties.
Internal audits, complaints and continuous improvement
Internal audit programme covering certified activities, customer complaint handling, corrective actions and verification of their effectiveness, tracking of indicators over time.
A short version of the framework is available for the online self-assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Does this assessment grant GMP+ FSA certification?
No. Only a certification body accredited by GMP+ International can issue the certificate after an audit. The assessment measures the maturity of your practices, documents gaps, and produces the action plan that prepares for that audit.
How does this differ from a GMP+ internal audit?
The internal audit checks whether requirements are met and concludes with a compliance finding or a gap. The assessment places each practice on a progressive scale and identifies the action that moves it up a level. The two work together: the assessment prioritises the work, the audit checks it.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete. The full version, run collaboratively with quality, purchasing and logistics managers, typically spans one to two weeks, with most of the time spent gathering information from each site.
Does the framework cover transport and trading activities?
Yes. The transport, transhipment and purchasing themes allow a non processing scope to be assessed. You can restrict the assessment to the activities actually declared and exclude questions outside that scope.
Can the framework be adapted to our activities and documents?
Yes. Questions, levels and themes can be modified. AI adjusts the grid to your certified activities or builds a tailored version from your HACCP manuals, monitoring plans and transport procedures.
How does GMP+ FSA fit with Regulation (EC) No 183/2005?
Both rest on the same principles of hygiene, HACCP and traceability, with GMP+ requirements going further on product standards and the chain. A cross-cutting roadmap consolidates both assessments and avoids addressing the same actions twice.
Can several sites be compared with each other?
Yes. The score per theme allows plants, silos and entities within the same group to be compared, and each one’s progress to be tracked from one exercise to the next. AI groups the gaps into a consolidated roadmap for the group.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, backed up with Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European solutions.