3-A Steering Committee

3-A SSI relies on a dedicated group of volunteer state and federal dairy regulators, equipment manufacturers and user industry personnel to develop and update all 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices. The oversight of all 3-A SSI consensus documents is maintained by the 3-A Steering Committee. The committee is responsible for establishing standard operating procedures and setting priorities for the development of new or revised documents. The committee reports directly to the 3-A SSI Board of Directors.

3-A SSI Steering Committee Roster

Proposals for New Projects

3-A SSI strives to be responsive to industry standardization needs. We welcome requests for new projects, whether a new 3-A Sanitary Standard or a 3-A Accepted Practice, or a revision to bring an existing document into line with changing industry needs.

To request consideration of a new 3-A Sanitary Standard or 3-A Accepted Practice, or amendment to an existing 3-A Sanitary Standard or 3-A Accepted Practice, download and complete the attached  3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices Project Proposal Form. Follow the instructions and e-mail the completed form to Eric Schweitzer, at  erics@3-a.org. Please be sure to submit the exact wording you would like to see in the 3-A Sanitary Standard or 3-A Accepted Practice, if possible. If you need assistance, you may contact Eric Schweitzer for guidance. Your proposal will be evaluated by the 3-A Steering Committee and, if approved, will be forwarded to the appropriate Working Group for further development. Your contact information will also be added to the Working Group so you will be afforded the opportunity to participate. It is appropriate for the proponent to be active, and possibly even chair the task group, so you will be invited to participate.

3-A SSI Procedures

For candidate American National Standards , 3-A SSI follows  Operating Procedures for the Development of American National Standards by 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc.

For documents that do not hold the designation of American National Standard, 3-A SSI follows  'Procedures for the Development and Maintenance of 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices’

These Procedures provide a complete description of the role and the function of the 3-A Steering Committee and the Working Groups.

International Harmonization

A key mission objective of 3-A SSI is to serve as a valued partner in the global harmonization of criteria for the application and verification of hygienic equipment design for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. 3-A SSI has maintained a close working relationship with the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) in a shared mission - to enhance food safety by promoting hygiene in the production and processing of food.

Questions frequently arise about the comparability of terminology used in guideline documents and publications of EHEDG and 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices.  Representatives of 3-A SSI and EHEDG cooperated to develop the EHEDG Glossary of definitions to provide uniform general interpretation of common terms, phrases and definitions. To view the latest  3-A/EHEDG harmonization matrix, click here.  For more information about the EHEDG Glossary document and a link to a free download, go to: http://www.ehedg.org/index.php?nr=9&lang=en.