3-A SSI Introduces Improved Standards Development Procedures

3-A SSI has long dedicated its full time and attention to improvements in the extensive catalog of 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices.  Along the way of considering revisions to the ANSI/3-A 00-01-2018, the General Requirements Standard, it became evident that 3-A SSI also needed to make some serious upgrades to the procedures it follows to reach consensus on all types of documents.  3-A SSI formally introduced the new Procedures for the Development and Maintenance of 3-A Sanitary Standards and Accepted Practices on May 31.

So, what were some of the main issues driving the need for change and the improvements reflected in the new Procedures?

Improved Vetting for New Projects

Like most other standards developers, 3-A SSI has followed a policy to review all existing standards at least once every five years with the goal of staying abreast of evolving technology for processing equipment.  However, in recent years 3-A SSI has allowed multiple revisions to a standard in a short period of time.  This led to difficulties for stakeholders to adopt revisions in a short time frame and introduced complexities with implementing a design utilized by a small group of fabricators, maybe just one.  It also concentrated the limited time of staff in a project to the disadvantage of other worthy projects.

Under the revised Procedures, new work proposals or projects must be requested or submitted by more than one fabricator, user, or public interest representative utilizing current technology or design. Requests for new standards, amendments, or other revisions must be reviewed and approved by the 3-A Steering Committee. The applicant must provide data to document the need for the project and they must affirm compliance with the 3-A SSI patent policy.

Balanced Stakeholder Groups and Openness

Under the previous system, when new work projects were sanctioned by the 3-A Steering Committee, the drafting and preliminary reviews were assigned to a standing Working Group of subject matter experts. Over time, it became evident that 3-A SSI did not engage all materially affected participants in these projects.

Under the new Procedures, any new project approved by the 3-A Steering Committee will be announced to a broad list of various fabricator and processor organizations, as well as regulatory sanitarians in a canvassing period, Interested parties will be joined in a balanced Ad Hoc WG and the members will appoint the WG officers, with oversight by 3-A SSI staff and the 3-A Steering Committee Chair. The Ad Hoc WG will comprise no more than 18 voting members and all must adhere to the 3-A SSI Code of Ethics. The Ad Hoc WG Chair and Document Leader will be responsible for facilitating a ballot and resolving comments on the final draft.

The goal of these changes is to help ensure a more inclusive and balanced drafting stage in 3-A SSI document development.   A broader outreach to representatives of will ensure increased participation in the development and initial approval stages of specific draft documents under project proposals.

The final approved draft from the Ad Hoc WG will undergo review and approval by the 3-A Steering Committee. If designated as an American National Standard (ANS), announcements and canvassing for a consensus body ballot and public review period will follow.

Defined Role of Certified Conformance Evaluators (CCEs)

Under the revised Procedures, any professional credentialed as a Certified Conformance Evaluator is ineligible to serve as an officer of an Ad Hoc Group or Document Leader or voting member for any documents for which they conduct evaluation services.  CCEs may participate as Observers in a non-voting capacity in the development of consensus documents to prevent any potential conflict of interest arising from commercial relationships. CCEs are encouraged to provide comments on all Ad Hoc WG drafts during a comment period.  This change helps reinforce the integrity and credibility of the 3-A SSI standards development program and 3-A Symbol/RP Mark program.

Standards Activities Update:

The General Requirements has completed its first draft review. We recognize that the revised Procedures coincide with this current draft review. With the review and advancement of the new Procedures, the following tabled Projects will be prioritized following a Steering Committee Meeting as a follow-up meeting from this year’s Annual Meeting May 6, 2024:

Project B-13-11-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Farm Milk Cooling and Holding Tanks, Number 13-11

Project B-19-07-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Batch and Continuous Freezers for Ice Cream, Ices and Similarly Frozen Foods, Number 19-07

Project B-22-08-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Silo-Type Tanks, Number 22-08

Project B-25-03-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Non-Coil Type Batch Processors, Number 25-03

Project B-40-04-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Bag Collectors. Number 40-04

Project B-41-03-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Mechanical Conveyors, Number 41-03

Project B-51-01-A, merger of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Plastic Plug-Type Valves with B-52-01-A, 3-A Sanitary Standard for Plug-Type Valves

Project B-57-02-A, revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for Disc-Type Valves, Number 57-02

Project B-71-01-A/B-72-01-A, Amendment to merge both 3-A Sanitary Standard for Italian-Type Pasta Filata Style Cheese Moulders, Number 71-01 and 3-A Sanitary Standard Italian-Type Pasta Filata Style Moulded Cheese Chillers, Number 72-01

Project B-74-07-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Sensors and Sensor Fittings and Connections, Number 74-07

Project B-102-00-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Unitized Automated Milking Installations, Number 102-00

Project B-603-07-A, revision 3-A Accepted Practice for HTST/HHST Pasteurizer Systems, Number 603-07

Project B-604-05-A, revision of 3-A Accepted Practice for Supplying Air Under Pressure, Number 604-05

To learn more about the scope of each Standard/Accepted Practice, please visit our Standards page here: https://www.3-a.org/standards

To join an Ad Hoc WG, please visit our Ad Hoc Working Group Page: https://www.3-a.org/working-groups

For more information about our standards development or Third Party Verification Programs, please contact Eric Schweitzer, Director of Standards and Certification at erics@3-a.org for more information.