How should you verify supplier compliance with safety standards?

• A. Accept any supplier; no COAs.
• B. Check delivery schedule only.
• C. Only check price; discount codes.
• D. Approve suppliers, require COAs, conduct supplier audits, review recalls and performance history.

Answer: (D)

Ensuring safety compliance requires a proactive, multi-layered supplier verification approach. You should only approve suppliers who meet safety criteria and have robust controls in place. Requiring a certificate of analysis for every lot gives objective, batch-level evidence that the product meets safety specifications before it’s used or sold. Conducting supplier audits checks that the supplier’s quality systems, processes, and facilities actually align with safety standards and that what they claim is being implemented in practice. Reviewing recalls and performance history adds a view into past safety performance and ongoing reliability, helping you assess risk and decide when corrective actions are needed or when a supplier should be reconsidered.

Relying on anyone who asks to supply you without COAs, or focusing only on delivery timing or price, fails to address whether the product is safe and consistently compliant.