SES offers a suite of services to support food integrity, labeling claims, and food safety and security plans. Our services include the following areas of expertise.
Organic Integrity Services
SES, Inc. (SES) supported the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) with compliance and enforcement, conducting investigations on organic complaints. Our first-hand experience with the root causes of organic fraud and mislabeling enables us to help retailers, brands, producers, and manufacturers develop robust organic fraud prevention plans, conduct supplier outreach and audits, understand organic policy, and support organic marketing compliance.
Developing and Supporting Fraud Prevention Plans and Internal Processes
SES will develop your fraud prevention plan to meet the new NOP Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) requirements. We will help your business identify high-risk products and suppliers, conduct vulnerability assessments, develop supplier verification programs, and design processes to prevent and mitigate fraud. We can also help manage existing fraud prevention efforts, especially for businesses and retailers with several brands, products, and extensive supplier networks. For operations with an existing fraud prevention plan, we can review the plan to identify areas for improvement and support ongoing updates.
Marketing Reviews and Consulting
When marketing teams don’t understand organic regulations, organic seal use, and advertising requirements, the result can be costly. Each organic violation can elicit up to $22,392 in fines, so it is imperative to know and follow the USDA organic regulations. Our team has extensive experience conducting compliance audits and marketing reviews. We can also train your marketing team on the organic requirements to avoid expensive label and marketing changes and prevent brand damage from an organic complaint.
Certification and Compliance Support
We can help your business navigate the certification process and maintain compliance once certified. From translating regulations and policies to helping with organic documents and records, we can make the complicated path to certification manageable.
Retailer and Regulatory Services
SES can support retailers and regulatory teams in preventing and addressing organic fraud complaints. Our services include verifying whether suspect products or operations are certified, informing suppliers and marketers of their requirements under the regulations, and supporting the complaint and compliance process.
Food Safety and Security
In tandem with our biosecurity and foreign animal disease (FAD) emergency preparedness work, SES offers a suite of services to address food safety and security risks.
HACCP, VACCP, and TACCP Plans
SES has a certified team to assist you with developing your food safety management plans, including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Vulnerability Assessment and Critical Control Points (VACCP) vulnerability planning, and Threat Assessment and Critical Control Points (TACCP) threat assessments.
Our project work also includes supply chain vulnerability assessment, including ranking and scoring using tools such as the Food and Agriculture Sector Criticality Assessment Tool (FAS-CAT).
Secure Food Supply Plan Audits
While FAD events are rare, the current Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak has had devastating impacts on egg and poultry meat supply chains. In addition, the treats of African Swine Fever, now active in the Dominican Republic; and foot-and-mouth disease, just confirmed in Germany, have increased the threat potential of a FAD incursion into the United States. Our team provides complete solutions for Secure Food Supply:
- SES can audit suppliers and contract growers to ensure they have an implementable Secure Food Supply Plan and are prepared to rapidly implement the plan, when necessary.
- We can build SFS plans and an overall corporate SFS strategy to support continuity of business and implement your SFS strategy with suppliers.
- For organizations with an existing SFS strategy, we can monitor supplier participation and update your SFS program.
Learn more about our Emergency Preparedness services, including support for Continuity of Operations planning.
Food Integrity and Security Expertise
SES has supported federal agencies and the food and agriculture sector on projects including:
USDA NOP Compliance and Enforcement
SES supported the NOP with compliance and enforcement activities. Under this contract, SES completed over 200 complaint investigations annually. SES analysts conducted surveillance, and reviewed marketing, labeling, and documentation. During an investigation, the analysts gathered exhibits and conducted interviews with subject operations. Analysts produced the final reports of investigation and case documentation for delivery to the NOP.
In addition to complaint investigation, SES supported the NOP by developing training and communications materials, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and Style Guide documents to facilitate consistent deliverables and more efficient processes. Our efforts helped the NOP roll out their Strengthening Organic Standards policy update. SES supported the NOP by closing out a backlog of cases, enabling the NOP to manage their future complaint volume without the need for contractor support.
Secure Food Supply Plans
West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) engaged SES to conduct an educational event on the benefits of Secure Food Supply (SFS) plans for livestock producers from the cattle, swine, sheep, and goat industries. The presentation provided a detailed explanation of the plan development process and the importance of continuity of business, and included feedback from producers with SFS plans.
Following the presentation, SES conducted site visits to work with producers on their SFS plan. In advance of the visit, SES provided producers with a list of required documentation needed to develop the plan. SES met with producers virtually to review their plans, then submitted the final approved plans to WVDA.
Supply Chain Resilience
SES analyzed Mississippi and Alabama agriculture industries for resilience criteria including annual economic output, employment, point of concentration, distribution cycle, iconic target, and distribution footprint. SES then ranked the industries by priority for infrastructure protection. The data analysis included mapping Geographic Information System (GIS) data layers for sector-specific facility information.
Using the rankings, SES conducted detailed sector evaluations utilizing the Food and Agriculture Sector-Criticality Assessment Tool (FAS-CAT) and conducted stakeholder meetings to validate data. SES worked with the states to apply the analysis findings for mitigating risks and improving resiliency within the agriculture industry.