3 replies to this topic

[SVO]

Hello all, Just a quick question regarding BRC certification and recall. In the event of a certified site initiating a Class I and Class II recall, the site is required to immediately notify their certifying body. Does announcing a Class I or Class II recall automatically revoke/suspend an existing BRC certification?

[Shyguy77]

BRC states "in the event the company becomes aware of legal proceedings to product safety, regulatory complaince or legality, or in the event of a product recall, the company shall immediately make the CB aware of the situation. The CB in turn shall take appropriate steps to assess the situation and any implications for the certification, and shall take ANY appropriate action.

I would say yes, it could lead to revoking/suspending your certification.

[SVO]

BRC states "in the event the company becomes aware of legal proceedings to product safety, regulatory complaince or legality, or in the event of a product recall, the company shall immediately make the CB aware of the situation. The CB in turn shall take appropriate steps to assess the situation and any implications for the certification, and shall take ANY appropriate action.

I would say yes, it could lead to revoking/suspending your certification.

Thank you jpredmore. That is exactly what I thought.

[john.kukoly]

The point all of the GFSI schemes take into account with a recall: it is seen as an indicator that there may be a weakness in the food safety system. No one expects a food safety system to guarantee recalls won't happen, rather that all reasonable precautions are in place. The certification body is expected to assess the cause of a recall against the "reasonable precautions".

If a recall happens and could not likely have been prevented through normal due diligence, then the site will no doubt review their HACCP system and put any additional measures in place to prevent recurrence. This would generally not impact the sites certification.

If a recall happens, and could have been prevented, the site will follow the same process.

In both cases, the CB will generally ask to see evidence that the recall resulted in effective corrective action to the system to prevent future issues.

If a recall happens, generally as a result of the HACCP and food safety system being allowed to fail - where the system in place at the time of the certification audit was no longer in place, then i s likely that the certification will be withdrawn.