Brand owners

Certification bodies need to apply for accreditation so they can carry out audits against our Global Standards. Accreditation is essential as it introduces independent verification of the certification bodies against internationally defined standards regarding the way they manage the audit processes and make decisions whether to issue certificates.

The Global Standards used – ISO 17065 and ISO 17021 – include requirements for maintaining the confidentiality of information, independence and impartiality of the audit and the certification process. It also sets out the need for documented procedures for the audit process, for the selection and training of auditors, and establishes the rights of clients to complain and appeal against decisions.

Accreditation also provides a greater level of confidence in the work of the audit companies and allows international recognition of their certification activity when using international standards such as the BRCGS Global Standards.

There are a number of steps and controls in place before your supplier's site becomes certificated:

• A BRCGS registered auditor who has the necessary expertise for your supplier's site is chosen to carry out the audit.
• The resulting audit data is independently reviewed by the certification body to confirm the certification decision.
• BRCGS takes a sample of audit data and may review the data provided by the certification body or undertake a site visit during the certification period.

The performance of certification bodies is formally reviewed every six months (normally in January and July).

During this review we look at five key areas:

• Quality of written audit reports: we review a sample.
• Compliance to protocols: how audits are carried out and reported.
• Auditor registration and compliance training, experience and competence requirements.
• How quickly the audit data is uploaded to the BRCGS Directory.
• Communication with the BRCGS Compliance team.

All approved certification bodies are listed on the BRCGS Directory. If the performance of the certification body is in doubt there would be sanctions instigated against them including suspension and withdrawal of BRCGS approval.

We also award a performance rating for each certification body based on their service performance (1 to 5 stars). This rating reflects the overall management of the BRCGS certification scheme by the certification body head office, rather than an individual auditor or audit. This rating is published against the certification body listing on the BRCGS Directory. Certification bodies that have not carried out enough audits in the period to be rated are shown as 'pending'.

We recognise that audits are challenging; we have designed them that way to ensure that certificated sites can be rightly proud of the certification they received. But did you know that the auditors themselves are audited? We have a comprehensive compliance programme in place to help ensure the consistency of high quality audits.

BRCGS are the scheme owner. We write the Global Standards, publish guidelines and manage the approved certification bodies who employ and manage the auditors that undertake audits on our behalf.

BRCGS audits the certification bodies to ensure they adhere to the requirements that we set them. This is carried out in a number of ways. For example, by auditing their head office; accompanying an auditor to a site during a BRCGS audit to see how they work (a 'witness audit'); or by visiting a certificated site to review the details the auditor has recorded within the audit report. The protocols of the certification scheme allow the certification body or BRCGS to undertake these visits announced or unannounced.

Certification bodies must also be accredited to undertake BRCGS audits. UKAS, for example, is the national Accreditation Body for the UK, and information is shared between BRCGS and UKAS regarding certification body performance. UKAS themselves are audited to ensure they are consistently applying requirements, as are their international sister accreditation bodies.

We are also challenged and audited as part of our recognition by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), an established international recognition of third party food audit schemes. So there is a network of checks and balances in place which aims to ensure consistency of all BRCGS audit results.