BRC 3.5.1.2 - 3.5.1.3 supplier approval and broker agent approval

Dear all,

I have an issue in understanding the BRC requirement 3.5.1.2 and 3.5.1.3.

My company buy many raw materials. some of them comes from directly from the manufacturer. somes of them comes from A&B company

for the suppliers which are manufacturer we use : GFSI certification or questionnaire + traceability test 

for the suppliers which are agent :  we ask BRC A&B certificate. if they aren't BRC A&B  we approve the manufacturer with the GFSI certification or questionnaire + traceability test.

My question is this one : do we need to approve the supplier A&B ? 

because somes A&B don't touch or store the product and the raw materiel bought comes from directly the manufacturer.

Somes of A&B,  store the product.  how i have to consider them ?

thank for your fast reply.

best regards

Guillaume BODIN

 

because somes A&B don't touch or store the product and the raw materiel bought comes from directly the manufacturer.

Somes of A&B,  store the product.  how i have to consider them ?

 

 

A&B: that dont handle the product, you should be fine with your current practices.

However, A&B that store the product, should provide you with a GFSI certification or completed questionnaire + traceability test of their own facility/business. BRC and other GFSI schemes do offer an Agent & Broker GFSI certification. 

These A&B vendors do need to comply to have a compliant facility (Pest Management, Product Segregation, Allergen Control, Temperature control-persihable products, etc.)

Hi Guillaume,

I've been a few weeks ago on a workshop for BRC v8. There was also an auditor present at this workshop and he said that you can only accept suppliers which are not GFSI certified in case you evaluate them as being of low risk. When he was explaining what low risk is, he said that for example suppliers of direct contact packaging materials are high risk and need to be GFSI certified, while the ones for indirect contact can be considered low risk and accepted based on a questionnaire. The same for raw materials, if you use something in small quantities that can be low risk (he mentioned salt), it is enough to use a questionnaire.