Foreign Supplier Verification Programs, or as  a simple acronym FSVP, seems like a selfexplanatory  title. But a lot more goes into a good  FSVP program than people may want to think  about. Sure, you could say you have a good FSVP  if you review documentation every year, the foreign supplier  keeps some flavor of a GFSI certificate up to date, and they  have other food safety certificates available, therefore we feel  safe, happy, and content. 

I can say firsthand that this minimum requirement may  not be enough. We should rethink how we feel about the  interconnected international systems of trade that only keep  expanding, becoming more intricate and nuanced, and decide for  ourselves if these actions once a year are enough. 

Changing, more so intensifying, our expectations of these  systems to involve deeper reviews, on-site visits, further testing,  and expanded sampling, will cost us more resources, both time  and money. But my opinion is that these actions will become  more and more necessary as the future becomes the present

We should rethink how we feel about the interconnected international systems of trade that only keep expanding, becoming more intricate and nuanced, and decide for ourselves if these actions once a year are enough

 We are already seeing this as climate change is forcing  more and more agricultural communities around the world to  struggle with harvests and yields. Climate change will easily  force coffee growing, to give one example, to become more and  more difficult with lower and lower yields. Anytime there is a  conflict between countries, or even internally within a county,  it leads to supply constraints of everything from sunflower  seeds to wheat and grain that are needed to support entire  communities, countries, and continents. These forces and  pressures that seem to be more and more common today than  in decades past may easily lead to the need to cut corners and  likely lead to an increase in food fraud numbers.

If we know these forces and pressures exist and keep to  the status quo, we are only inviting trouble down the road in  our own food supply chain sourcing pursuits. Should we be  going to more of our international suppliers to visit on-site?  Meet the people that are working in the fields and on the lines?  Humanize the humans that toil day in and day out? See what  forces exist that drives them to actions they may take? We need  to stop thinking of a commodity as a commodity that we all  take for granted when we go to the supermarket and get a 49¢  banana or a 63¢ tomato any day of the year. 

It is not worth advocating that there is a one-size-fit-all  solution to the situation at hand. I am simply asking that  everyone should take a hard look at what they are currently  doing. Perform a true risk assessment, not one where you work  towards the answer you want but lead you to the answer you  need to be successful. And know deep down the controls you  have in place are the controls that are required to keep the food  supply chain safe.