About the Seafood HACCP Alliance Training Program

The curriculum for this HACCP training program was developed by the National Seafood HACCP Alliance—a group comprised of federal and state food inspection officials, university food science educators and seafood industry representatives. The initial curriculum was released in July 1996. This course is based on the third edition of the Alliance training manual, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Training Curriculum Manual, published in 1997. In 2000, the Alliance's Alternative Training Committee adapted the training curriculum to an Internet-based, or online, format. This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 99-41560-0768.

Training and the FDA Seafood HACCP Regulation

The initial Seafood HACCP Alliance training program was designed to meet the HACCP training requirements established under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) mandatory seafood HACCP regulation, 21 CFR Part 123.10. This section (Part 123.10) of the FDA regulation requires that certain HACCP activities be conducted by a "trained individual". A "trained individual" is one who has successfully completed training in the application of HACCP to fishery products in a program at least equivalent to the standardized curriculum recognized by FDA, or a "trained individual" is someone who has acquired knowledge of the application of HACCP to fishery products through job experience. The national Seafood HACCP Alliance course is the standardized curriculum by which FDA will evaluate other training courses. This Internet training program is also based on that curriculum.

Sec. 123.10 Training (as written in the FDA regulation)

At a minimum, the following functions shall be performed by an individual who has successfully completed training in the application of HACCP principles to fish and fishery product processing at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or who is otherwise qualified through job experience to perform these functions. Job experience will qualify an individual to perform these functions if it has provided knowledge at least equivalent to that provided through the standardized curriculum.

The following activities must be conducted by a "trained individual":

Developing a HACCP plan, which could include adapting a model or generic-type HACCP plan, that is appropriate for a specific processor, in order to meet the requirements of Sec. 123.6(b);
Reassessing and modifying the HACCP plan in accordance with the corrective action procedures specified in Sec. 123.7(c)(5), the HACCP plan in accordance with the verification activities specified in Sec. 123.8(a)(1), and the hazard analysis in accordance with the verification activities specified in Sec. 123.8(c); and
Performing the record review required by Sec. 123.8(a)(3); The trained individual need not be an employee of the processor.