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QS-report Insert Facts, Figures and Data
| issue march/2015
FIAS-participating companies by production scope (as of Dec 2014)
2,584
registered
companies
food and seed potato production
15%
fruit production
41%
fruit and vegetable production
9%
wholesale
1%
vegetable production
34%
Current numbers of the QS
scheme can be found in the
internet at
www.q-s.deunder
„Publications“.
Just over a year after the start of the pilot project on the voluntary
QS inspection of working and social conditions (FIAS), the first in-
terim result is wholly positive. Since the beginning of 2014, 2,584
producers and 60 wholesalers in the fruit, vegetables, potatoes
supply chain have registered for an inspection of their implemen-
tation of working and social conditions for external employees.
In the inspections performed, the requirements placed on compa-
nies were achieved in almost 90 percent of all cases. The survey
of coordinators and certification bodies on the practicability and
response from participating companies, which took place at the
same time, confirms that FIAS is well received by those involved
in the industry.
Working and social criteria
FIAS project well on track
The initial idea to execute the pilot pro-
ject came from companies. After repea-
ted requests from the participants for a
practice-oriented inspection of company
working and social conditions, the QS Social
Module was developed.
With this, scheme participants can volun-
tarily allow their social management to be
appraised according to uniform principles
in an independent inspection. Companies in
food retail who require the social manage-
ment of their suppliers to be checked wel-
come the implementation via QS.
Practical implementation
FIAS can be used by all scheme partici-
pants involved in production, transport or
trading in the fruit, vegetables, potatoes
supply chain in the QS scheme, i.e.
producers, wholesalers and food retailers.
The inspection can only be conducted in
combination with a QS or QS-GAP audit, but
it is not a mandatory requirement for parti-
cipating in the QS scheme. The result has
no effect on the eligibility of delivery in the
QS scheme.
The internal scheme participant search in
the QS database shows which companies
are participating in FIAS. Furthermore, the
participants themselves can take action
and communicate the overall result of their
inspection individually to other selected
scheme participants (e.g. their customers)
by granting them read rights. Sensitive
company data in the QS database remains
protected from unauthorised access.
Continuation of the pilot phase
The FIAS pilot phase will be continued this
year. Since 1 January 2015, the contents
of the FIAS checklist are identical to the
German interpretation guideline of the
GlobalG.A.P. social module GRASP (2015
version). Furthermore, some new require-
ments were added to the FIAS guideline
with the 2015 revisions. These are listed
in the revision information under “Docu-
ments and More” on the QS website. New
supporting documents and templates to
assist scheme participants in implemen-
ting FIAS are also provided here.
Criteria which are checked at FIAS
• Employment contract
• Information of employees
• Working time recording
• Storage possibilities
• Complaints procedure
• Compliance with ILO-core
labour standards
• Rooms for break and and stand-by
• Changing facilities
• Accommodation of employees
QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH
Responsible for the content:
Dr. Hermann-Josef Nienhoff
Schedestraße 1-3, 53113 Bonn
Phone: +49 (0) 228 35068-0
Fax: +49 (0) 228 35068-10
E-Mail:
info@q-s.deOnline:
www.q-s.de/home-gb
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