Process for Certification Body Registration

The following is an explanation of the process for how a Certification Body becomes recognised by the BRC to audit against any of its Standards.

There is no charge to a Certification Body for BRC approval, however, the Certification Body needs to enter a contract (framework agreement) with the BRC and abide by its requirements including forwarding details of all BRC audits undertaken and resultant audit reports.

Applications to use the BRC Global Standards are accepted from any Certification Body which is, or expects to be, Accredited to ISO Guide 65 (EN 45011).

Certification Bodies wishing to register should complete and return the registration form which includes a named representative responsible for dealing with all aspects of BRC Global Standards. Click here to download a copy of the registration form.

On receipt of the Registration Form, the BRC will provide the Certification Body with a copy of:-

the Framework Agreement
the Certification Body Requirements Document

The documents need to be read, understood and signed/completed before return to the BRC.

The following supporting information will also be required before a Certification Body will be Recognised or Provisionally Recognised:

A copy of a valid indemnity insurance certificate with cover to the value of £5,000,000.
A copy of the accreditation certificate and schedule from a BRC recognised accreditation body covering the scope of one or more BRC Global Standards

a letter from a BRC recognised accreditation body confirming that an application has been made for accreditation with the scope for one or more BRC Global Standards.*

* the BRC acknowledges that to achieve accreditation, Certification Bodies seeking accreditation must be able to carry out audits against that Standard. Therefore, a Certification Body shall be allowed to carry out audits prior to achieving accreditation status, where they can demonstrate the following:

an active application for ISO/IEC Guide 65 / EN45011 accreditation with an accreditation body recognised by the BRC
accreditation must be expected within 12 months of the date of application
individual auditor qualifications and experience for specific product categories must be consistent with the specified criteria.

Every person undertaking certification audits must have the appropriate qualification, training, experience and skills to perform an audit against the relevant BRC Global Standard and the particular product category within the scope of that Standard. The BRC requires Certification Bodies to register all auditors with the BRC and to provide details of the Standards and product categories in which they are qualified to audit. The initial registration and regular updating of information is the responsibility of each Certification Body.

Certification Bodies that meet the criteria above will be either:-

Recognised – where Accreditation has been achieved for the relevant BRC Global Standard

Provisionally Recognised – where sites are actively involved in seeking Accreditation for the relevant BRC Global Standard.

The details of both Recognised and Provisional Recognised Certification Bodies are displayed on the publicly accessible BRC Directory where the accreditation status with respect to each standard is clearly shown.

Where Certification Bodies operate internationally and have local offices, the details of the local offices can also be registered where:

The audit and certification processes are covered within the scope of accreditation of the Certification Body

and

The local office has one or more auditors registered with the BRC for the particular BRC Global Standard (s) for which the office is registered.

The BRC is committed to maintaining the reputation and integrity of the BRC Global Standards where the competence and capability of the accredited Certification Body and their auditors is critical to this objective. The BRC will monitor the performance of Certification Bodies to try to ensure that the BRC Global Standards are being applied consistently and that the information required for users of the certificates and reports is provided in a timely manner. Where a Certification Bodies performance does not meet the agreed standards the Certification Body may be suspended or removed from the scheme.

BRC Recognised accreditation bodies

Please click here to download a list of accreditation bodies