Hi Juan,
All dependant on your risk assessment criteria and risk assessment monitoring
Case scenario 1
High risk supplier with BRC certificate in the risk assessment is scored as low risk based on good VACCP and for example BRC Grade AA+ (plus other criteria like micro, allergens, physical & radiological, chemical hazards etc) , however this year the supplier reported that they achieved Grade B, based on your risk assessment criteria you would normally ask for BRC report to see what kind of of NC`s they received. This is a significant, as this could give you a completely different view and will change supplier status from low risk to high risk.
Case Scenario 2
Supplier refused traceability exercise / or the traceability was unsuccessful (usually agents & brokers due to the length of supply chain), supplier is a BRC company with grade A, and your risk assessment score for this supplier is high risk due to long length of supply chain. The BRC audit report showed a few minor NC`s for section 3.9 Traceability. Clearly, something is not okey there.
Case Scenario 3
Low risk nuts supplier scored as low risk (no issues BRC AA+, everything scored as low) ,but suddenly your customer discovered Alphatoxins in your final product, based on your root cause analysis, it seems that Pistachio nuts were contaminated. Certificates of analysis were all fine, however you decided to do extra testing based on EU guidance's.. and you discovered that the supplier didn't follow the right testing regime. This cost you a product recall & additional issues with customer.
a good risk assessment and a bit of investigation would show more than certificates,