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What is the BRC Consumer Products standard?

The BRC Consumer Products Standard (available only in China and the Asia Pacific region) was first launched in August 2003.

It was developed to enable retailers to exercise all due diligence in the avoidance of failure of the safety, legality and quality of non-food products, with particular reference to the EU General Product Safety Directive.

Who is the Standard applicable to?

The Standard is applicable to organisations that manufacture and store a wide range of non-food products prior to delivery to retailers including:

Personal care items and household cleaning
Clothing, footwear and accessories and household textiles
Decorating and DIY supplies, furniture, soft furnishings, carpets and flooring
Cooking equipment, crockery, utensils and barbecues
Horticultural products, garden furniture and tools and equipment.
Domestic appliances, personal computers and entertainment systems

What are the benefits of certification to the Standard?

Customer satisfaction - through service delivery that consistently meet customer requirements
Reduced operating costs - through continual improvement of processes and resulting operational efficiencies
Improved stakeholder relationships - including staff, customers and suppliers
Legal compliance - by understanding how statutory and regulatory requirements impact the organization and its customers
Improved risk management - through establishing effective product traceability and recall systems
Proven business credentials - through independent verification against recognized standards
Ability to win more business - by satisfying the contractual requirements of retailers

What does the Standard require of the manufacturer?

The Standard consists of six sections with specific requirements dependent upon the risk rating of the product.

Product Risk Management - this section contains requirements for a system of hazard and risk management and legal compliance. These systems influence all other requirements of the Standard.
Product Safety Management System - this section contains requirements for quality management systems and product recall / incident management.
Site Environment Standards - this section covers all aspects of the site, inside and out. It includes requirements for pest control, housekeeping and waste management with a focus on ensuring that products are free from potential contamination.
Product Control - this section contains requirements that ensure the integrity of the product through its design and development, packaging, analysis and testing. It also contains requirements for the detection of foreign bodies.
Process Control - this section covers the methods by which the manufacturing process is controlled, monitored and validated. This ensures that the process is capable of consistently producing safe and legal product to the required quality.
Personnel - this section contains requirements for the hygiene standards and competence of personnel. Its focuses on minimising the risk of product contamination caused inadvertently by employees or contractors.

How to gain certification

The process of registration follows this simple process:

Application for certification is made by the organisation.
Assessment of the organisations manufacturing site and product safety management systems is undertaken by NQA.
Certification is granted by NQA and maintained by the organisation - the certificate is valid for between 12 and 36 months, depending on the product risk group.
Re-certification is awarded following successful assessment.

It is essential that all requirements of the standard are implemented fully to achieve certification. NQA can provide an optional pre-assessment to assess the readiness of the organisation for full assessment.

The Assessment

The purpose of the assessment is to confirm that the requirements of the standard are fully implemented and operating effectively. The assessor will:

confirm the scope of certification
check management systems effectiveness including traceability and recall systems
check legislative compliance systems
check documents and records (e.g. policies, procedures, purchase orders, training records)
undertake sample audits of the processes and activities defined in the scope of assessment
inspect areas of production, storage, service delivery and key functions and support facilities (e.g. catering, hygiene and changing facilities)
interview key staff involved in managing and delivering the organisations activities
document how the system complies with the standard and report any non-compliances or potential for non-compliance

If the assessor identifies any non-conformance, the organisation cannot be certified until corrective action is taken and verified.

Contact Us

For more information about BRC Consumer Products, contact our friendly team today on
08000 522424 or email.

For further information please download the information below.

BRC Consumer Products Factsheet
The BRC Consumer Products Standard (available only in China and the Asia Pacific region) was developed to enable retailers to exercise all due diligence in the avoidance of failure of the safety, legality and quality of non-food products.
Download information