Presentation to The Food Club

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Presentation to The Food Club

• BRC Global Food Standard
• Working Together
• 6th May 2004
• Kevin Swoffer
• Head of Technical Services
• British Retail Consortium

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UK Food Safety Act 1990

• Under section 21 of the FSA the definition of the
  due diligence defence is as follows
• ...it shall...be a defence for the person
  charged to prove that he took all reasonable
  precautions and exercised all due diligence to
  avoid the commission of the offence by himself or
  by a person under his control

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Requirements for the UB Brand and Retailer Own
Brand

• b) satisfy themselves that the intended supplier
  is competent to produce and/or process the
  product specified, that he complies with all
  relevant legal requirements and that he operates
  systems of production control in accordance with
  good manufacturing or agricultural practice
• from time to time make visits to suppliers, where
  practical, to verify point b) or to receive the
  result of any other audit of the suppliers
  systems for that purpose
• RefThe Food Safety Act 1990, The Guidelines for
  a Due Diligence Defence 1991

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The Objective of the BRC Global Standard- Food

• The objective of the Standard is to specify food
  safety and quality criteria required to be in
  place within a manufacturers organisation to
  supply product to UK Retailers.
• The format and content of the Standard is
  designed to allow an effective assessment of the
  suppliers premises and operational systems and
  procedures by a competent third party, thus
  standardising food safety criteria and monitoring
  procedures.

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Principles of BRC Standards

• minimise duplication of evaluation
• control and maintenance reliant on accreditation
  process
• encourage local evaluation
• open, transparent and compliant with fair trading
  legislation
• direct stakeholder participation during
  development and as part of Technical Advisory
  Committees
• continuous review and improvement of Standard and
  process
• promote best practice

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The BRC Global Standard- Food

• developed to meet the business needs of the UK
  Retailer
• it is a supplier/ customer Standard
• forms an integral part of the UK Retailers legal
  and quality system
• under continuous review
• adopted by other Industry sectors
• still developing with respect to scheme support

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The Current Status of the BRC Global Standard-
Food

• revised twice since its launch in October 1998
• published in 8 languages with further proposals
• significant changes to the Protocol particularly
  the levels of non conformance and issue of
  certificates
• widely used as the framework for other Standards
  and Assurance Schemes
• on average over 6000 inspections are carried out
  every year
• one of four Standards endorsed by GFSI

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Benefits of BRC Global Standard- Food

• accepted Standard based on best practice
• utilise accreditation to EN45011 to achieve
  maximum consistency in application,interpretation
  and monitoring by independent assessment
• open and transparent
• encourages continuous improvement and promotes
  best practice
• cost effective and removes need for multiple
  inspections

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UKAS Accreditation

• UKAS accreditation demonstrates
• impartiality
• competence
• sustainable performance
• of organisations providing calibration, testing,
  inspection and certification services

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Auditor CompetenceBRC Requirement

• Competence
• minimum HNC
• QMS Lead Assessor
• HACCP training
• minimum 5 years relevant experience
• training and experience in specific fields

• Fields of Evaluation
• raw meat and fish
• produce
• dairy
• ready to eat or heat
• ambient stable/
• heat preserved/
• hermetically sealed
• ambient stable (others)

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Accreditation Process

• specific BRC pilot programme
• pre-assessment
• document review
• Head office assessments
• witness assessments
• corrective action verified
• final report
• accreditation decisions
• continued surveillance and maintenance

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Only competent committed Certification Bodies
gain accreditation

• Accreditation provides confidence and assurance

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Control of Standards

• BRC employ full time staff
• formation of Governance and Strategy Committee
• strengthen training offer
• re-established and strengthened Technical
  Advisory Groups to promote stakeholder
  co-operation
• co-operation with Certification Body groups
• strengthen the UKAS relationship
• issue supporting documentation e.g. requirement
  document issued in Dec 2002
• registration of overseas Certification Bodies
• re-title and extend the scope to assist users
• issue status statements
• promote feedback on performance

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The Global Perspective

• develop relationships with UKAS, other national
  accreditation bodies and key organisations
• utilise existing evaluation processes and
  recognition Agreements between accreditation
  bodies
• encourage dialogue and networking between
  accreditation bodies and certification bodies
• develop relationships with other industry sectors
  
• develop relationships with overseas retailers
• develop relationships with other Standards owners

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The BRC UKAS Project

• Aim-to provide BRC with added assurance of
  process used by accreditation bodies to operate
  consistently to meet the requirements of the BRC
  Technical Standards
• appoint Assessor (July 2003)
• design Phase (August 2003)
• communication (September 2003)
• submission of data (September/October 2003)
• assessment (October/November 2003)
• report (November 2003)
• review report and confirm actions (December 2003)
• issue register of recognised Certification Bodies
  (Jan 2004)

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Results of the BRC UKAS Project

• 56 certification bodies on BRC register
• data from 12 national accreditation bodies
  assessed
• 35 certification bodies achieved full recognition
• agreement to continue process
• enhancement of supporting system i.e
  accreditation guidance, revised certification
  body guidance, pro forma documentation
• continued relationships with national
  Accreditation bodies to resolve issues

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Future Developments

• improve co-operation with relevant organisations
• improve BRC Standards
• issue supporting guidelines e.g Product Recall
  Guidelines
• enhance training packages
• look toward mutual recognition with other
  Standards
• continuously improve performance assessment
• possible development of a Standard for SMEs with
  industry partners

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Thank you for your kind attentionwww.brc.org.uk
www.ukas.comwww.brcglobalstandards.com