BRC to suspend Bureau Veritas for poor performance
The suspension will apply from 11 December and be in place until 11 February.
It applies to BRC Global Standards for Food Safety; Packaging and Packaging Materials; Storage and Distribution and Agents and Brokers.
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the national accreditation body, has not responded to our request for comment.
Action to protect standards scheme
BRC Global Standards said the action - following poor performance against its key performance indicators - underlines the importance placed on the ‘absolute integrity’ of the standards scheme.
It added a review of processes by Bureau Veritas to ensure validity of currently issued certificates has found there is no reason to doubt them and they will be valid for the duration.
Fabien Joly de Bresillon, certification technical director at Bureau Veritas, said the suspension is global and clients have been informed.
“Bureau Veritas Certification has been informed by BRC Global Standards about a temporary suspension, as of 11 December 2017 for a limited period of two months,” he told FoodQualityNews.
“The current suspension for Bureau Veritas neither has any impact on the validity of existing certificates, which remain valid and active on the BRC Directory, nor questions its integrity.
“At this stage, our focus remains on working closely with BRC Global Standards to review current processes, address any concerns and take swift corrective action in order to re-establish our industry leading standards.”
Looking at certification processes
Karen Betts, compliance manager at BRC Global Standards, will work with Bureau Veritas and their accreditation bodies, UKAS, ENAC and PCA, to review certification processes and put in place additional safeguards to preserve the integrity of the BRC Global Standards scheme.
“Suspension can only be lifted once corrective actions have been put in place and BRC Global Standards and the accreditation bodies are satisfied that certification processes are being operated satisfactorily,” said BRC Global Standards.
“Corrective actions put in place will need to be reviewed and established before the suspension can be lifted.”
Bureau Veritas is not permitted to issue accredited certificates after 11 December and any certificates within the suspension period will be unaccredited. The firm is not permitted to do BRC Global Standards audits whilst suspended.
Sites with audits planned during the suspension period have been contacted by Bureau Veritas. They should make arrangements with an alternative BRC Global Standards certification body.
