Governance

Information about The Independent Governance Board, Technical Standards Committee and Stakeholder Engagement Forums.

The Safe to Trade® Scheme is governed by an Independent Governance Board (IGB) whose role is to provide strategic insight into the ongoing development of the Scheme and to ensure that appropriate standards are maintained by Safe to Trade® in the management and delivery of the Scheme.

IGB members include representation from:

  • the food industry with particular reference to those with expertise in food safety and hygiene requirements in catering and retail
  • government and local authority with particular reference to those with expertise in development and enforcement of food safety and hygiene regulations
  • other experts with particular reference to those with expertise in food safety and hygiene standards development

The Independent Governance Board (IGB)

The IGB is chaired by an Independent Chair with expertise in food safety and hygiene. All appointments to the IGB are made by Safe to Trade®. There is no maximum term of office but each IGB members’ position is reviewed annually.

Geoffrey Podger

Chair of the Independent Governance Board

Former CEO of the HSE and FSA, Chair at NCRQ National Compliance and Risk Qualifications

IGB Chair

Alec Kyriakides

An experienced food safety consultant with over 35 years experience in the industry, including as Head of Quality and Safety at Sainsburys, Non Executive Board Director of Campden BRI, a Trustee of the IFST, a Member ACMSF, Visiting Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast.

John Barnes

Ex head of Local Delivery at FSA and Former Senior Civil Servant, with extensive experience developing and deliverying food safety controls including the development of regulatory voluntary third-party assurance schemes.

Sterling Crew

An experienced food sector director who holds a portfolio of Chair and Board positions, including President-Elect of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and member of the Board of Trustees for the CIEH.

Selvarani Elahi

Current UK deputy Governement Chemist and Executive Director of the Food Authenticity Network at LGC. A Chartered Chemist and a fellow of both the RSC and IFST. In 2020 she was awarded an MBE for services to Food Measurement Science.

Mark Flanagan

CEO & Founder of Shield Safety, Environmental Health Professional with over 20 years’ experience

Rob Easton

With over 20 years experience as a LA officer, a hospitality business operator, a risk manager and a consultant gives Rob an almost unique view on challenges facing businesses and insight how to make a difference.

Technical Standards Committee

The Technical Standards Committee (TSC) is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the Standard to ensure that it remains consistent with legislative requirements in food safety and hygiene and drives continued improvement in standards. They are also responsible for the development of future Standards using evidence based recommendations.

The Technical Standards Committee members have expertise and experience in the application of food safety management systems in hospitality, the enforcement of food safety and hygiene regulations and the development of food safety and hygiene standards. The TSC invites technical experts, who are not committee members, to participate where particular expertise is required,

  • Alec Kyriakides (Chair of the TSC and a member of the IGB)
  • Clare Lycett
  • Gem McCormack
  • Julian Wilks
  • Mark Flanagan
  • Rob Easton
  • Sterling Crew

Stakeholder Engagement Forums

The purpose of Stakeholder Engagement Forums (SEFs) is to ensure that Safe to Trade® maintains strong links with the food industry, regulators, certification bodies, consumer groups or other stakeholders that have interest in the development of the Scheme. The purpose of the SEFs are to:

  • provide feedback regarding the Scheme and any concerns in its content and delivery
  • provide feedback on future needs from the Scheme from a user perspective
  • provide feedback on proposals for changes to the Scheme and Standard
  • promote Safe to Trade® across stakeholder communities

Special Interest Groups will exist to represent the interests of different stakeholder groups. If you are interested in joining a SEF please apply to join the Stakeholder Engagement Group

Appointment of Certification Bodies

This diagram shows the relationship between Safe to Trade® as the Scheme Owner, and the main stakeholder groups, so that the Scheme can be trusted by both regulators and consumers.

Certification Bodies that carry out Safe to Trade® audits are required to operate in accordance with the scheme rules to the principles of ISO/IEC 17020. They must satisfactorily pass an assessment against this criteria before being appointed as a certification body.