BRCGS Packaging Materials · Global Standard
BRCGS Packaging Materials certification consulting for packaging food brands can rely on.
The BRCGS Global Standard Packaging Materials is the certification food and consumer brands ask of their packaging suppliers; Sterling's expert and experienced consultants prepare your site, people and records for the certification audit. We ensure successful certification for our clients.
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software, Sterling Academy access and internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, in one proposal
- A team of expert and experienced consultants, with food safety and quality systems consulting delivered across sectors and countries since 2003
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; an independent certification body audits and decides
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries.
Sterling client experience
What it is
What is BRCGS Packaging Materials certification?
The Global Standard Packaging Materials is published by BRCGS, the owner of the BRCGS food safety family of standards. It sets out how a packaging manufacturer controls the safety, quality and legality of what it produces, so that packaging does not put the food or product inside it at risk.
GFSI has recognised BRCGS Packaging Materials against its benchmarking requirements, which is why food brands and retailers that build their supplier programmes on GFSI accept it. The certificate is issued after an audit by an independent certification body.
Current edition. BRCGS has published Issue 7 of the Global Standard Packaging Materials and maintains a frequently asked questions document and position statements for it. Confirm the audit arrangements that apply to your site with your certification body.
Who it is for
Who asks for BRCGS Packaging Materials certification?
Most requests come from customers in the food chain:
- Food manufacturers and brands. Supplier approval programmes often require packaging suppliers to hold a GFSI-recognised certificate.
- Retailers. Own-label packaging suppliers are asked for audited evidence of hygiene and contamination control.
- Consumer goods and other sectors. Customers outside food use the standard as a recognised benchmark for packaging suppliers.
The certificate helps win and keep supplier approval; the controls behind it keep complaints and recalls down.
Requirements
What are the main BRCGS Packaging Materials requirements?
We have not reproduced the section structure of Issue 7 here; your site is checked against the standard itself during the programme. The lines below describe what Sterling's work covers.
- Senior management commitment: leadership, culture and resources for product safety and quality
- Hazard and risk management: hazard analysis of materials and processes, with controls
- Product safety and quality system: documented procedures, specifications, traceability and complaint handling
- Site standards: premises, hygiene, foreign-body and pest control
- Product and process control: production, inspection, release and change control
- People: training, competence and personal hygiene
What does useful BRCGS Packaging Materials evidence look like?
A current hazard analysis, specifications agreed with customers, traceability tests, hygiene and pest records, glass and brittle plastic checks, complaint investigations and training records. We keep them in Effivity so the auditor sees a system in daily use.
Your engagement
What your BRCGS Packaging Materials engagement includes
Your engagement brings everything the site needs for the audit, from one team, under one all-inclusive proposal.
Scope, gap analysis and plan
Products, processes and site measured against Issue 7, with owners and dates.
Procedures and hazard analysis
Built with your production and quality people around how the site runs.
Effivity ISO & GRC software
Your system runs in Effivity from day one, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
Training for everyone
Hygiene and product safety awareness, internal auditor training as applicable, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.
Internal audit and site inspection
A full mock audit, with findings closed with evidence.
Certification readiness and support
Preparation for the certification audit and support until the certificate is issued.
Certification decisions remain with the independent certification body.
Often combined with
Standards organisations pair with BRCGS Packaging Materials
- ISO 22000ISO 22000 certification consulting: PRPs, a validated hazard control plan, traceability and recall readiness, built with your teams for an accredited audit.
- FSSC 22000FSSC 22000 certification consulting for GFSI-recognised food safety: ISO 22000, sector PRPs and FSSC requirements, ready for a licensed body's audit.
- HACCPHACCP certification consulting: hazards analysed, CCPs determined and limits validated and monitored, on good hygiene practices, ready for independent audit.
- amfori BSCIamfori BSCI audit preparation for producers: gap assessment across the 13 performance areas, remediation, worker-facing evidence and support from Sterling.
- Better Cotton (BCI)Better Cotton (BCI) Chain of Custody certification for textile suppliers: stock and claim controls, reconciled records, training and audit readiness.
- EN 71 / ASTM F963EN 71 and ASTM F963 toy safety compliance for manufacturers: product and market mapping, material control, test planning and records that keep lots conforming.
Effivity · ISO and GRC software, included in every engagement
How Effivity helps you fulfil, automate and simplify the requirements of BRCGS Packaging Materials.
Every Sterling BRCGS Packaging Materials engagement includes Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant configures the workspace within the agreed scope, so hazard analyses, specifications, traceability, hygiene and pest records, complaints, audits and actions live in one place, the system runs in daily work and the certification auditor reviews a live system rather than a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their Effivity subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
Scope, products and interested parties
The products, processes and customers in scope, with their specifications, are kept in one register and reviewed when products or customers change.
Policy, roles and objectives
The policy, the responsibilities and the objectives with their measures, owners and dates live where the people who own them work; progress is reported from the system, not from a separate spreadsheet.
Risks and opportunities
A risk and opportunity register with owners, actions and review dates; treatments tracked to closure and brought to management review automatically.
Competence, awareness and documented information
Training and competence records for every person, linked to Sterling Academy; documents with versions, approvals and distribution, so the current version is the only one in use.
Suppliers, specifications and traceability
Raw material supplier approval, customer specifications, lot traceability and release records, each created as the work is done.
Monitoring, internal audit and management review
Audit programmes, findings and follow-up; KPIs on live dashboards; a management review that records its inputs, decisions and actions.
Nonconformity, complaints and corrective action
Raised, investigated and closed with root cause and the evidence that the action worked; recurring issues visible to management before they become a finding.
Your own processes, forms and reports
Forms, fields, workflows and reports adapted to how you work, without code; legal and customer requirements tracked to the processes they affect.
What this means at the audit
The auditor asks for the hazard analysis, a traceability test, the pest control records and the open complaints. In Effivity each is a screen with dates, owners and evidence attached. Sustain™ keeps the site ready for the next audit.
In your engagement
- Subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost
- Configured by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope
- Your documents, records and registers migrated, not retyped
- Admin and user training for your team
- Modules for QMS, EMS, OHSMS, ISMS, FSMS and more when you integrate other standards
Sterling Academy · BRCGS Packaging Materials e-learning
Train every employee on BRCGS Packaging Materials, not just the quality team.
Sterling Academy delivers e-learning for the whole workforce and for the people who run the system: video lessons with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online. Sterling consulting clients benefit from preferential Sterling Academy course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
- Hygiene and product safety awareness for every shift
- Practitioner learning for hazard analysis and quality leads
- Internal auditor training for the people who will audit the system, as applicable to your standard, as part of the engagement
- Learner progress by department and a training status report for the certification auditor
- New hires trained as they arrive, so evidence stays current
- A Sterling consultant reachable when a learner needs one
Keep exploring
Explore more about BRCGS Packaging Materials
Watch a video on BRCGS requirements here.
BRCGS Packaging Materials resources
Services for BRCGS Packaging Materials
Why Sterling
Want successful BRCGS Packaging Materials certification? Come to Sterling.
Whether you run one plant or several, Sterling helps you build controls that fit your processes and your customers' specifications.
Management systems in 60+ countries since 2003
Food safety and quality systems for manufacturers across every region we serve, with one engagement team accountable across every country you operate in.
All-inclusive proposal
Consulting, Effivity, training and Academy access in one proposal, with certification-body fees identified separately. No surprises, ever.
A system your people can use
Less documentation and maximum effectiveness: documents, training and software connected to day-to-day operations, so your people adopt the system rather than tolerate it.
Expert and experienced consultants
Consultants who have advised on food safety and quality systems across sectors and countries since 2003, and who prepare your site properly the first time.
The Sterling Promise
What our BRCGS Packaging Materials certification success guarantee means
We stay with you until your agreed BRCGS Packaging Materials certification outcome is achieved, supporting implementation, preparation and the resolution of audit findings. Clear explanations, practical delivery, included software and employee learning turn the investment into lasting capability rather than a certificate on a wall.
The engagement identifies the standard, scope, outcome and responsibilities. Your organisation supplies accurate information and puts the agreed controls into use. The independent certification body assesses conformity and retains its certification decision. Our commitment concerns the agreed certification support, not a promise of every future customer approval.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about BRCGS Packaging Materials
Is BRCGS Packaging Materials recognised by GFSI?
Yes. GFSI announced its recognition of BRCGS Packaging Materials against its benchmarking requirements, version 2020.1. Check the current recognition status on the GFSI website for the issue you are audited against.
Which issue of BRCGS Packaging Materials applies now?
Issue 7, which BRCGS has published. Your certification body confirms the audit arrangements and dates for your site.
Does Sterling issue the BRCGS certificate?
No. Sterling prepares your site. An independent certification body audits it and makes the certification decision.
Keep exploring
More on BRCGS Packaging Materials and related standards
More in Consumer goods, textiles & packaging
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