A global trade organization called BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards) exists. The association’s mission is to provide food retailers with a uniform method for auditing the food supply chain. The organization, which until 2019 went by the name British Retail Consortium, released its first standard in 1998. The BRCGS has established itself as the international standard for food makers and has helped to harmonize food safety requirements throughout the supply chain. The BRCGS is in charge of establishing norms in a variety of fields, such as HACCP, traceability, preventing food fraud, and food safety culture.
The BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 certification is in high demand among the food industry, particularly among those that wish to compete on the international level. All over the world, organizations have adopted it. Manufacturers, brand owners, and retailers can meet their legal obligations and protect customers with the aid of third-party certification to the standard. The BRCGS updated the BRC food safety standard Issue 8 and released the new standard as BRCGS Global Standard Food Safety Issue 9 in August 2022. This standard addresses the food industry’s concerns about product safety, authenticity, legality, and quality. The BRCGS for Food Safety was established to offer a benchmark for supplier approval and due diligence. The majority of the requirements in BRCGS food safety Issue 9 are general and are meant to be used by all sizes and types of food enterprises.
Certification can be requested after a set period by submitting an application to a certification body, which is established and managed by BRC Food Security System. Typically, this time frame is three months long. The system must, at the very least, have gone through an implementation phase and undergone the necessary modifications. It is possible to eliminate deficiencies found during this time or improve processes.
An agreement is started with a certification authority. The certification application form and certification instructions should be ready before submitting an application to a certification organization. The business is not required to produce any further documentation besides this. The certifying body should receive a copy of the documentation created during the system installation and store it in a location that is easily accessible. Considering that the certifying authority will require this documentation work for the first research.
After conducting a preliminary examination while using BRC Issue 9 documents, the certifying body will begin the actual inspection process at the company’s manufacturing facilities. The size of the business and the number of employees are taken into account when preparing the study. Additionally, if the business has manufacturing facilities in multiple locations, this serves as the foundation for audit planning. As much as feasible, all business activities are watched during the audit process. What matters is figuring out how closely the company complies with the necessary criteria.
After the audit work, the auditors must create a thorough report and submit it to the certifying organization. While reaching its judgment, the certifying authority must act in conformity with the findings of this report. If it is determined that the business deserves to receive the BRC Food, Food Safety System Certificate, the certificate is therefore granted and given to the business. This document’s validity span is three years, but annual interim audits are performed, and the company’s operations are still being watched. If there are any flaws in these inspections, it is asked that they be fixed, although this document may alternatively be invalid.
Know About Your Food Safety Standard 