BRC Global Standard Food Safety

BRC Food is currently being revised, with publication of version 8 expected in August 2018. This new version will apply for all BRC audits from February 2019.

The main changes expected are summarised below:

• Introduction of a new Food Safety Culture approach in the first section concerning management and their commitment, with requirements on the setting up of a strategy for the development and improvement of a corporate culture in food product safety with, for example, an internal communication system to feed back operational information to the management.

• Review of some of the terminology of the HACCP system in order to comply with various international legislation, such as the FSMA.

• A review of the requirements on Food Defence, with a focus on the analysis of internal and external risks (threat).

• A more stringent approach for controlling subcontracted activities and processes, such as the obligation for GFSI certification for subcontractors.

• More detailed requirements on the monitoring of the production environment for at-risk products, with details on sampling, frequency, methods, the aims of analyses carried out on pathogens and alteration.

• Introduction of pet food into the scope of the BRC

• Grouping together of current requirements in high-risk and high-care zones, which in principle remain unchanged, into a single new section, section 8.

• The current voluntary module on traded goods will become a full part of BRC Food, with a new section 9.

• The disappearance of option 2 of the unannounced audit. This means that there will only be two options (no obligation): the unannounced or totally unannounced audit.

Le BRC a édité et a communiqué sur le module volontaire additionnel : FSMA PREVENTIVE CONTROLS PREPAREDNESS MODULE AND GUIDANCE FOR BRC-CERTIFIED FACILITIES.

Il s’agit d’un module additionnel volontaire qui peut être audité en complément d’un audit BRC Food. Ce module est une préparation aux exigences de la FDA (Food Safety Modernization Act) , il concerne toute entreprise  qui exporte ou qui a l’intention d’exporter ses produits vers les USA.

Il faut savoir que ce module n’est pas obligatoire, même pour les entreprises qui sont déjà exportatrices vers les USA, et que son évaluation lors d'un audit BRC ne constitue en aucun cas une reconnaissance de la mise en place des exigences légales du Food Safety Modernization Act.

Néanmoins, l’ajout de ce module au scope de certification de votre prochain audit BRC est une première étape pour se préparer au processus de vérification et se conformer aux exigences de la FSMA.

Pour toute information complémentaire, n’hésitez pas à contacter votre directeur de Marché.