Position Statements

BRC Global Standard for Storage and

Distribution issue 2
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
1. Guidance on eligibility of companies for Certification where facilities are not
directly owned by the company. ................................................................................. 1
2. Guideline - 5.2 Vehicle Security .......................................................................... 2
3. Notification of change in audit frequencies .......................................................... 2

Introduction
During the lifetime of a published Standard the BRC Technical committee may be
asked to either review the wording of a clause in the Standard, provide an
interpretation for a requirement or rule on the grading of non-conformity against a
clause. Any such judgements are defined in position statements. Position statements
are binding on the way that the audit and certification process shall be carried out
and are an extension to the standard. This document contains a summary of the
position statements for the BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution issue
2.

1. Guidance on eligibility of companies for Certification where

facilities are not directly owned by the company.
Companies applying for certification to the Standard often do not directly own the Storage or transport
facilities which they want to have certificated, such facilities are covered by a range of contractual
relationships. This guidance note is intended to clarify the conditions which need to be met in order for
a site to be eligible for certification.

Guiding principle

The purpose of this Standard is to provide a certification scheme which ensures the quality and safety
of products during their storage and transportation. To be eligible for Certification the company must
be able to demonstrate that they directly manage and thereby control those aspects of the standard
which are assessed for certification.

The following situations will be acceptable for certification

Storage

Where the storage facilities are leased or subcontracted from a third party and all of the following
apply

the labour and quality systems are directly managed by the certificated company

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 the company is able to control the condition of the buildings e.g. ensure up keep of the fabric
the company is able to control building services to ensure these remain within the
requirements of the standard e.g. provision of Pest control

Distribution

Where the vehicles used are leased by the company and servicing and repairs are under the
management control of the company.

Where the Distribution vehicles and labour is provided by a third party under contract but the
company can demonstrate that the management of the vehicles and labour is under their direct
control.

Note this differs from subcontracting where a third party provides the service under contract e.g.
vehicles and labour, but the direct management of the service is controlled by the subcontractor.

Where eligibility of a company is unclear because of unusual circumstances this should be checked
with the BRC before progressing to certification.

Issued August 2011

2. Guideline - 5.2 Vehicle Security

The intent of this clause is to ensure that product is protected from malicious tampering,
damage or theft when loaded on the vehicle.

Clause 5.2.3

Where vehicle load areas are fully enclosed, doors shall be locked when not loading or unloading.
Where seals are used these shall be checked for integrity before loading.

This requirement applies to vehicles which are loaded. Doors may be left unlocked where the vehicle
is empty if this is the policy of the company.

Where vehicles are left in a secure compound for instance with security gates as may be the case at
a Depot or customers site the vehicle loading area may be unlocked if the site security provides
protection for the products contained.

Where locks are not fitted to vehicles alternative securing methods shall be employed together with
inspection procedures. The system shall be sufficient to ensure that if access to the load carrying area
of the vehicle has occurred this would be evident and action taken to ensure the safety of products.

Loaded vehicles which cannot be secured do not meet the requirements of the Standard and such
instances must be raised as a non-conformity.

Issued August 2011

3. Notification of change in audit frequencies

Reason for change

The Global Food Safety Initiative have recently introduced a process for bench marking Storage and
Distribution Standards. The BRC Global Standards for Food and Packaging are both GFSI

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recognised and this provides added international recognition of certificates issued, greater
acceptance particularly by multinational customers and further helps to reduce duplication of audits.

The BRC has applied for the benchmarking of the BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution.

A condition of recognition is that the frequency of certification audits shall occur at least every 12
months. To meet this condition we will reluctantly have to increase the frequency of audits for sites
with a scope for Food and/or Packaging materials who currently qualify for an 18 month audit
frequency.

New requirements for audit frequency

The frequency of all re certification audits where food and/or packaging materials are included within
the scope shall be 12 months.

The frequency of recertification audits for sites with a scope only for Consumer products shall be 12
or 18 months depending on the type and number of nonconformities identified at the recertification
audit. This shall be in accordance with the table 1. Non conformities and corrective action required
within the section 9.2 of the Standard.

This change shall apply to both existing and new sites certificated to the Standard.
st
The change will be effective when assigning next audit due dates for audits undertaken from the 1
July 2014.
th
The change shall not be retrospective and sites audited up to and including the 30 June 2014 that
qualify for an 18 month frequency shall have their next audit 18 months later before reverting to the 12
month frequency following that audit.
th
Issued 24 April 2014

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