HACCP for BRC Packaging

Hello all,

My company makes OPP films for food/non-food contact packaging and labeling.  We are currently getting ready for our certification audit for the BRC Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 5.  We have done the majority of the leg work i.e. trained internal auditors and started auditing, performed a pre-assessment with a BRC auditor, etc.  One step we took was to overhaul our HACCP plan because it was based on the AIB standard and needed significantly beefed up.  However, after our pre-assessment it appears we have some more work to do.  The auditor specifically mentioned the fact that we were missing certain pre-requisite programs but did not go into detail.  While I have not completed any BRC specific HACCP training I have done some research with no luck as to what specific pre-requisite programs BRC wants.  Does anyone have some insight on this specifically or more general for HACCP for BRC?

Thank you all in advance.

Hi

your pre-requisites will include things such as

Quality management statement

personal hygiene policy

delivery procedures

product specification

pest control

complaint management

supplier management

control of contractors

staff training

accredited suppliers

maintenance program

cleaning controls

transportation

this is not an exhaustive list but you have a general idea

hope this helps

Do you own a copy of the standard?

To give you an idea BRC food safety standard mentions the following:

I do have a copy of the standard but I don't believe this part is in the standard I have.  Which standard does this text come from?  My company is going against the Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 5. 

This clause is from "BRC food safety standard issue 7" so it is not applicable to your plant. I wrote it so that you get the auditor's point of view.

My background is in packaging so I know all items I listed are in fact applicable to packaging plants. You should have procedures for all of them in your Quality and Safety Management system. You might even need to have more PRPs depending on your HACCP study. 

Here is some information from Table 21.3 in "Packaging technology" book (Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2012).

Prerequisite   /   Example requirements  

• Premises   /   Buildings shall be located, constructed and maintained according to appropriate design principles to assure the maintenance of standards that enable product safety and legality to be achieved
• Suppliers   /   The company shall ensure that suppliers have in place effective quality and product safety management systems
• Specifications   /   There shall be written specifications for all raw materials, agreed with suppliers
• Equipment   /   Equipment shall be constructed, installed, calibrated and operated so as to ensure that product will consistently meet specification
• Maintenance   /   Planned preventative maintenance procedures shall be in place
• Cleaning   /   Cleaning of equipment and premises shall be the subject of written procedures, schedules and records
• Personal hygiene   /   Employees and visitors/contractors shall follow written requirements for personal hygiene
• Training   /   Employees shall receive documented training in all relevant aspects of their work
• Receiving, storage and dispatch   /   Raw materials and products shall be stored under clean conditions with documented controls for location and disposition
• Traceability and recall   /   Materials and products shall be recorded in a system which allows rapid and accurate traceability to source and recall from customers
• Pest control   /   An effective pest control programme shall be in place

Those are general examples but not exhaustive.