NSF Opens Office in Bogotá to Meet Growing Demand in Colombia’s Food Industry
BOGOTÁ, Colombia and ANN ARBOR, Mich., USA – NSF, an independent global organization with over 70 years of experience providing food safety and quality services, recently opened an office in Bogotá, Colombia to meet the growing demand for auditing, certification and training services in the country.
“NSF has provided food safety certification and auditing services in Colombia since 2012 through its offices in Costa Rica,” said Tom Chestnut, Senior Vice President, Global Food Division, NSF. “Establishing this new office will help us better serve our many clients in Colombia and the region.”
Colombia is one of Latin America’s fastest growing agricultural, food and beverage product exporters with annual sales growing by almost 30 percent, according to DANE – The National Department of Administrative Statistics in Colombia. To support this rapid growth, NSF provides auditing and certification services to Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-benchmarked standards such as SQF, BRC, IFS and FSSC 22000. These services are valuable to industry leaders and regulators who are increasingly focused on improving food safety and quality.
NSF’s new office in Bogotá will provide a variety of services to food industry customers, including:
- Certification: Certification programs for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), including BRC, IFS, SQF, FSSC 22000 and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)
- Auditing: International franchise audits for restaurants with locations throughout Latin America
- Training: Specialized training and education programs on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and a variety of food safety protocols
- Agriculture: Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification such as GLOBALG.A.P. and Primus GFS
In addition to food safety certification, NSF is a leader in providing quality management system (QMS) and environmental management systems (EMS) certification to internationally accepted standards. A subsidiary of NSF, NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR), provides registration to ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environmental) and other international quality, health and safety, and environmental standards.
“NSF has a long history and significant global expertise in delivering testing, auditing and certification services for the food industry and in providing quality management systems certification,” Chestnut said. “The Latin American region’s rapidly growing export market, coupled with the goal to produce safe, quality products for local consumption, has increased the local demand for these services. Through this office in Colombia, NSF will continue to help companies in the country ensure the quality of their products and materials by demonstrating compliance with international and regional standards.”
NSF operates in more than 170 countries, including extensive services in Latin America with offices in Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico, and laboratories in Lima, Peru and Porto Alegre, Brazil.
NSF was joined by food industry leaders and regulators to celebrate the office opening on June 15. The event featured NSF food safety and quality experts discussing:
- Wearable technology and how it will transform our way of doing business in the industry
- The importance of GFSI certifications
- BRC certification to expand export opportunities, by the BRC Americas Director, Mr. John Kukoly
- FSMA and its impact on the export of Colombian products to the United States
For additional information about services provided by NSF in Colombia, please contact Edna Martínez Barajas at edmartinez@nsf.org.
Editor’s Note: For more information, or to schedule an interview with an NSF expert, please contact Thomas Frey, APR, at media@nsf.org or call +1 734 214 6242.
About NSF: NSF (nsf.org) is a global independent organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water, health sciences and consumer goods industries to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment. Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting human health and safety worldwide. Operating in more than 170 countries, NSF is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Food Safety, Water Quality and Indoor Environment.
NSF provides expertise and accredited food services across all supply chain sectors, including agriculture, animal feed and welfare, produce, processing, distribution, dairy, seafood, quality management software, retail and restaurants. Services include Global Food Safety Initiative, foodservice equipment and nonfood compounds certification, HACCP validation and inspection, label claims verification and certification, DNA and food package testing, product and process development, food fraud consulting and training, and organic and Certified Transitional certification through Quality Assurance International (QAI). We also offer expert auditing, consulting and training.
NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR) offers comprehensive management systems registrations to internationally accepted standards for quality assurance and environmental protection for the automotive, aerospace, chemical, energy, medical and manufacturing industries (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, AS9100, IATF16949, etc.). Additional automotive services from NSF include certification for automotive parts, automotive parts distributors and collision repair shops.
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