The BRC Global Standards are a suite of four industry-leading Technical Standards that specify requirements to be met by an organisation to enable the production, packaging, storage and distribution of safe food and consumer products. Originally developed in response to the needs of UK members of the British Retail Consortium, the Standards have gained usage world-wide and are specified by growing numbers of retailers and branded manufacturers in the EU, North America and further afield. Certification to a Global Standard, which is achieved through audit by a third party Certification Bodies, reassures retailers and branded manufacturers of the capability and competence of the supplier, and reduces the need for retailers and manufacturers to carry out their own audits, thereby reducing the administrative burden on both the supplier and the customer.

To date over 14,000 companies operating in over 90 countries have achieved certification against one of the Global Standards. A record of companies achieving certification is maintained on the BRC Directory.

The technical content and operation of the Global Standards is governed by the BRC Governance and Strategy Committee consisting of Senior Technical representatives of international businesses. The Global Standards are closely managed by the Global Standards Technical Team based in London who license auditing against the Standards to Certification Bodies who must be both accredited by a National Accreditation Body and meet strict BRC requirements. Information relating to BRC-approved Accreditation and Certification Bodies is available on the BRC Directory.

Further information on the BRC Global Standards including translations, Guidelines that support the Standards and how to purchase them are available from the Bookshop (http://www.brcglobalstandards.com/bookshop).

To support the BRC Global Standards the BRC also offers a wide range of training courses through an international network of approved training providers.

Please direct any enquires related to the BRC Global Standards to Matthew Perry Customer Service Co-ordinator on +44 (0) 20 7854 8939 or email brcglobalstandards@brc.org.uk.