Interview: Araceli Román Aguilar – ANCE

Araceli Roman Aguilar is originally from Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico, is an engineer in foods from the National Polytechnic Institute and has been working for more than five years in the National Association for Standardization and Certification, A.C. (ANCE), is currently head of verification units and the Certification Body of the Food Sector System.

Araceli is responsible for coordinating the auditors who verify weekly compliance with the Eleven Rivers Certification Scheme in the grower companies of Sinaloa.

1. Could you share a little of your professional experience?

I started as an accredited verifier with the Mexican entity of accreditation (EMA) for the evaluation of commercial information standards for food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as alcoholic beverages, this in 2010, this was a year of great relevance in the subject for food labeling, since COFEPRIS took over the of the Mexican NOM-051-SCFI / SSA1-2010, increasing the surveillance of the entry of imported food into Mexico.

Subsequent to this, I dedicated myself to carry out second-party audits in food safety schemes for retail, considering processed foods, semi-processed products and agricultural products.

Currently I work in ANCE, I joined 5 years ago as an H Distinctive verifier and auditor of food safety schemes in food production plants. One year after my entry, the management decided to create an area called Food Sector, in which all the services that corresponded to the sector at that time were integrated.

2. What functions do you fulfill in ANCE?

Today I am the Head of the Verification Units and the Food Sector System Certification Body, for which I manage the operation of two verification units and the certification body of food safety systems.

In conjunction with my team, we designed strategies for knowledge and sale for food safety certification schemes. We develop projects to integrate into our portfolio schemes recognized by the GFSI, with the aim of providing services with greater impact for the commercialization of food produce in Mexico in international markets. In addition to maintaining the accreditations and authorizations of the schemes that we currently have.

3. How can the ANCE programs benefit Grower companies in Sinaloa?

In ANCE there has always been a conviction to take the conformity assessment to the home, ensuring that consumers have safe products in their hands, and in the case of the food sector innocuous products.

Besides our programs offer competitiveness and recognition, as well as efficiency in each of the processes to improve business productivity.

4. Why do you consider the verification process important in agriculture?

The verification process corresponds to that surveillance measure to verify that the certification scheme remains operable day by day. That the work methodology is adopted as a habit and that the level of awareness throughout all workers of the company was effective for each of the axes of which the scheme is composed.

The verification of the agricultural companies in each of its production modules and from the beginning of the season to the last days of operation, ensures week by week the level of compliance and in the event of a deviation in the system, sufficient corrective actions are implemented to avoid any type of sanction or situation that endangers consumers and the image of the label or the company.

5. What’s your opinion of the result of weekly verifications on certified companies with Eleven Rivers?

For the pioneering agribusinesses in the Eleven Rivers certification, the verifications besides being that constant vigilance of the application of the scheme, turned out to be that process of continuous improvement for the recertification. To improve what they already had implemented. And to mention one that comes to mind Agricola Belher or Agricola de la Costa, which you can recognize their level of commitment and that willingness to improve.

6. What do you consider are the key points for a company to approve a weekly verification of Eleven Rivers?

The key is not to lose track of the surveillance and monitoring of all those formal controls.

That they adopt these methods of work as a habit, that they are convinced of all the benefits of having a system implemented, as well as keeping an open mind that this is a cycle of improvement.

7. What is the expectation of the joint work of ANCE with Eleven Rivers in the short and long term?

Working with Eleven Rivers has left us with great satisfaction, so our goal is to continue with this business relationship.

In the short term, we want to continue being the verification unit par excellence, each time with a stronger team in order to provide the best service to the association.

In the long term, have a relationship of synergy in which both parties can provide support to ensure that the scheme is recognized by buyers as a guarantee of food safety and quality.

I would add something more in the medium term, and I would be the support to the updates of the scheme, since the markets trends is towards the integration of stricter requirements.

8. In what way do you consider that the new international regulations and the new requirements of buyers and consumers impact on companies?

It is a complex environment that highlights the need to cover all these conditions; legal or specific requirements of buyers and customers, without compromising the food safety of the products and at the same time achieving an adequate cost-benefit ratio that allows maintaining competitiveness in the market.

And while the picture is complex and full of challenges, the opportunities will be present for those who seek to establish systematic working methods such as the different food safety schemes.

This is where the efforts of the producers of Sinaloa are recognized, who not only worry, but also take care of adapting and updating themselves in order to prepare their companies for the future.

9. Anything else you want to add?

Thank you for this interview and congratulate all the Eleven Rivers team for the excellent work that is being done with the certification scheme and always have in mind that food safety is not something negotiable.