BRC Global Standards is pleased to announce that the first certification bodies have gained UKAS accreditation to the BRC Global Standard for Agents and Brokers Issue 1. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the National Accreditation Body (NAB) for the UK. Its role is to determine that organisations providing conformity assessment services such as certification, testing, inspection and calibration services, are meeting a required standard of performance.
London, UK (PRWEB) May 11, 2015
The BRC Global Standard for Agents and Brokers was published in January 2014, and covers the activities of businesses in the food and food packaging industries that buy, sell or facilitate the trade of products. The Standard also covers the activities of certification bodies providing certification under the Standard. Certification bodies must be approved by the BRC, and this entails accreditation from their NAB.
David Brackston BRC Global Standard's Technical Director, said: “The Standard was developed to allow the most professional agents and brokers to gain recognition for the systems they operate to manage product safety in their supply chains. The accreditation of the first certification bodies provides a further level of recognition to the Standard and for the certificated companies and adds confidence to their customers. Accreditation by UKAS of bodies certifying to this Standard provides the market place with assurance over the consistency of certification delivered, which is impartial, accurate and consistent in its performance.”
Paul Stennett, CEO of UKAS said: “Congratulations to BRC and the pilot certification bodies on achieving accreditation for the new Global Standard for Agents and Brokers. Organizations certificated to the new BRC Standard by certification bodies accredited by UKAS will be able to demonstrate that they are meeting the highest operational standards within the food and food packaging industries. In turn, this will give both consumers and food industry professionals the necessary confidence in the quality and safety of the products they are purchasing.”
The BRC Global Standard for Agents & Brokers Issue 1 is available on BRC Participate, along with additional supporting publications. Recently launched, BRC Participate offers immediate access to all documents relevant to a particular Standard, linking them clause by clause. Printed copies and PDF downloads are also available for purchase from the BRC Bookshop.
BRC Global Standards publish a series of Standards that cover Food Safety, Packaging and Packaging Materials, Storage and Distribution, Consumer Products and now Agents and Brokers. The Standards guarantee the standardization of quality, safety and operational criteria and ensure that manufactures fulfill their legal obligations and provide protection for the end consumer. BRC Global Standards are now often a fundamental requirement of leading retailers who use them as part of their brand protection processes.
About the British Retail Consortium (BRC)
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is the UK's leading retail trade association. It represents the full range of retailers, large and small, multiples and independents, food and non-food, online and store based.
About the BRC’s Global Standards
BRC Global Standards are the world’s biggest provider of safety and quality Standards’ Programs for food manufacture, packaging, storage and distribution. BRC Global Standards are generated with the help of technical specialists, retailers, manufacturers and certification bodies from around the world, so everything is based on practicality, rigour and clarity.
The BRC Global Standards certification scheme offer comprehensive support to help new and established businesses to achieve and maintain their quality and safety aims.
For more information please visit http://www.brcglobalstandards.com
About the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the National Accreditation Body (NAB) for the UK. The assessment criteria used by UKAS are internationally recognised as being the best indicators of accurate, impartial and consistent performance. UKAS accreditation demonstrates an organisation’s competence, impartiality and performance capability against internationally recognised standards.
For technical information about accreditation of BRC Global Standards, contact Pam Behar at UKAS: pam.behar(at)ukas(dot)com, or visit http://www.ukas.com
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