BRC PUBLISHES COMPLETE SET OF GLOBAL STANDARD GUIDELINES

6 February 2006

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has published a complete set of ten Guidelines for its highly regarded Global Standards, after launching the first two in August last year.

The Guidelines are designed to help those who are new to the accreditation process of the BRC Global Standards and can assist current BRC certified suppliers to understand the complexities of individual clauses.

Specifically intended to complement the Food, Packaging, Consumer Products and Non GM Food Global Standards, the complete list of Guidelines now includes:

• Metal Detection
  
• Product Recall
  
• Process Validation: Low Acid
• Canning
  
• Process Validation: Pasteurisation
  
• Pest Control
  
• Internal Audit
  
• TraceabilityTesting
  
• Quality Measurement
  
• Complaint Handling
  
• Shelf-life Determination

BRC Head of Technical Services, Kevin Swoffer, said: "Most large UK retailers will require their supplier to have gained certification to the appropriate BRC Global Standard so we are pleased to be able to offer these Guidelines. They outline in simplistic terms exactly what needs to be done to meet the requirements of the Standard.

“We have produced these Guidelines as a direct response to requests from companies seeking to meet accreditation for the first time and from smaller suppliers who don’t have the technical knowledge some of the larger organisations have.”

Aimed at quality and technical managers, suppliers and manufacturers, the new Guidelines contain practical and simplified advice on implementing the various requirements set out in the Standards.

The BRC Global Standards are used by certification bodies across the world to enable suppliers to achieve certification against a globally recognised standard and to ensure that best practice is established and maintained.

The Guidelines are available for £11.75 each or the entire set can be purchased for £100 from www.tsoshop.co.uk/brcguidelines