Development of Standards

The initial drafts of the standards are developed by commodity-specific technical committees based on the best available evidence and experience in the industry.  These technical committees are also able to utilize the scientific expertise of the standards oversight council and external experts. While the specifics of the standards are commodity-dependent, they are developed in a similar format, and all focus on the five core principles of One Health Certified. These drafts serve as the basis for the next step in the approval process.

Stakeholder Comment Period and Final Approval Process

Once the drafted standard for new commodities is developed (or subsequently at the revision period every three years) they will be made available on the One Health Certified website for public comment for a period of no less than 30 days. Any standards not announced at the launch in January 2020 will go through this process.  The chicken and turkey standards will be opened for public comment at their first revision in 2022. Comments received will be evaluated by the technical committees and the Standards Oversight Committee.  Following any revisions that result from that process, the standards will be voted on by the standards oversight council for final approval.

Standards Revision

Every three years the standards will be sent back to the commodity-specific technical committees for revision and updating if necessary. This is a continuous improvement process and will include evaluating the data collected over the period and new research to assure that the program continues to evolve.