Frequently asked Questions
My audit is due in November and according to the rules must be carried out against Issue 1, will my certificate still be recognised when Issue 2 is available?
Yes as with each change in Issue of a BRC Standard, certificates issued against the previous Standard remain valid for the normal duration of that certificate.
Why are audits against Issue 2 not available until January 2011 when the Standard is published in September 2010?
There are 2 reasons for the delay.
Firstly we would consider it unfair on a site to be audited against a Standard which may only just have become publicly available. Sites need time to review the requirements and make any changes necessary to comply with the requirements of the Standard.
Secondly it is essential that all auditors are fully trained on the new Standard. The BRC training courses are developed as soon as the Standard is complete but inevitably to provide courses of the quality required and make these available to the auditors around the world takes time. We have allowed the period between September and March for sites and auditors to become familiar with the new Standard. However where auditor training has been completed by the Certification Body sites may choose to have an audit against Issue 2 from January.
I am currently certificated to Issue 1 will my first audit against Issue 2 be considered as an initial audit?
No. We consider Issues 1 and 2 to be continuations of the same certification process. If you already hold a certificate for Issue 1 then on certification to Issue 2 your next audit date will be determined by performance as set out in the audit frequency tables in the Standard and not treated as an initial audit.
We are a brokerage company, can we be certificated against this Standard even though we don’t have our own warehouse?
Unfortunately not. This is because the BRC Standard offers accredited certification within the requirements of ISO Guide 65 for Product Certification, this is not allowed to be used where products are subject to the inspection. The activities carried out by brokers and agents are considered to be management systems certification. We are however looking at developing a non accredited module for use by brokers and agents.
Although we primarily store and distribute products we do a small amount of packing of products does this Standard apply to me?
If the repacking operation involves open food products then the answer is No. Where open food products are processed including packing then the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety should be used instead.
What are the main differences between Issue 1 and Issue 2?
Whilst the Standard covers the same broad areas we have taken the opportunity to simplify the presentation and make the requirements a little more detailed to improve clarity. The Standard is now organised with a core Standard which is broken into 8 chapters and covers Storage and Distribution together with additional voluntary modules for Wholesaling and an extended list of contracted services. The requirements of the supplement published in November 2008 have been incorporated into the Issue 2 of the Standard.
If you have any questions about the Global Standard for Storage & Distribution please email brcglobalstandards@brc.org.uk and send your question to the BRC Global Standards Support team or phone +44 (0)20 7854 8939