Your operation assessed against the food law of every market you sell into, with the provision behind each finding cited and the action stated.
A regulatory compliance review assesses a food business against the food law that genuinely applies to it, in every market where it places product. It covers registration and approval, hygiene requirements, HACCP obligations, labelling and information rules, traceability, and any category specific regulation attached to what you produce. The output is a compliance register marking each requirement compliant, at risk or noncompliant, with the action needed.
Requirements diverge between markets in both directions, so clearing the strictest market does not clear the rest. A product can meet composition rules in one country and fail them in the next, and a label compliant in one language market can be unlawful in another for reasons that have nothing to do with translation.
Each market assessed against its own legislation, with the provision cited behind every finding. Delivered remotely, in any language, quoted on scope.
Six layers of obligation, each assessed per market. The right hand column is what goes wrong most often at each layer.
| Layer | What it covers | Common exposure |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment requirements | Registration or approval of the site, the activities permitted under it, and any category specific licensing. | Operating an activity outside what the registration covers. |
| Hygiene and process obligations | General hygiene requirements, HACCP based procedures, and the operational rules attached to your process type. | A HACCP based procedure that exists and does not match the operation. |
| Product composition rules | Permitted ingredients and additives, maximum levels, contaminants, and category specific compositional standards. | An additive authorised for one food category used in another. |
| Information and labelling | Mandatory particulars, allergen declaration, nutrition, claims, language obligations and country of origin. | Labels compliant in one market and not in the next one along. |
| Traceability and incident duties | One step back and one step forward at minimum, plus the duty to withdraw, recall and notify. | A traceability system never tested against the legal timeframe. |
| Market entry and notification | Notification or authorisation for certain product categories, import requirements and certification for entry. | Placing a food supplement or fortified food without the required national notification. |
Almost nobody sets out to be noncompliant. These eight are how the position drifts without anyone deciding it should.
The law moves. Additive authorisations change, contaminant limits are revised, claim registers are updated and new categories come into scope. A position established three years ago is a position from three years ago.
A distributor asks for product and it ships. Establishment approval, notification requirements, labelling language and permitted composition all differ, and none of them were assessed.
A substitution made for cost or supply reasons introduces an ingredient with a different authorisation position, a different allergen profile or a different contaminant risk.
Certification standards and food law overlap and are separate obligations. A certified site can be operating outside its registration or placing noncompliant product.
Food supplements, fortified foods, infant formula, novel foods and foods for specific groups all carry additional regimes. Businesses drifting into these categories rarely notice.
Compliance monitoring assigned to nobody, so changes are discovered when a customer or an authority raises them.
Industry guidance and trade association material are useful and are not the requirement. Where they diverge, the legislation governs.
Assuming that clearing the toughest market clears the rest. Requirements diverge in both directions, and a stricter market is not a superset of a looser one.
Every entry cites its source, so each finding can be checked and defended.
| Element | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Scope statement | The markets, product categories and activities the review covers, agreed before work starts. |
| Compliance register | Each applicable requirement listed with its source, marked compliant, at risk or noncompliant. |
| Source citation | The regulation, article or provision behind every entry, so each finding is traceable. |
| Market by market view | Requirements presented per market, since a product can be compliant in one and not in another. |
| Risk rating | Findings prioritised by legal exposure and by likelihood of enforcement. |
| Action required | What closing each gap involves, specified in full. |
| Category flags | Where a product falls into a regime carrying additional obligations, identified explicitly. |
| Watch list | The provisions most likely to change, so monitoring can be assigned. |
Manufacturers, processors, importers, exporters, brand owners and food supplement companies. It suits any business selling into more than one market, and any business that has never separated legal compliance from certification.
You are entering a new market and need the requirements before committing.
Product has been exported without the destination rules being checked.
A recipe or formulation change has not been reassessed for compliance.
You have moved into supplements, fortified or novel food territory.
A customer or distributor has queried your legal position.
An authority has raised a question and you need to know where you stand.
Nobody in the business is monitoring regulatory change.
You have been certified for years and never checked legal compliance separately.
You confirm where product is placed, the product categories and the activities carried out at each site.
Applicable requirements are identified per market, including any category specific regime attached to your products.
Registrations, approvals, specifications, recipes, labels, procedures and records are collected.
Each requirement is assessed against the evidence and marked compliant, at risk or noncompliant, with the provision cited.
Findings are prioritised by legal exposure and by likelihood of enforcement, so the urgent items are visible.
The register is issued alongside a watch list of provisions most likely to change.
Legal advice and representation. This is a technical compliance review, and where a position is genuinely contested or enforcement is in prospect, a lawyer is needed.
Closing the gaps is separate work, though the register specifies what each one involves.
Where a finding indicates product currently on the market is noncompliant, you are told immediately and separately, because the response to that is time sensitive.
Every review is quoted against its own scope. One product in one market and a range across six markets are very different pieces of work. These factors set the price.
These are the primary sources this work is built on. Where a market you sell into has its own requirement, that takes precedence and we assess against it.
It is an assessment of a food business against the food law that applies to it, in every market where it places product. It covers registration and approval, hygiene and HACCP obligations, product composition, labelling and information, traceability, and any category specific regime attached to what you produce. The output is a register marking each requirement compliant, at risk or noncompliant, with the action needed.
Whichever markets you sell into. The review is built from your market list, and each market is assessed against its own legislation, because requirements diverge considerably. Tell us where product is placed and the register is built market by market.
No, and the assumption is a common source of exposure. Certification standards and food law overlap substantially and are separate obligations enforced by different bodies. A certified site can be operating outside the scope of its registration or placing product that does not meet composition or labelling requirements.
A label review assesses what appears on pack against information law. This review covers the whole operation, including registration, approval, hygiene obligations, composition, traceability duties and market entry requirements. Labelling is one part of it, and businesses needing only the label checked should take the narrower service.
The register states what the gap is, what the requirement is, where it comes from and what closing it involves. Findings are prioritised by legal exposure. Where a finding indicates product currently on the market is noncompliant, that is flagged immediately and separately, because the response to it is time sensitive.
Food law changes continuously, so a position established once decays. Annual review is common for stable operations. A review is warranted sooner whenever a recipe changes, a new market opens, a new product category is entered, or a supplier of a critical ingredient changes.
Yes, and they need particular attention. Permitted forms, maximum levels, mandatory warnings and national notification requirements differ substantially between markets, including between countries that otherwise share a regulatory framework.
Yes, and it is the cheaper time to do it. Establishing the requirements before committing to artwork, formulation and distribution costs far less than discovering a compositional or notification problem after launch.
Guidance is useful for interpretation and it is not the requirement. Where guidance and legislation diverge, the legislation governs, and enforcement is against the law. The review cites the provision behind every entry for that reason.
No. This is a technical compliance review identifying what the law requires and where you stand against it. Where a position is genuinely contested, or enforcement action is in prospect, that needs a lawyer and the review says so at the point it becomes relevant.
Yes. Scope is agreed at the start, and multi site or multi product reviews are usually more efficient as one project because requirements overlap. Where sites operate under different registrations or approvals, each is assessed separately.
A scope statement, a compliance register with the source cited for each requirement, a market by market view, risk ratings, the action needed for each gap, flags where a product falls into a regime with additional obligations, and a watch list of provisions likely to change.
Confi Food assigns work by subject. HACCP, labelling, certification standards, regulatory compliance, supplier assurance and monitoring are separate disciplines, and each piece goes to someone who works in that area. Every deliverable is reviewed internally by a second specialist before it reaches you.
Our technical positions are built from primary sources, meaning the legislation, the competent authority, Codex Alimentarius, the certification scheme owner or the relevant standards body. We set out how that works in our technical review and editorial policy, and what happens at each stage of an engagement in how Confi Food works.
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