Meeting the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards
BRC Certification is reassurance for retailers and branded manufacturers of the standards met by you as a supplier and AsureQuality, as an approved Certification Body for the BRC can help you achieve this.
What are the BRC Global Standards and why do you need them?
The BRC Global Standards were developed by UK retailers to set standards for the safe production, packaging, storage and distribution of food and consumer products.
The majority of UK, and many European and global retailers, and brand owners will only consider doing business with suppliers who have gained BRC certification because the BRC Certification is reassurance for them of the standards met by you as a supplier. They reduce the need for them to carry out their own audits, saving time and money.
AsureQuality capability
AsureQuality is an approved Certification Body for the following BRC Global Standards:
BRC Global Standard for Food Safety
BRC / IOP Global Standard for Storage and Distribution
We are also certified BRC trainers. No courses are currently scheduled. To register your interest for future courses, please contact AsureQuality Training
The BRC Standards cover
- Senior Management Commitment and Continual Improvement
- The Food Safety Plan - HACCP programme based Codex Alimentarius System
- Food Safety and Quality Management System – based on principles of ISO 9000
- Site Standards –layout, maintenance, cleaning, pest control and waste management
- Product Control –design and development, Allergen management, laboratory and product testing
- Process Control –safe process controls, weight/volume control and equipment calibration
- Personnel – staff training of staff, protective clothing and personnel hygiene
Steps to gaining BRC Certification
STEP 1 - Planning for success |
|
Obtaining certification against a BRC Global Standard may represent a major challenge to some companies. It is therefore essential that companies interested in becoming certificated consider carefully what needs to be achieved prior to arranging a certification audit. |
STEP 2 - Getting prepared |
|
Order a copy of the Standard and assess the compliance of your site to its requirements. The BRC have published guidance documents on best practice and on the use of standards for some sectors which may also be of assistance. |
STEP 3 - Self assessment |
|
Review your current systems and practices against the requirements of the Standard in order to identify areas which may need further work before undertaking a full audit. This can be carried out by your own site, by a consultant familiar with the BRC Standard or by asking AsureQuality who are a Certification Body to undertake a pre-assessment. Please note we are not able to provide consultancy, only identify areas where further work is required. |
STEP 4 – Select AsureQuality as your Certification Body |
|
AsureQuality an accredited Certification Body registered by the BRC, will carry out the evaluation on your site. |
STEP 5 - Audit |
|
A plan for the audit will be provided by us to ensure that you and your team are properly prepared. The audit may be extended if staff or documentation is not available at the audit so preparation is essential. It is important that the site is in production at the time of the audit otherwise a further audit will be required. |
STEP 6 - Corrective actions |
|
At the end of the audit we will provide a written list of any areas which need improvement in order to gain certification, this will also be discussed at the closing meeting. Where non-conformances have been identified, these must be addressed and suitable evidence provided by us for assessment within 28 days. In some circumstances it may be necessary for us to return to the site to check that appropriate corrective action has been taken. |
STEP 7 - Certification decision |
|
We will review the audit report from the auditor and corrective action documentation provided in order to make a certification decision. |
STEP 8 - Issue of report and certificate (if applicable) |
|
The audit report and certificate (if applicable) should be issued within 42 days of the original audit date to the person who paid for the audit (usually the site). A copy of the report is automatically sent to the BRC to allow quality control checking of the Certification Body undertaking the audit. Certificated sites are invited to have site details placed on the BRC Directory website to advertise their achievements. |
STEP 9 - Issue of report to customers |
|
It is a principle of the BRC scheme that the audit report is owned by the company paying for the audit and copies can only be provided to other parties at the request of the owner (a copy is provided to the BRC and this is held confidentially). It is usual to authorise the release of a copy of the report and/or certificate for customers. |
BRC Website
Back to the top
