c. Implementation of standard procedures to monitor the manufacturing process at CCPs. In order to monitor production effectively, the manufacturer must establish performance guidelines against which production at each of the CCPs can evaluated. Embodied in these guidelines are the quality criteria which determine the specifications for the process. Also, there must be formal procedures to record the results of all the in-process tests which are used to monitor performance, and the must be provision for in line “corrective-action" and "follow-up" control mechanisms. In-process control records should be retained for a period of not less than three years. This is essential to help management regularly review production, but also permanent records are necessary should questions of product suitability arise and a product recall be initiated. In summary this means that at each CCP there must be a specification, a testing procedure, a permanent recording system and a facility for remedial action.
The distinction between traditional control mechanisms and the HACCP approach to in-process control is clear. The former relies on terminal analyses to assess the adequacy of each operation, while the latter relies on in-process testing to demonstrate that all factors critical to the safety (and marketability) of the product have been adequately controlled. Given that improperly manufactured canned fishery products present a potential health risk, and since the safety of high volume canned food production cannot be assessed solely by terminal analyses, the error prevention techniques of the HACCP concept are both rational and potentially more cost effective.