Agents and brokers play an important role in the movement and trade of products and, as a critical link between product manufacture and the trade of products, they are responsible for maintaining an effective chain of custody on which businesses and consumers rely.
Today, 1st October 2021, BRCGS has launched the new upgraded Issue 3 of the Global Standard for Agents and Brokers. This provides a framework for non-manufacturing traders in the food, packaging and consumer products industries to manage product safety, authenticity, quality and legality. It has global applicability, enables compliance with national regulation and enables businesses to further develop their systems for product security and authenticity in the supply chain. Established in 2014, there has been a year-on-year increase in the recognition of the Standard, and there are currently approximately 850 certificated businesses across 27 countries.
BRCGS Agents and Brokers Certification is recognised by many retailers, manufacturers, ingredients companies, food service organisations and raw material processors around the world and is a therefore a key criterion when assessing the capabilities of their suppliers for categories of products including food products, packaging materials, pet foods and consumer products.
John Kukoly, Director of BRCGS, said: “Consumer protection is at the heart of what we do. The revision process ensures that our Global Standards remain current with industry trends, best practice and new regulation, which in turn provides the necessary assurance of protection for consumers. It also provides an opportunity to ensure best value for certificated sites and specifiers”.
What differentiates the BRCGS Global Standard for Agents and Brokers is that it is underpinned by a full Compliance and Integrity Framework. This is highly valued globally by specifiers as part of supply chain assurance and risk mitigation and helps to ensure BRCGS certification continues to be sought after. In addition, GFSI recognition of the Standard and working with partner certification bodies that are accredited to ISO 17065 are key elements of maintaining integrity in the certification programme.
John Figgins, BRCGS Technical Manager, who led the revision of the Standard said: “Our new Standard has evolved to meet changing supply chain dynamics, technological advances and product safety concerns in the industry. This process involves wide consultation and BRCGS really appreciates the contribution from our stakeholder groups in Europe and North America to bring this Standard of excellence to publication”.
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Publication Timelines
As with all revisions of our Global Standards, there must be a transition period between publication of the Standard and full implementation of the Standard. Therefore, following publication in October 2021, certification audits against Issue 3 will commence from 1st April 2022.
All certificates issued against audits carried out prior to this date will be against Issue 2 and be valid for the period specified on the certificate.