If the full requirements of a food safety certification standard are not financially feasible, practical, or do not add value to your company at this time, BRCGS START! is the right choice for you.
The program recognizes and encourages the development of food safety systems in small businesses, food manufacturers, or primary production, whose management systems are still elementary. BRCGS START! was developed in accordance with the BRCGS standard and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Global Markets program, and is recognized and supported by major retail brands.
BRCGS START! offers small producers the opportunity to move up the recognized steps to eventual BRCGS Food certification, while demonstrating to major retailers the company's commitment to food safety.
What are the BRCGS START! criteria?
- Management Commitment: Facility management must demonstrate a total commitment to the implementation of the START! program requirements and processes that facilitate continuous improvement in food safety and quality management.
- Food Safety Plan - HACCP: The company must have fully implemented an effective food safety plan that incorporates the principles of HACCP.
- Food safety and quality management system: The processes and procedures that the company uses to meet the requirements of the START! program must be documented to allow for ongoing application, facilitate training, and corroborate due diligence for manufacturing a safe product.
- Facility Standards: The production facility should be of adequate size, location, and construction, and maintained in a way that decreases the risk of contamination and facilitates the manufacture of safe and legal finished products.
- Product control: To ensure the manufacture of safe and legal products, procedures must be implemented for the design and development of new products or processes and for any and all changes to products, packaging, or manufacturing processes.
- Process Control: The facility must operate according to documented procedures and/or work instructions that ensure the manufacture of consistently safe and legal products with the desired quality characteristics and in full compliance with the HACCP food safety plan.
- Personnel: The company shall ensure that all personnel performing work that affects the safety, legality and quality of the product are demonstrably competent, through training, work experience or qualifications, to perform their activities.
- High Risk, High Care and High Environmental Care Production Areas: When a facility manufactures products that require handling in high risk, high care and high environmental care production areas, all of the criteria scored in the START!
What are the BRCGS START! codes?
There are two levels of certification to suit your size, maturity, and need: entry level and intermediate level
- The basic level requirements for the program are intended to help food manufacturers who are interested in pursuing full BRCGS Food certification compliance by following some elementary premises, such as: perform a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) or risk-based approach to food safety management, provide a processing environment that ensures product contamination risks are minimized, ensure traceability of products produced, ensure staff are trained and aware of their responsibilities to reduce the risk of product contamination, establish and maintain a risk assessment program for product testing or analysis, and monitor and act on customer complaints.
- The intermediate level builds on the basic safety and legality requirements to provide more comprehensive food safety controls. While the basic level seeks compliance with the intent of each clause of the code, the intermediate level has more specific requirements on how the intent is to be met.
In developing the requirements for the basic and intermediate levels of the START! program, the following criteria were taken into consideration:
- All clauses at the basic and intermediate levels are the same or derived from clauses in the BRCGS Food Standard.
The requirements at the basic level are designed to ensure at least legal compliance. They match or exceed the requirements at an equivalent level in the GFSI Global Markets program. - The requirements at the intermediate level are more detailed, based on legal compliance, expansion of the HACCP process, and development of a documented food safety and quality management system. They again meet or exceed the requirements at an equivalent level in the GFSI Global Markets program.
According to BRCGS evaluation, 30% of the industries that started with the BRCGS START! Program successfully transitioned to BRCGS Food certification within two years. So if your ultimate goal is BRCGS Food certification, the START! program can be the start of it all.
Why choose the BRCGS START! program?
- The BRCGS START! program is fully aligned with the BRCGS Food Standard and the GFSI Global Markets program.
- Perform corrective actions on any non-conformances prior to certification, reducing the need for customers to follow up on audit reports.
- Be part of the public listing in the BRCGS Directory, a tool used for research and selection of certified companies. that brands and retailers use for supplier selection.
- Be evaluated by auditors that meet the demanding competence requirements of the BRCGS.
Why choose QIMA/WQS for the BRSGS START! program?
- A team with over 30 years of experience in the food industry supply chain, ready to deliver end-to-end solutions to your business.
- Specialized in the food industry, with a structure designed to facilitate and expedite the complex certification process and support you every step of the way.
- QIMA/WQS counts with local experienced food auditors approved for multiple schemes specializing in all food safety quality areas.
- More than 9,000 satisfied clients at every stage of the food supply chain.