Business Feature
Get Your Passport to Export
If you’re having trouble trying to figure out how to export your products, you might want to consider getting a “Passport to Export”.
Passport to Export is a campaign by Benchmark Quality Management Solutions that helps businesses become export ready.
The concept is similar to traditional travel passports as well as the increasingly popular COVID-19 vaccination passports.
Speaking on #MoneyMovesJa with Kalilah Reynolds, Benchmark CEO, Dr. Velton Gooden, said the passports provide a set of processes needed to help businesses meet the requirements of the market they are targeting.
Benchmark QMS is an outsource partner for quality food safety and related management systems.
Dr. Gooden said each passport has to be customized to the location being targeted, noting that the company helps businesses tick off what they need to get done from the passports in order for them to receive approval to enter a country.
“They cover the certification that you need in order to access the market of interest and it differs for each marketplace. For example, if you’re exporting to the EU, in addition to basic food requirements, you might need to put in a system like ISO:1400 [Environmental Management System] because they care a lot for the environment.”
Hazard Analysis
Dr. Gooden said one of the passports relates to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), a food safety system which assesses hazards associated with each step in an export process.
“We look at each step (chemical, physical and microbiological) and look at the likelihood of one of those types of hazards impacting your food or business at that point and then we put in measures to minimize the risk or totally eliminate the risk if it were possible so you have a system where your food is safe and ready for the market,” said Dr. Gooden.
The company also checks for the adherence to certain protocols under its pre-requisite programme (PRP) before a company can have a certifiable HACCP system in place. Examples of PRPs include: a pesticide management system, sanitization and waste management system.
“For the pesticide system we would ensure you have a good programme in place, standard operating procedures, identified safe pesticides that are food compatible, had physical infrastructure in place, maybe screens, so it’s really a comprehensive programme,” said Dr. Gooden.
Time and Budget
Meanwhile, Dr. Gooden said the timeline to getting a company export ready varies depending on their level of readiness. He said typically it would take them six months to a year with a company starting from scratch. The cost also varies.
“We try to be flexible in our approach. It could be in the hundreds of thousands, 200, 300 or it could run into millions if you have a company with multiple sites and we’re dealing with a complexity of products. If it’s certain types of products like meat or dairy or products with food allergies that can make people sick, then you’d have to put in more measures and that is an added cost,” he said.
Businesses looking to get a Passport to Export can contact Benchmark Quality Management Solutions at 876-927-5888 or via email at info@benchmarkqms.com
The company also accepts walk-ins at their office at Unit 6, 8 Lady Musgrave Road, in Kingston.
New episodes of #MoneyMovesJa with Kalilah Reynolds premiere Wednesdays at 7pm at youtube.com/kalilahrey and kalilahreynolds.com
-END-Business Feature
Get Your Passport to Export
If you’re having trouble trying to figure out how to export your products, you might want to consider getting a “Passport to Export”.
Passport to Export is a campaign by Benchmark Quality Management Solutions that helps businesses become export ready.
The concept is similar to traditional travel passports as well as the increasingly popular COVID-19 vaccination passports.
Speaking on #MoneyMovesJa with Kalilah Reynolds, Benchmark CEO, Dr. Velton Gooden, said the passports provide a set of processes needed to help businesses meet the requirements of the market they are targeting.
Benchmark QMS is an outsource partner for quality food safety and related management systems.
Dr. Gooden said each passport has to be customized to the location being targeted, noting that the company helps businesses tick off what they need to get done from the passports in order for them to receive approval to enter a country.
“They cover the certification that you need in order to access the market of interest and it differs for each marketplace. For example, if you’re exporting to the EU, in addition to basic food requirements, you might need to put in a system like ISO:1400 [Environmental Management System] because they care a lot for the environment.”
Hazard Analysis
Dr. Gooden said one of the passports relates to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), a food safety system which assesses hazards associated with each step in an export process.
“We look at each step (chemical, physical and microbiological) and look at the likelihood of one of those types of hazards impacting your food or business at that point and then we put in measures to minimize the risk or totally eliminate the risk if it were possible so you have a system where your food is safe and ready for the market,” said Dr. Gooden.
The company also checks for the adherence to certain protocols under its pre-requisite programme (PRP) before a company can have a certifiable HACCP system in place. Examples of PRPs include: a pesticide management system, sanitization and waste management system.
“For the pesticide system we would ensure you have a good programme in place, standard operating procedures, identified safe pesticides that are food compatible, had physical infrastructure in place, maybe screens, so it’s really a comprehensive programme,” said Dr. Gooden.
Time and Budget
Meanwhile, Dr. Gooden said the timeline to getting a company export ready varies depending on their level of readiness. He said typically it would take them six months to a year with a company starting from scratch. The cost also varies.
“We try to be flexible in our approach. It could be in the hundreds of thousands, 200, 300 or it could run into millions if you have a company with multiple sites and we’re dealing with a complexity of products. If it’s certain types of products like meat or dairy or products with food allergies that can make people sick, then you’d have to put in more measures and that is an added cost,” he said.
Businesses looking to get a Passport to Export can contact Benchmark Quality Management Solutions at 876-927-5888 or via email at info@benchmarkqms.com
The company also accepts walk-ins at their office at Unit 6, 8 Lady Musgrave Road, in Kingston.
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