Certification
BRC/IOP Packaging Standard
Background
There is a requirement for UK retailers and their suppliers
of own brand products under The Food Safety Act 1990,
to take ” all reasonable precautions and exercise
due diligence” in all aspects of the supply chain
process, which ultimately lead to the end consumer.
This obligation extended to the packaging suppliers,
which gave a need for a standard to be put in place.
The standard was a development between the British Retail
Consortium (BRC) and the Institute of Packaging (IOP)
to assist retailers and food manufacturers in the fulfilment
of their legal obligations. It was a first and important
document for the packaging industry
Scope
The standard applies to the manufacturing and supply
of converted packaging used in food packaging and filling
operations.
The technical standard and protocol for Companies Manufacturing
and Supplying food Packaging Materials for Retailer
Branded Products covers areas of: -
- Organisation – indicating
management responsibilities
- Hazard and Risk Management System
– this ensures that all hazards to consumer
safety and product integrity are identified and appropriate
controls are established
- Technical Management system –
covering aspects of documentation and control systems
within the Quality and Hygiene systems
- Factory standards – this
covers areas such as fabrication, product flow and
maintenance
- Contamination control- covering
aspects of foreign body, biological, chemical and
pest control, storage and distribution
- Personnel – covering areas
of personal hygiene, raw material handling, processing,
preparation, packing and storage areas
- Risk Category Determination –
there are two categories A and B and a decision tree
is the criteria for selection. Nampak Liquid Foods
falls into category B.
It is based on pre-requisites and risk assessment and
covers issues that are included within an ISO 9000 standard.
Benefits
The benefits from attaining the standard are for the
manufacturer, the packaging user and ultimately the
end consumer.
- It means that there is a single audit for packaging
manufacturers that is to an acceptable industry standard.
It is been designed by the BRC and the packaging industry
specifically for the packaging industry.
- The standard covers all packaging industry types,
unlike the many codes of practice that exist within
the industry, issued by trade associations.
- The BRC/IOP standard encompasses all problem areas
within packaging production.
- The standard has provided the ability to have a
common ground for auditing and acts as a benchmarking
standard for suppliers.
- The standard addresses part of the due diligence
requirements of the packaging manufacture/supplier,
packer/filler and retailer. It provides a framework
of activities to ensure that the supply chain process
is monitored and controlled.
- The new Standard is designed to be dynamic which
means that regular updates will be carried out. This
will ensure that companies will be subject to continuous
improvement plans.
- The standard is backed up by EN 45011, which means
that all audit bodies will have to be accredited to
this standard. This ensures that the each evaluator
has to prove competence by examination in both hygiene
and packaging.
- The standard ensures that Food Packaging manufacturers
are satisfactory in both hygiene and technical matters.
There is a requirement for ongoing surveillance and
confirmation of the follow up of corrective actions
on non- conformance to the standard, which ensures
that continuous improvement, occurs.
- All packaging users are able to trust their packaging
materials to be hygienic and consistent and therefore
the end consumer will be presented with a safe product.
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