CHECKLIST BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOOD
Incorporating: BRC004: REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION BODIES OFFERING CERTIFICATION AGAINST THE CRITERIA
OF THE BRC GLOBAL STANDARDS Issue 2: dated 01.09.08
Legend: C Complies, O Observation, T To Address at Audit, N Nonconformity, N/A Not Applicable, F Further information required, CB doc BRC004
Note: The headings reflect the ISO/IEC Guide 65 headings.
Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
4 Certification Body
4.1 General provisions
No additional requirements
4.2. Organization
CB doc 2.2 Has the CB registered with the BRC, using
the form at Appendix 1?
CB doc 3.1 Has the CB a Framework agreement with
the BRC?
4.1 Has the CB registered any sub offices with
the BRC?
How will the CB achieve accreditation within
the 12 months allowed?
CB doc 2.5 Has the CB made BRC aware of the
outcome of their surveillance audits,
and any changes to the
accreditation status?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
CB doc 3.5 Does the CB have appropriate employers
liability, public and product liability
and professional indemnity
insurances?
4.3 Operations
No additional requirements
4.4 Subcontracting
No additional requirements
4.5 Quality System
No additional requirements
4.6. Conditions and procedures for granting,
maintaining, extending,
suspending, and withdrawing
certification
CB doc 3.6 How does the CB ensure that the certified
client notifies them of possible legal
proceedings with respect to product
safety or legality, or of a product
recall
CB doc 3.6 Where does the CB document the
requirement that they must notify
BRC immediately if legal
proceedings will lead to adverse
publicity or Government
intervention?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
CB doc Does the ultimate decision to suspend or
7.1 withdraw certification remain with
3 the CB?
What procedures has the CB in place to
withdraw certification if the company
has no intention to take appropriate
corrective actions to address
nonconformities, or the corrective
actions are deemed inappropriate?
4.7 Internal audits and management reviews
No additional requirements
4.8 Documentation
CB doc 3.7 Does the CB retain and store safely and
securely the audit report and
associated documentation for a
period of five years?
Where does the CB specify the retention
period for personnel and training
records and is the retention period
for auditors 5 years after they cease
employment?
Does the CB retain ownership of the
certificate and control its the use
and display?
4.9. Records
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
CB doc 3.7 Are records related to audits retained by the
CB for a minimum of five years, for
Consumer Products Standards this
may be upto 21 years?
Are records made available to BRC, or its
members, upon request?
Are all records submitted to BRC in English?
4.10. Confidentiality
Does the CB have the clients permission to
supply a copy of the audit report direct to the
BRC,
5 Certification body personnel
5.1. General
No additional requirements
5.2. Qualification criteria
CB doc Do CB auditors meet the competences for
6.3 auditors identified in Appendices 2, 4, 6 or 7
of the CB requirements?
CB doc 6.3 Does the CB hold a detailed and complete
skills matrix for all auditors undertaking their
audits?
Does the CB work within its specified scope
of accreditation?
Does the CB provide auditors with
appropriate training before assigning them
to any additional fields of audit for which
they do not have the relevant product
knowledge? What procedures/records are
maintained to verify this?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
CB doc
6.6.1 Is there an audit programme for the onsite
assessment of auditors which includes:
- Each auditor assessed on site once
every 2 years
- And over a 4 year period for each
BRC Global Standard for which they
are deemed competent.
What processes does the CAB have in
place for the internal calibration of
auditors. Is it required that these are
carried out at least once per year?
6 Changes in the certification requirements
How does the CB ensure that it is aware of
changes to the BRC standards
which are published on the BRC
wedsite, and how does it make its
clients aware of these changes
Do CB personnel attend the annual CB
conference
7 Appeals, complaints and disputes
Does the CB provide a full written response
after the completion of a full and
thorough investigation into the
complaint?
Does the CB have a documented procedure
CB doc for the consideration and resolution
7.14 of appeals against the outcome of
site audit and certification
decisions?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Do these procedures require independence
from the individual auditor and
certification manager?
Are appeals finalised within thirty working
days of receipt of information from
the supplier?
Is a full written response provided to the
appellant after the completion of a
full and thorough investigation into
the appeal?
8. Application for certification
8.1. Information on the procedure
No additional requirements
8.2. The Application
Does the CB have a contract with the
CB doc 3.4 applicant detailing the scope of the
audit and reporting requirements?
9. Preparation for audit
Does the information provided by the
CB doc 7.3 applicant to the CB include:
Information on the site concerned
An accurate list of products produced
Exclusions
CB doc 7.5 Does the CB collect enough information to
determine the appropriate duration
of the assessment?
Before the audit visit takes place, does the
CB indicate the appropriate duration
of the audit?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Is this undertaken by an appropriately
authorised employee of the
certification body
Does the CB ensure that the audit is
undertaken at a time when products
representative of the scope of audit
are in production or are being
handled.
How does the CB ensure that if an
organisation operates outside
normal business hours that audits
are scheduled to enable the auditor
to be present to observe
operations?
CB doc Is the duration of an audit visit in line with
7.5 the relevant BRC standard
requirements including the
allocation of time for the audit
report. Typically 1.5 man days on
site and 1 day for the completion of
the audit report.
Is document review duration supplementary
to the duration of the audit visit?
When determining the duration of the
assessment, does the CB consider the
factors which may lengthen or shorten the
duration of the audit?
How does the CB ensure that usually at
least half of the total audit duration
shall be spent in the operating
environment.
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
10. Audit
Does the site audit visit include:
1. opening meeting
2. document review
HACCP
quality management system
3. factory inspection
4. check back of audit trails, verify and
further documentation checks
5. final audit of findings by the auditor in
preparation for the closing meeting
6. closing meeting
Are there detailed notes made during the
site audit regarding the company's
conformities and non-conformities
with the Standard?
Are these notes used as the basis for the
audit report?
Does the audit assess the nature and
significance of any non-conformity?
At the closing meeting does the assessor
provide feedback on the non-
conformities raised, without making
comment on the likely outcome of
the audit?
Does the audit assess the nature and
significance of any non-conformity?
Does the CB have levels of nonconformity
that equate to those defined in the BRC
audit protocol?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Is the level of non-conformity assigned by
an auditor based upon evidence
and observations made during the
audit?
CB doc 7.9 Does the CB ensure that where a company
does not meet the requirements of
the standard, certification does not
occur?
At initial certification, does the CB use the
following rules:
Ref: 1. Critical or major non-conformities
Dia raised against fundamental clauses
gra the company shall not gain
m certification. a full audit shall be
4 carried out to demonstrate evidence
CB of compliance
2. Critical non-conformities - other
the company shall not gain certification until
the non-conformity has been corrected and
corrective action verified by the certification
body undertaking a further visit.
3. Major non-conformities
no certificate shall be issued until correction
of major non-conformities has been
demonstrated.
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Does the CB allow the company to remain in
the certification programme for up to
three months if an extension past
the 28 days is justified?
Does the company remain uncertified and
only certified following verification of
the corrective action being
implemented?
Does the CB require a further full audit visit
if there is no formal
commitment to
implementation of corrective
action is received by the
certification body within the
28-day post-audit period, or if
there is a failure to meet the
timescale proposed in the
non-conformity summary
sheet without justification?
4. Minor non-conformities
Certification may be awarded where the
non-conformities have been
addressed and the corrective action
taken and evidence (e.g. photos,
invoices for work completed) has
been provided to the certification
body.
(Where documentary evidence is provided,
absolute verification may be left until
the next audit)
11 Audit report
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Is the report prepared in the agreed format
CB doc 7.8 (see the BRC website,
www.brcglobalstandards.com).
Note: The overall format of the report shall
remain unchanged and shall comply
with the specified requirement.
Is a full written report prepared and
dispatched to the company within a
period typically no longer than 42
days after the audit date?
Is the report provided in English?
Does the detailed audit report section of
the report include:
comment where criteria have been met,
and
objective evidence to support any non-
conformities that have been identified?
Does the detailed audit report section
assist the reader to:
gain greater understanding of
individual clauses either for
conformance or for non-conformity of
the individual clauses
be aware of corrective action taken on
the day
be aware of improvements made since
the last audit
be made aware of 'best practice"
systems, procedures, equipment or
fabrication in place
be made aware of any additional
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
pertinent comments the auditor would
make. The report shall accurately reflect
the findings of the auditor during the
audit?
Within the report, does the CB issue a grade
relating to the type and number of
non-conformities raised during the
audit, in line with the four-tier grade
system dictated by the audit
protocol?
Does the audit report remain the property of
the company, not released to a third
party unless the company has given
prior consent?
Does the CB retain a copy of the audit
report?
12. Decision on certification
Does the content of the certificate conform
CB doc to the content of the template specified and
7.10 issued by the BRC for that particular Global
standard which includes the use of the BRC
logo.
Do the report and the certificate clearly
indicate where one or more
premises are evaluated under one
product certification?
Does the CB ensure that each site is
audited and the certificates granted
accordingly?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Does the CB allow the BRC Quality Mark to
be added to the certificate only
where the audit has been
undertaken by an auditor trained by
the BRC who has been issued with
a BRC Third Party Auditor
Certificate?
Does the CB use the four-tier grading
system to determine the frequency
of audit?
Where the company is producing seasonal
products does the CB audit take
place during the production of the
product, irrespective of grade
assigned from the previous audit?
Does verification of corrective action in
relation to critical and major non-
conformities take place within the
period of time that the product is
manufactured?
13. Surveillance
Is the date of audit specified on the initial
certificate the date of the initial
audit, irrespective of whether further
verification visits were required?
Is each subsequent audit calculated in
relation to the date of the initial audit
date and not the date of certificate
issue?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
Is the date of re-audit planned to allow
sufficient time for corrective action to take
place without jeopardising the loss of
certification?
Note: this will typically be within 28 days
before the audit due date.
Does the CB undertake a full audit, with the
status of an initial visit, where
certificates have lapsed?
At re-audit, does the CB use the following
rules:
1. Critical or major non-conformities raised
against fundamental clauses
the company's certification shall be
suspended or withdrawn.
a full audit shall be carried out to
demonstrate evidence of continued
compliance.
2. Critical non-conformities - others
certification must be immediately suspended
in line with CB procedures.
Does the CB verify corrective action on-site
prior to re-instating the companys
certification?
Does the CB withdraw certification where no
or inappropriate corrective action is
undertaken within 28 days?
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Clause Requirement Comment Finding
Manual and/or Procedures reference
3. Major non-conformities
corrected within 28 days to ensure
renewed certification.
may require immediate suspension in
more serious situations, dependent upon
the number and nature of the major non-
conformities.
Does the CB verify corrective action for
certification to be renewed?
Where the CB is not satisfied with the
company's response, a new
certificate will not be issued.
4. Minor non-conformities
As described for the initial audit.
Does the CB have a process for determining
CB doc 7.6 where additional visits (announced
or unannounced) may be deemed
appropriate in order to validate
continued certification?
Does the CB operate the optional un-
annouced audit scheme as per
F014 July 2008.
Does the CB maintain an active surveillance
programme?
14. Use of licenses, certificates and marks of
conformity
No additional requirements
15. Complaints to suppliers
No additional requirements
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