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Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE:SFD) announced today that a third-party audit of its Environmental Management System (EMS) at Murphy-Brown LLC facilities found 'zero' non-conformances. The auditor has indicated that he will recommend continued certification for the facilities, which means they meet the all of the requirements of the ISO 14001:2004 Standard, an internationally recognized measure of environmental excellence.
The audit covered nine randomly selected Murphy-Brown facilities with all nine receiving high marks from the independent auditor. The audit was conducted during the first week in May. Murphy-Brown is Smithfield's hog production subsidiary.
"This is tremendous news, especially coming on the 10th anniversary of receiving our initial ISO certification for all of our company-owned farms in the United States," said Dennis H. Treacy, Smithfield's executive vice president and chief sustainability officer.
"This latest audit once again underscores our companywide commitment to protecting the environment by aggressively applying sound environmental practices that meet the most stringent standards," Treacy said.
Don Butler, director of government relations and public affairs for Murphy-Brown, said, "The results of the audit are a tribute to all the great folks at Murphy-Brown who work hard every day to make sure that we maintain the highest standard of environmental excellence in the U.S. pork industry."
Butler pointed out that Smithfield has gone from averaging multiple notices of violation (NOVs) on its company-owned farms in past years to zero NOVs today.
"Murphy-Brown demonstrates outstanding commitment to its Environmental Management System, including a strong focus on pollution prevention, legal and regulatory compliance and continual improvement," said John Earnhardt, president of Pro Services EMS Consulting. "They have one of the most effective and efficient EMSs that I have seen in 18 years of EMS consulting."
Earnhardt worked on the global team that drafted and implemented ISO 14001 in the mid-1990s and also conducted some of the first certification audits in the United States.
Smithfield Foods was the first company in the pork industry to achieve ISO 14001 environmental certification for both its U.S. hog production and pork processing facilities.
ISO 14001 is the international gold standard for environmental management. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), based in Geneva, Switzerland, promotes the development and implementation of voluntary international standards for environmental management systems. If a facility receives ISO certification, it means that facility has implemented state-of-the-art environmental management systems that include formalized practices to protect the environment.
July 16, 2012 - Smithfield Foods, Inc.
