FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT 125 1. Introduction The implementation of international standards constitutes a necessary element for competitiveness. Hudson and Orviska (2012) note that the adoption of international standards may be required for entry into certain markets, especially in the Euro- pean Union Countries (Djordjevic et al., 2011). Retailers often imposetheirownqualitystandardsonsuppliers(Fulponi,2006). Inthisway,privatestandardsinagri-foodsector,haveincreased inimportance,oftenbecomingmorecomplexandstringentthan government standards (Hamoudi et al., 2009). Competitiveness entails the adoption of new marketing stra- tegies by food Companies. Thus, the number of food Compa- nies that are adopting quality assurance systems to improve their competitiveness in the global market is continually in- creasing (Karipidis etal.,2009).Infact,FoodSafetyandquality standards are key prerequisites to maintaining and improving the reputation of a Company. Furthermore, retailers are moving in the direction of a harmonization of Food Safety standards (Fulponi, 2006). The competitiveness of food Companies in national and international markets depends, in fact, on their ability to adopt production processes, which meet the Food Safety and quality requirements (Holleran et al., 1999). Efstratiadis and Arvanito- yannis (2000) argue that HACCP should be a part of the Total Quality System, because it encourages training and creates an environment of cooperation between the management and the personnel. The implementation of quality assurance systems in the global food market improves the competitiveness of Companies (Karipidis et al., 2009). Assurance systems play an essential role in Food Safety and quality control. Fotopoulos et al. (2010) analyze the implementation of QMS with ISO 9001 in food industry; results showed that the major reasons for cer- tification concern the internal business environment and then the external one and no particular difficulties were observed duringthestandardimplementation.Psomas etal.(2014)argue that food companies should realize the leading role of the “soft” aspect of total quality management and the supporting role of the “hard” aspect in maximizing the quality management benefits and as a consequence in withstanding the current economic downturn. Kheradia and Warriner (2013) argue that implementing ope- rational and physical controls had a positive impact on the food safetyandQMS.The“humanfactor”stronglyimpactstheimple- mentation of a HACCP system; for example, a high turnover of staff constitutes a great barrier to HACCP efficiency (Casolani and Del Signore, 2016). Food Safety is a fundamental public health issue. An increasing number of food Companies have been implementing Food Safety Management System (FSMS) withtheaimofimprovingthequalityandsafetyoftheirproducts. Customer care, healthy and safe food are the conditions that modern business requires (Djordjevic et al., 2011). Food Safety has become one of the most important issues influencing natio- nalandinternationalbusiness(Aggelogiannopoulos etal.,2007). A safety assurance system is required at each step of food production (Trienekens and Zuurbier, 2007). The implementation of FSMS and its certification are an important strategy to ensure Food Safety in the public and privatespheres(Souza-MonteiroandAnders,2009).Amongthe constraints identified in the literature related to Food Safety standards implementation are: high establishment cost and insufficient financial support (Aggelogiannopoulos et al., 2007; Teixeira and Sampaio, 2011; Herath and Henson, 2010; Tuna- lioglu etal.,2012),absenceofinternationalmarketexpectations QUALITY Access to Success Vol. 19, No. 165/August 2018 Implementation of Quality Management System with ISO 22000 in Food Italian Companies Nicola Casolani 1* , Lolita Liberatore 1 , Evangelos Psomas 2 1 Department of Economic Studies, University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy 2 Department of Business Administration of Food and Agricultural Enterprises, University of Patras, Agrinio, Greece *Corresponding author: Nicola Casolani; E-mail: nicola.casolani@unich.it Abstract The worldwide implementation of Quality Management System (QMS) has increased significantly during the last few years. ISO 22000 certification demonstrates the ability of an organization to implement a Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS). This paper analyzes the benefits gained and the obstacles encountered by Italian companies when implementing ISO 22000 standards, and considers the effects of Company size and years of certification on the outcome. The research was carried out using a sample of 180 Italian food Companies interviewed. The sample considered in the present study is constituted by Companies in the Italian food industry certified for at least 2 years. The respondents were all qualified as Quality Control / Assurance Manager. Data were elaborated through SPSS 22.0 Statistical Software Package. The main benefits derived from the application of this standard are both external and internal: ISO 22000 improves commercial opportunities and internal procedure; the main obstacles to imple- mentation are perceived particularly by Micro-Small Companies at the beginning phase of certification and they are related to changes in internal organization and the costs involved in certification. Keywords: ISO 22000, management system, quality assurance, food safety.