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BRCGS Agents and Brokers (Issue 2) Certification with BSI
What is the BRCGS Agents and Brokers Certification Standard?
The BRCGS (commonly referred to as The British Retail Consortium) Global Standard for Agents and Brokers provides non-manufacturing traders with a way of demonstrating the legitimacy of their operations, and capability of their business to deliver safe quality food product to their customers.
Agents and Brokers (non-manufacturing traders) who buy, sell or facilitate the trade of products, provide a critical link in the food supply chain, and are an essential part of maintaining food chain transparency, traceability and integrity. The BRCGS Global Standard for Agents and Brokers provides a framework for importers and exporters to manage food product safety, quality and legality for their involvement in the food supply chain.
What is the scope of a BRCGS Agents and Brokers Audit and what are the requirements to achieve BRCGS Certification?
The scope and audit duration of individual audits will be unique to individual Agent and Broker businesses. The scope of products that can be included in a BRCGS Agents and Brokers Audit (Issue 2) is as follows:
- Food products, including raw materials, processed foods, and fruit and vegetables
- Packaging materials – primary, secondary and tertiary materials, and raw materials for the manufacture of packaging materials
- Pet foods for domestic animals
- Consumer products
The requirements to achieve a BRCGS Agents and Brokers Certificate are contained in the clauses of the BRCGS Agents and Brokers Standard. The key areas that the BRCGS Agents and Brokers Standard (Version 2) assess to are:
- Senior management commitment to continual improvement
- Hazard and risk assessment
- Product safety and quality management system
- Supplier and subcontracted service management
- Personnel
Who should use BRCGS Agents and Brokers?
The standard was created to provide confidence in organizations involved in the sourcing and trading of food products, food packing materials and pet foods. This includes:
- Brokers that purchase or ‘take title to’ products for resale to manufacturers, other brokers, retailers or food service companies, but not directly to the consumer.
- Agents or non-manufacturing service providers that trade between a manufacturer or broker and their customer but do not at any point own or take title to the goods. This includes companies that provide services to facilitate the safe and legal trade of products.
- Importers/exporters who facilitate the movement of products across national boundaries, satisfying legal and customs requirements. Importers and exporters may also be agents and/or brokers.
