PR_301_05_R03_en
2022-06-27

Provision for Handling of Appeals
Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program*1
1. Objectives
This document specifies the provisions for the handling of appeals regarding the JFS-C
Certification Program for the purpose of protecting accreditation bodies, certification bodies,certified organizations and other stakeholders using the Program from errors, negligence orinappropriate conduct.
2. Definitions(1) Appeals
An appeal refers to an act conducted by any accreditation bodies, certification bodies,training organizations, certified organizations or auditors against whom JFSM has made adisadvantageous decision and who has an objection to the decision to make a request to JFSM
for the reconsideration of the decision where the appeal remains unsolved in spite of the initialactions by JFSM.
(2) Executive meeting
Executive meeting refers to consultation by the group consisting of the President, theSecretary-General, and related group leader(s) of JFSM.
(3) Appeal Handling Panel
The Appeal Handling Panel refers to a panel that independently examines an appeal filed
against JFSM from an impartial standpoint and makes a decision on whether or not the appeal
is appropriate.
3. Responsibilities(1) The President shall have the following responsibilities to:1） make decisions on the acceptance of appeals; and2） convene the Appeal Handling Panel.
(2) The Secretary-General shall have the responsibilities to:1） act as a secretariat function for the Appeal Handling Panel; and2） ensure corrective actions derived from appeals.
(3) The Appeal Handling Panel shall have the duties to deliberate on appeals and makejudgments on them.
4. Application
4. 1 Contact for and Acceptance of Appeals
JFSM shall accept appeals filed using the Appeal Statement (Form 1 hereto attached) or by
any means by which the details of the appeal are clear (including e-mail and other1 / 13

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electromagnetic methods). JFSM, shall in principle, accept no oral statements of appeal.
4. 2 Acceptance of Appeals(1) The General Affairs Department of the Secretariat shall check with the party filing an appeal(hereinafter referred to as “the filing party”) regarding the facts associated with the appeal
and report the results to the President, the Secretary-General, and each group leader of JFSM.
(2) Executive meeting shall discuss whether or not the appeal filed may be accepted. In
accordance with its results, the President shall decide to accept what falls under 2 (1) as an
appeal.
However, no matter that falls under any of the items below shall be accepted.
1） Any matter that is deemed to be outside the responsibility or authority of JFSM
2） Any appeal filed by a party whose name and contact address cannot be identified
3） Any matter about which a civil lawsuit, civil conciliation or other judiciary proceedings
are pending4） Any matter that is clearly identical to a matter about which another appeal has alreadybeen accepted by JFSM; provided, however, that an appeal or complaint on the same
event shall be accepted if it is filed regarding a different matter or for any different reason
or there is any change in circumstances, such as the submission of new facts.
(3) Upon deliberation in executive meeting, the Secretary-General shall select the Secretariat
personnel for any appeal whose acceptance is decided (hereinafter referred to as “theappointed personnel”) from among the JFSM personnel who do not directly engage in thebusiness concerned with the appeal.
(4) As soon as the acceptance is decided, the General Affairs Department shall provide a noticeof acceptance to the filing party with the use of the Notice of Acceptance (Form 2 hereto
attached).
(5) After a decision on acceptance made, the steps prescribed in 4.4 shall apply to appeals.
4. 3 Non-Acceptance
The following provides for the steps that shall be implemented after a decision of nonacceptance made.
(1) As soon as the non-acceptance of an appeal is decided, the General Affairs Department of theSecretariat shall provide a notice of non-acceptance to the party filing it with the use of the
Notice of Non-Acceptance (Form 3 hereto attached).
(2) If the filing party is dissatisfied with the decision of non-acceptance, it may file an appeal
against it to JFSM with the use of the Appeal Statement (Form 1 hereto attached) no later
than fourteen (14) days after the receipt of the notice of non-acceptance mentioned in 4.3(1).
(3) In the event of an appeal against the decision of non-acceptance, executive meeting shalldiscuss whether or not the appeal is appropriate. On the basis of the results thereof, the2 / 13

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President shall make a decision of acceptance if the appeal is recognized as appropriate.
4. 4 Handling of Appeals(1) The appointed personnel shall investigate and verify the facts in connection with the appeal.
The investigation and verification shall be conducted, for example, by hearing from thecertification body, organization and other parties concerned with the appeal and byinterviewing the filing party at appropriate times.
(2) Upon acceptance of an appeal, the President shall convene the Appeal Handling Panel.
(3) The Appeal Handling Panel shall follow the steps stipulated in the Provision for the Appeal
Handling Panel (Annex 1 hereto attached).
(4) JFSM shall put off making a decision on the appeal and take action on the assumption of thecircumstances before the decision is made until the Appeal Handling Panel reaches aconclusion.
(5) The appointed personnel shall report to the filing party on the progress made at the Appeal
Handling Panel and the resolutions it has adopted at appropriate intervals with the use of
the Appeal Handling Record (Form 4 hereto attached).
(6) Upon termination of the deliberations at the Appeal Handling Panel, the appointed personnel
shall promptly provide a notice of the deliberation results with the use of the Notice of Appeal
Deliberation Results (Form 5 hereto attached) together with a draft of the document to be
published on the JFSM website and the Deliberation Results Report prepared by the Appeal
Handling Panel.
(7) If the filing party is dissatisfied with the results of the deliberations, it may file an appeal
against them to JFSM with the use of the Appeal Statement (Form 1 hereto attached) nolater than fourteen (14) days after the receipt of the notice mentioned in the preceding
paragraph.
(8) In the event of an appeal against the results of the deliberations, the steps for acceptancestipulated in 4.2 and the steps for handling it stipulated in 4.4 shall be followed.
5. Others
5. 1 Suspension of Appeal HandlingIf the matter concerned with an appeal accepted is put to litigation or arbitration before thehandling reaches completion, the handling pursuant to this Provision shall be suspended until
the end of the litigation or arbitration.
5. 2 Record and Reporting of Appeal Handling(1) The appointed personnel shall keep records of the progress of the handling of the appeal
accepted, appeal deliberation results handling policy on the Appeal Handling Record (Form
4 hereto attached).
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PR_301_05_R03_en
2022-06-27(2) The Secretary-General shall report to the Board of Directors on the progress of the handlingof appeals accepted, appeal deliberation results, the handling end results and the existenceor absence of appeals against the response.
5. 3 Standard Handling Period
The standard handling periods from the start of deliberation at the Appeal Handling Panel tothe notice of deliberation results shall not exceed six (6) months, in principle.
5. 4 Publication of Appeal Deliberation Results
If there is any body or organization concerned with the publication of the detail of the appeal,
and appeal deliberation results on the JFSM website apart from the filing party, JFSM must ask
the body or the organization whether or not they may be published on the website.
5. 5 Prohibition of Discriminatory Behaviors
JFSM shall respond to appeals in a fair and appropriate manner and make the JFSM personnel
aware of them, and ensure that the decision on the policy for the acceptance of appeals filed,investigations and response to appeals does not lead to any discriminatory behaviors.
5. 6 Non-Disclosure
JFSM shall keep confidential any information acquired on the basis of appeal handling andinformation on decisions, and shall not disclose it to any third party or publish it without theconsent of the filing party, related bodies and organizations and other stakeholders.
5. 7 Flow Chart for Handling of Appeals
As for reference, Flow Chart for Handling of Appeals (Annex 2 hereto attached) is attached.

*1 Disclaimer: This translated document is provided for information purposes only. In the eventof a difference of interpretation or a dispute, the original Japanese version of this document isbinding

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Annex 1: Provision for the Appeal Handling Panel concerning the JFS-C Certification
Program
1.

Objective
This document specifies the provisions for the Appeal Handling Panel that has been

established for independently deliberating appeals filed against JFSM in connection with theoperations of the JFS-C Certification Program from a fair and impartial standpoint to judge
whether or not they are appropriate and to make recommendations for necessary actions.
2.

Composition of the Panel
The Board of Directors shall select the general manager and other members of the Appeal

Handling Panel. The Appeal Handling Panel shall consist of the general manager and themembers ranging between three and five inclusive, including at least one academic expert, one
person concerned with the food industry and one person concerned with consumers.
Their term of office shall be two years, and they may be re-selected.
3.

Management of the Panel

3. 1 Convocation of the Panel
The President shall call the general manager and the members for a Panel meeting as soon
as an appeal is accepted.
The general manager and/or any other member(s) who are found to have special interests inthe matter subject to deliberation shall be disallowed from taking part in the deliberation.
The appointed personnel shall send the results of their investigation and verification of thematters subject to deliberation to the general manager and the other members in advance inaccordance with 4.4 (1) in the Provision for Handling of Appeals Concerning the JFS-C
Certification Program (PR_301_05).
3. 2 Deliberation of Appeals(1) The Appeal Handling Panel may collect evidence by the methods mentioned below as
appropriate.
1) Request to the filing party for the submission of additional materials or hearings from thefiling party2) Outsourcing of investigations and other actions necessary for deliberation by the Panel(2) Upon request from the filing party, the Appeal Handling Panel shall give it the opportunity
to state its opinions on the occasion of deliberation.
(3) The Appeal Handling Panel shall judge whether or not the appeal is appropriate from a fairand impartial standpoint and organize the deliberation results to prepare a Deliberation
Results Report (including recommendations of actions to be taken by JFSM if necessary).

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3. 3 Reporting of the Deliberation Results
The Appeal Handling Panel shall report its deliberation results to the President by submitting
the Deliberation Results Report. The reporting to the President shall conclude the deliberation
process of the Appeal Handling Panel.
4.

Duty of Confidentiality

Panel members shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all information
concerning panel deliberations that comes to their knowledge in the course of their duties at theassociation.
They shall continue to assume this obligation and responsibility even after resignation from thepanel.
However, the following information is not subject to the obligation of confidentiality.
(1) Information that is already publicly known(2) Information that is already in your possession at the time of disclosure(3) Information for which consent has been obtained in advance from the provider who has thelegitimate right to possess the information.
(4) Obtained without obligation of confidentiality from a third party who has a legitimate rightto possess the information(5) Information that is required to be disclosed by law.
5.

Remuneration, etc. for Panel Members

Remuneration and transportation expenses for panel members shall be determined separately.

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Annex 2: Flow Chart for Handling of Appeals
Filing of an appeal or complaint(General Affairs Dept.) Checking of facts
Yes
Appeal against(Executive meeting) Deliberations
Notice of

Notice ofnon-acceptanceacceptance(President) Decision making to accept or not to accept

Filing of an appeal(Appointed personnel)
Investigation and verification(President) Convocation of the panel(Panel) Deliberation

Notice of deliberation results

Yes

non-acceptanceAppeal against
deliberation resultsNo
Completion7 / 13No

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Form 1
To: Japan Food Safety Management Association

Appeal Statement
Date
Organization“Furigana” for JP only

Name
Contact

Postal Address:

Information
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail:Statement(Separate sheets may be attached.)

Supporting(If any supporting documents and materials are attached, please specify

Materials, etc.

their titles.)For Use by the Secretariat Only
Date of Receiving:
Name of Receiving Person:(Receiving person -> Receiving personnel: General Affairs Dept., Secretariat)
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Form 2
Notice of Acceptance
Date: _____________
Dear ______________,
Thank you for your daily support of and cooperation with the Japan Food Safety Management
Association (JFSM).
We would like to inform you that we have decided to accept the complaint or appeal that you
filed on the date of ______________ as a complaint or appeal that we at JFSM should deal withproperly as a result of our deliberations in accordance with The Provision for Handling of Appeals
Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program (PR_301_05).
We will discuss the matter and report the results to you at a later date.
During this process, we may possibly ask you for details about the matter. In this event, we
would be grateful if you could kindly cooperate.
In addition, for the purpose of ensuring the fairness and impartiality of our deliberations, wewould hereby ask you whether you grant consent for us to provide the accreditation body, thecertification body or the certified organization associated with the appeal with information on
the items shown below. If you do not consent to this, please notify the contact personnel shown
below in writing, by fax or by e-mail no later than one (1) week from the receipt of this notice.
□ Details of the complaint or appeal□ Name and organization of the person filing the complaint or appeal
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,

Japan Food Safety Management Association
For inquiries, contact: Japan Food Safety Management Association (JFSM)
8F, Shintomicho Building, 3-10-9, Irifune, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo
Phone: +81-(0)3-6862-9691, Fax: +81-(0)3-6862-9697
E-mail: XXXXXX Contact Person: XXXXXX
Note: The Provision for Handling of Appeals Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program (PR_301_05)
and the Appeal Statement (PR_301_05Form 1) are available on the JFSM website.

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Form 3
Notice of Non-Acceptance
Date: _____________
Dear ______________,
Thank you for your daily support of and cooperation with the Japan Food Safety Management
Association (JFSM).
We would like to inform you that we have discussed the complaint or appeal that you filed on
the date of ______________ in accordance with The Provision for Handling of Appeals Concerning
the JFS-C Certification Program (PR_301_05), and that we have consequently determined thatit does not fall under the appeals that we should deal with for the reasons mentioned below.
If you have an objection to this notice of non-acceptance, you may file an appeal with us byusing the Appeal Statement (PR_301_05Form 1) within fourteen (14) days from your receipt of
this notice.
Thank you in advance for your understanding of and cooperation with our activities.
Sincerely,
Japan Food Safety Management Association(Reasons for Non-Acceptance)

For inquiries, contact: Japan Food Safety Management Association (JFSM)
8F, Shintomicho Building, 3-10-9, Irifune, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 104-0042 JAPAN
Phone: +81-(0)3-6268-9691, Fax: +81-(0)3-6268-9697
お問合せ先：Japan Food Safety Management Association（JFSM）
東京都千代田区麹町 3 丁目 5 番 2 号 ビュレックス麹町

Note: The Provision for Handling of Appeals Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program (PR_301_05)

電話番号：０３－６８６２－９６９１、 FAX 番号：０３－６８６２－９６９７

and the Appeal Statement (PR_301_05Form 1) are available on the JFSM website.

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Form 4
Appeal Handling Record
Japan Food Safety Management Association
Date of Acceptance:
Filing Party:
Date

Contact

Handling

Description

Personnel

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Form 5
Notice of Appeal Deliberation Results
Date: _____________
Dear / To ______________,
Thank you for your daily support of and cooperation with the Japan Food Safety Management
Association (JFSM).
We would like to inform you that with respect to the complaint or appeal that you filed on thedate of ______________, we have made a decision as described on the attached sheet as a resultof deliberations at our Appeal Handling Panel in accordance with The Provision for Handling of
Appeals Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program (PR_301_05).
We would like to publish the attached document on our website with your consent, and wewould be grateful if you could possibly notify us as to whether or not you consent to the
publication within one (1) week from your receipt of this notice.
If you have an objection to the deliberation results, you may file an appeal with us using the
Appeal Statement (PR_301_05Form 1) within fourteen (14) days from your receipt of this notice.
Thank you in advance for your understanding of and cooperation with our activities.
Sincerely,
Japan Food Safety Management Association
Enclosure:
One copy of the draft of the document to be published on the website
Note: The Provision for Handling of Appeals Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program (PR_301_05)

For inquiries, contact: Japan Food Safety Management Association (JFSM)
8F, Shintomicho Building, 3-10-9, Irifune, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 104-0042 JAPAN
Phone: +81-(0)3-6268-9691, Fax: +81-(0)3-6268-9697
E-mail: XXXXXX

Contact Person: XXXXXX

and the Appeal Statement (PR_301_05Form 1) are available on the JFSM website.

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Revision history
Outline of revision

Date of enactment/revision

Newly published

November 9, 2017

In accordance with the publication of the "Provision for Handlingof Complaints" for JFSM, the description of complaints in"Provision for Handling of Appeals and Complaints Concerning
the JFS-C Certification Scheme" was removed and renamed to

February 18, 2020

"Provision for Handling of Appeals Concerning the JFS-C
Certification Scheme".
With the release of JFS-C Certification Program Ver. 3.1, theprovision name was changed to "Provision for Handling of
Appeals Concerning the JFS-C Certification Program".

The definition of some terms such as an appeal was revised.

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August. 18, 2021

June 27, 2022