About Third Party Certification
Third Party Certification
Third party certification is an assessment of a site carried out by an independent, ‘third party’ organization that is qualified and licensed to issue a certificate. Certification Bodies may themselves be assessed by an Accreditation Body against internationally defined Standards to an accredited certification scheme such as the Global Standards.
Certification verses Inspection to customer Standards
Inspection is a term often used in the food industry to denote second party checks on a company. These may be carried out either by the company seeking to contract with a supplier or by an independent company acting on their behalf. Although superficially very similar there is a significant difference in the relationship between site and audit company when it comes to certification. Unlike the inspection which provides information about a company’s standards at a particular snap shot in time, certification schemes are designed to provide ongoing assurance of compliance. The key differences are best summed up in the table below.
Note that inspections such as final random inspections (FRI or PSI) or during production inspections (DUPRO) carried out to check production of consumer products are not audits at all but sampling and examination procedures.
*The table below does not apply to such inspections.
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BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 5
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Accredited Certification (BRC)
|
Supplier Inspection
|
|
Published standard with clear requirements
|
Yes |
Usually
|
| Full Audit of the site against the standard |
Yes |
Yes |
| Audit report includes action taken on non conformities |
Yes |
Not Usually
|
| All non conformities completed and checked by the audit company |
Yes |
Not Usually
|
| Certificate issued to the site with an expiry date |
Yes |
Certificates if issued don’t have an expiry date |
| Contract between the site and audit company for the duration of the certificate |
Yes |
No |
| Certificate can be suspended or withdrawn if standards are not maintained |
Yes |
No |
| Dialogue between the audit company and the site during the validity of the certificate |
Yes |
No |
Importantly certification gives confidence to customers that the standards they expect have not only been achieved but that there is an ongoing process to ensure continued compliance.
What is Accreditation?
Certification Bodies need to apply for accreditation in order to demonstrate their capability to carry out audits against accredited Standards such as the BRC Global Standards. Accreditation introduces independent verification of the Certification Bodies against internationally defined standards for the way in which they manage the audit processes and make decisions whether to issue certificates.
The Standard used, ISO Guide 65 (EN 45011), includes requirements for maintaining the confidentiality of information, independence and impartiality of the audit and certification process. It also sets the need for documented procedures for the audit process, for the selection and training of auditors and establishes the rights of clients to complain and appeal against decisions. The Certification Bodies apply to the national Accreditation Bodies (click here) to see the Accreditation Bodies recognised by the Global Standards scheme) to become Accredited against the BRC Global Standard of their choice and are in turn audited against this Standard and a selection of their audits are witnessed. Accreditation provides a greater level of confidence in the work of the audit companies and allows international recognition of their certification activity when using international Standards such as the BRC Global Standards.
Click here to download the Key Difference document - Certification verses Inspection to customer standards
Click here to download the Key Features of BRC Certification document
Click here to visit the BRC Global Standards Bookshop
Click here to contact the BRC Global Standards Team
