New WFP Food Vendor?

The technical procedure - Technical Vendor Assessment - for the selection of WFP's processed food suppliers entails the following steps:

Once the supplier is registered under the United Nations General Market system (UNGM), the supplier needs to go through the food quality and safety assessment process, i.e.:

1. Fill-in the corresponding vendor assessment survey. The completed questionnaire must be returned to the WFP contact person.

NOTE: ALL the food processors must me known by WFP. Also, Traders must communicate with which manufacturer they are working with.

2. Organise a technical visit at the site. Based on the relevance of the information provided in the assessment survey, a technical visit could be organized to check the adequacy of the information provided.

Once these steps have been completed, WFP's Vendor Management Committee will review the completed supplier profile and registration on-line.

General Requirements regarding processed food purchased by WFP

Adoption of product specifications:

  1. WFP purchases food based on specifications available on this link.
  2. The product's quality is checked at each purchase on various parameters, (see at the end part of the specifications) BUT we strongly recommend all suppliers to perform internal QC testings.
  3. The main points being the safety parameters: microbiology, contaminants, etc. and the characteristics of the food, mainly its composition in macronutrients and micronutrients.
  4. Please note that WFP does work with advance payments. Payment of the suppliers is effective once the requested product quantity and quality has been checked and approved by an independent company appointed by WFP.

Food Fortification:

  1. All the processed foods purchased by WFP must be supplemented with a premix of vitamins and minerals.
  2. The micronutrients must be purchased from a WFP approved supplier. For the WFP's approved list of premix suppliers click here.
  3. A proof of purchase from the approved premix se suppliers, and a Certificate of Analysis for the end product must be delivered to WFP in order to enable payment.

NOTE: Fortification process must be controled. For more information on food fortification click here.

Quality and Safety Requirements:

  1. With respect to quality and safety, the factory must be compliant with GMP and HACCP principles.
  2. Suppliers must:
    • Have a good knowledge of their raw materials suppliers
    • Provide certificate of analysis of goods (premix but also raw materials and packaging)
    • Have a quality assurance system in place (e.g. have a good record system to protect the supplier against any allegation of wrong doing)
    • Have a good fortification system in place (Please find more information on fortification here)
    • Have a traceability of the lots (breaking into smaller sub-lot/ identification/ coding)
    • Respect business principles (environment, ILO etc.)
    • Be service-providers