BRC - British Global Standard
British
Retail Consortium - BRC Global
Standard.
ABOUT THE STANDARDS
In 1998 the British Retail
Consortium (BRC), responding to
industry needs, developed and
introduced the BRC Food
Technical Standard to be used to
evaluate manufacturers of
retailers own brand food
products. It is designed to
assist retailers and brand
owners produce food products of
consistent safety and quality
and assist with their 'due
diligence' defence, should they
be subject to a prosecution by
the enforcement authorities.
Under EU food Law, retailers and
brand owners have a legal
responsibility for their brands.
6 REASONS TO CHOOSE BRC
CERTIFICATION
1. CONFIDENCE
Developed by retailers and
driven by retailers, BRC Global
Standards are a market leading
global brand that helps build
confidence in the food safety
industry. Rigorous and detailed,
yet easy to follow and
understand, BRC Global Standards
are tried and trusted by leading
global retailers to deliver
effective supply chain
management, legal compliance and
value for money. BRC Global
Standards are widely recognised
throughout the world, with over
14,000 certificated suppliers in
over 100 countries through a
network of over 90 Accredited
and BRC recognised Certification
Bodies. The Global Standard for
Food Safety Issue 5 is the
world’s most widely recognised
BRC Global Standard and forms
part of a suite of product
safety standards that cover
Consumer Products, Packaging &
Packaging Materials, Storage &
Distribution enabling
certification of the supply
chain.
2. CREDIBILITY
Now celebrating its tenth
anniversary, the BRC Global
Standard for Food Safety was the
first Standard in the world to
be approved by the Global Food
Safety Initiative (GSFI)
benchmarking committee. An
established, highly experienced
BRC Technical Services Team with
many years experience in the
product safety industry provides
support and leadership at the
highest level. An expanding
customer support function based
at the BRC’s London headquarters
provides rapid assistance with
technical questions. Click here
to contact the BRC for
assistance.
3. COLLABORATION AND
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Expert International Technical
Committees are fully engaged to
ensure the ongoing development
of the Standards through a
process of collaboration and
continuous improvement. The BRC
is currently developing a
web-based, fully interactive
database of information about
BRC certificated suppliers. The
Global Standards Directory will
offer immediate access to audit
reports, audit data, management
reporting and notification of
remedial actions. The Global
Standards Directory puts the BRC
right at the heart of effective
supply chain management.
4. CONSISTENCY
A global training infrastructure
ensures that suppliers are well
informed about how to implement
the Standard, prepare for their
audit and achieve certification.
Over 100 BRC Approved Training
Providers throughout the world
offer BRC accredited training
courses in local languages. A
highly skilled and multi-lingual
Training Team provide in-house
training at your location is
cost effective in both time and
money, and also very flexible.
Tried and tested BRC learning
content is combined with the
client’s own requirements to
deliver tailored and customized
training programs. Detailed and
standardized audit reports
create global consistency in
audit reporting. The BRC Food
Standard is currently available
in ten languages with additional
translations being developed to
facilitate understanding and
consistency throughout the
world.
5. COMPETENCE
The BRC’s Compliance Team is
developing robust performance
monitoring assessment tools to
help ensure that Certification
Bodies carry out BRC audits to
the highest possible standard.
An established and transparent
complaints procedure helps
ensure that all customer
referrals are investigated and
vigorously followed up.
Rigorous requirements around the
competence, qualifications and
experience of auditors help
ensure that audit standards are
stringently maintained.
6. COST EFFECTIVE
The BRC’s straight forward
certification process ensures
that there are no hidden costs
or added costly hurdles for
sites wanting certification. For
sites that are properly prepared
and confident in their safety
management systems the only cost
is that of the audit.
Implementing a
BRC Global Standard.
There are key steps that
every company implementing a BRC
Global Standard will
need to consider:
Purchase the Standard
Before you can begin preparing
for your application, you will
require a copy of the BRC Global
standard.
You should read this and make
yourself familiar with it.
Review support literature and
software
There are a wide
range of quality publications
and software tools designed to
help you understand, implement
and become registered to a BRC
Global Standard
.
Assemble a team and agree on
your strategy
You should
begin the entire implementation
process by preparing your
organizational strategy with top
management. Responsibility for a
BRC Global Standard
lies
with Senior Management,
therefore it is vital that
Senior Management is involved
from the beginning of the
process.
Consider Training
Whether you are the
Food Safety
Manager seeking to implement a
quality management system or a
Senior Manager who would like to
increase your general awareness
of BRC Global Standard , there are a
range of workshops, seminars and
training courses available.
Review Consultancy Options
The consultancy is the 3rd party
like NUCLEUS, You can receive
advice from independent
consultants on how best to
implement your quality
management system. They will
have the experience in
implementing a BRC Global
Standard and can
ensure you avoid costly
mistakes.
Choose a registrar
The registrar is the 3rd party,
like (Check
with International Accreditation
Forum for the accredited
certification body)
who come and assess the
effectiveness of your quality
management system, and issue a
certificate if it meets the
requirements of the standard.
Choosing a registrar can be a
complex issue as there are so
many operating in the market.
Factors to consider include
industry experience, geographic
coverage, price and service
level offered. The key is to
find the registrar who can best
meet your requirements. A great
place to start is by contacting
us.
Develop a BRC
Global Standard Documents
A BRC Global
Standard
documents that outlines your
intention to operate in a
quality manner. It outlines why
you are in business, what your
intentions are, how you are
applying the standard and how
your business operates.
Develop support documentation
This is typically a procedures
manual that supports theBRC
Global Standard. Quite simply, it
outlines what you do to complete
a task. It describes who does
what, in what order and to what
standard.
Implement
your BRC Global Standard
The key to implementation is
communication and training.
During the implementation phase
everyone operates to the
procedures and collects records
that demonstrate you are doing
what you say you are doing.
Consider a pre-assessment
A pre-assessment by your
registrar normally takes place
about 6 weeks into the
implementation of the BRC Global
Standard. The purpose of the
pre-assessment is to identify
areas where you may not be
operating to the standard. This
allows you to correct any areas
of concern you may have before
the initial assessment.
Gain registration
You
should arrange your initial
assessment with your registrar.
At this point the registrar will
review your BRC Global Standard and determine
whether you should be
recommended for registration.
Continual assessment
Once you have received
registration and been awarded
your certificate, you can begin
to advertise your success and
promote your business. To
maintain your registration, all
you need to do is continue to
use your quality system. This
will be periodically checked by
your registrar to ensure that
your BRC Global Standard continues to
meet the requirements of the
standard.
BRC Registration
Registration to BRC
Global Standard takes
place when an accredited 3rd
party visits an organization,
assesses the management system
and issues a certificate to show
that the organization abides by
to the principles set out in BRC
Global Standard
Your
BRC
certificate is a sign of
acceptability which saves you
having to prove your quality
standards to discriminating
customers. BRC Global Standard speaks an
international language.
Why do I need registration?
Gaining registration to BRC
Global Standard through various
certification bodies will help
your organization flourish.
Whether you are looking to
operate internationally or to
expand locally to accommodate
new business, BRC Global
Standard will help you
demonstrate to customers that
you have a commitment to
quality.
The regular assessment process
will ensure you continually use,
monitor and improve your
processes.
Registration can improve overall
performance, remove uncertainty
and widen market opportunities.
