National Branded Products - Pet Treats
Suppliers providing pet treat products are required to obtain and maintain GFSI-recognized certification at sites that manufacture or process product for Walmart and/or Sam's Club. Failure to maintain certification may result in loss of business and deactivation of your vendor number. GFSI-recognized certification is required for all sites that manufacture or process product for Walmart and/or Sam’s Club regardless of ownership. It is the responsibility of the supplier to ensure all sites manufacturing or processing products meeting the above criteria maintain compliance with our audit requirements – Walmart does not schedule audits for suppliers or sites. New sites must have approval prior to use.
For more information about the GFSI-recognized certification process and to view a full list of recognized schemes, we recommend visiting the official GFSI website.
Suppliers are responsible for ensuring all sites providing product to Walmart retail operations are compliant with any applicable international (including foreign national), federal, state, and local requirements. In addition, all products provided must be compliant with the federal, state, and local requirements for the store or club in which the products will be sold. This may include, but is not limited to, USDA, FDA, and/or state registration of a supplier’s site, and any related product labeling requirements. All products provided to Walmart must be produced in a commercial food manufacturing or packing environment.
Suppliers (both domestic and foreign) are also expected to assist regulatory and health agencies with investigations in a timely manner. Walmart assists various regulatory agencies in outbreak investigations and expect suppliers to provide any traceback documentation that may be requested. Likewise, if public health may be at risk, even if products produced by a supplier have not been directly implicated in an outbreak, it is our expectation that suppliers comply with any recommended product removals.
If for any reason a situation arises where you need to remove product from Walmart Stores, Sam’s Clubs, Distribution Centers, or Fulfillment Centers:
- Contact your Buyer and your Food Safety Manager immediately to communicate that a removal is necessary. For any impending recalls impacting Walmart and/or Sam’s Club, it is important that this contact be made prior to any public notification. Additional information may be requested, which must be provided in a timely manner.
- The Walmart Recall Managers will take the lead in initiating the recall, communicating to all impacted stores, clubs, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers to hold or remove product quickly. They will also send communications to our members and online customers notifying them of a potential issue. Once a recall is terminated and you have approval, you may resume sending safe products to our stores, clubs, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers.
- Recall information, based on manufacturers’ and regulatory agencies’ press releases that involve products sold through Walmart stores, Walmart.com, Sam’s Club, or SamsClub.com can be found here.
Retail Link® is an online hub for the data, documentation, reports, and special applications that suppliers use to manage their business with Walmart. The Product Removal app is located within Retail Link® and is used to remove products from stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers. The Walmart Food Safety & Health compliance team uses data to execute product withdrawals and recalls through this portal.