a review of the british retail consortium (brc) global
TRANSCRIPT
A REVIEW OF THE BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM (BRC) GLOBAL STANDARD FOR
AGENTS AND BROKERS
In January 2014, The BRC released a Global Standard for Agents and Brokers Issue 1.This is a voluntary Standard aimed at agents, brokers, importers and exporters that provide services for the purchase, importation or distribution of products. This Standard covers food products, such as raw materials and finished products, pet food for domesticated animals and primary, secondary and tertiary materials of food packaging. The Standard provides a full Quality Management System (QMS) framework, specifying the safety, quality and operational criteria required to ensure legal compliance and ultimately protection of the consumer. In addition to this, the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7, was released in January 2015 and includes a new clause; 3.5.1.3. This clause highlights that for every raw material that a company purchases from their agent or broker, the company must obtain details, and therefore enable ‘approval’ of the last manufacturer, packer or consolidator, unless the agent/broker is certificated to the BRC Global Standard for Agents and Brokers.
For companies working in compliance with BRC Global Standards for Food Safety Issue 7, the benefits of selecting a BRC accredited agent or broker means that they will not need to spend time and resources obtaining information relating to the previous suppliers. For agents and brokers, the benefit of obtaining accreditation to the BRC Standard for Agents and Brokers is the increase in consumer trust, by strengthening customer confidence in their operational services and supply chain management. This highlights the importance that the industry is placing on this new Standard, and also gives a potential advantage to agents/brokers, who are already certified, in that they could attract more clients based on their accreditation status. A feature of this Standard is the importance of product testing using an ISO17025 accredited laboratory. Using an accredited laboratory will provide companies with documented evidence that their products are meeting the requirements of their consumers; potentially giving them a leading edge on the market. Although this Standard is not compulsory at present, many companies are seeking accreditation due to the significant benefits associated with it. We at ICNE are a GMP and ISO17025:2005 accredited laboratory and are ideally placed to assist you with the testing requirements of this Standard.
Requirements for Gaining BRC Agents and Brokers Accreditation
To ensure product safety, legality and quality, and therefore meet the Standard, the BRC has described key requirements that a company must conform to. They are separated into five areas, summarised below. Please see the official BRC Standard for full details.
1 - Senior Management Commitment
Senior management must demonstrate commitment in endeavouring to meet the requirements of this Standard, and must operate in a way that enables the continual improvement of their product safety and quality management services.
Management must provide clear organisational structures, lines of communication and effective management of services.
2 - Hazard and Risk Assessment
A safety plan for the processes a company is responsible for is required, which is based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP).
3 - Product Safety and Quality Management System
All processes and procedures must be documented, allowing consistent application, facilitate training, and support due diligence in order to supply a safe product.
Put in place a documentation control system, to ensure the most up to date and correct documents are being used.
Maintain concise records in order to control safety, legality and quality of products.
Identify, record and clearly communicate their customers’ needs to suppliers and staff.
Email: [email protected] www.icne.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1253 737009
Email: [email protected] www.icne.co.uk Tel: 01253 737009
Email: [email protected] www.icne.co.uk Tel: 01253 737009
Organise internal audits to demonstrate that quality systems, application of product safety and implementation of this Standard is effective.
Make available to the customer; up to date specifications and any information needed to meet legal requirements to ensure the safe usage of products.
Implement a traceability system in order to trace all products back to the last manufacturer, and then clearly communicate this to customers.
Complaints must be recorded and investigated, and corrective actions must be implemented effectively to prevent recurrence.
Document and investigate failures in the safety or quality management, and demonstrate ability to implement corrective actions.
Demonstrate management of out-of-specification procedures.
Demonstrate correct management procedures for incidents, product withdrawal and recall.
How ICNE Can Help We are a GMP and ISO17025:2005 accredited laboratory, specialising in the testing of raw materials and finished products in the Human, Veterinary and Farm Animal Nutraceutical industries. We have experience in assisting in the generation of testing plans, and are therefore ideally placed in assisting you with your requirements. ICNE adopts the same high standards as the pharmaceutical industry, and utilise published and verified testing methods. We are able to offer a variety of analytical services:
QC Testing
Raw Materials
Finished Products
Method Validation and Stability Studies
Label Claim Checks
Our analytical techniques include HPLC, GC, FTIR, TLC, UV/VIS, AAS, Polarimetry, Titrimetry, Karl Fisher and various Wet Chemistry. Please visit our website or see here for a summary of the tests we offer. The list is not exhaustive, so please contact us directly to discuss your specific testing requirements.
Email: [email protected] www.icne.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1253 737009
4 - Supplier and Subcontracted Service Management
Input a system to monitor the performance and approval of manufacturers / packers of traded products using risk assessments, customer-specific requirements and associated risks of a product.
Manage suppliers of services ensuring potential risks to product safety have been evaluated and controlled, including services such as storage, labelling and laboratory testing.
Implement security systems to guarantee that products are protected against theft or contamination.
Ensure that product specifications are accurate and truly represent the products received. Product sampling and assurance programmes should be implemented. The company can use subcontracted laboratories to perform analyses which are critical to product safety and legality, however, the chosen laboratory must have gained recognised laboratory accreditation, or operate in accordance with the principles and requirements of ISO 17025:2005.
Ensure that products comply with the legal requirements in the country of sale, for example: labelling, compositional information, compliance with quantity or volumes.
Manage product design and development procedures, which ensures product safety and legality, and meets customers’ specifications.
The customer or a legal authority shall formally release products, if applicable, and this positive product release procedure must be managed by the company.
5 - Personnel
Appropriate training of all personnel so that they are competent in their role prior to beginning work. All staff competencies and training must be regularly reviewed to increase product safety, legality and quality.