What Is BRCGS Certification? U.S. Requirements, Grades & Cost

BRCGS Certification at a Glance

BRCGS is a scheme owner. It writes the Global Standards and approves the certification bodies that audit against them, and it keeps the BRCGS Directory, the record of which sites hold a valid certificate. The audits themselves are done by accredited certification bodies, which issue the certificates.^[1]

• 36,000+Certificated suppliers across all BRCGS standards, with certificated sites in 139 countriesBRCGS Annual Report 2024-25^[2]
• 24,500+Sites certificated to the Food Safety standard, in 137 countriesBRCGS, January 2026^[3]
• AA to DAudit grades. AA, A and B sites are re-audited every 12 months, C and D sites every 6 monthsIssue 9, Part III^[1]
• 28 daysCalendar days to send evidence of correction, a root cause and a preventive action plan for each non-conformityIssue 9, Part III^[1]

Updated October 5, 2026. Checked against BRCGS Global Standard Food Safety Issue 9 (Parts II and III), the BRCGS position statements in force from August 10, 2026, BRCGS's 2024-25 Annual Report and the current text of 21 CFR Parts 117 and 121.

What Is BRCGS Certification?

BRCGS certification is a certificate showing that a site meets one of the BRCGS Global Standards, issued after an audit by a certification body BRCGS has approved. It is issued to the site, not the company, lists the products and processes in scope, and is recorded in the BRCGS Directory.^[1]

BRCGS began in 1996, when the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the UK retailers' trade body, developed the BRC Food Technical Standard to evaluate the makers of retailers' own-brand food. It was first published in 1998.^[4][3] BRCGS says its food standard was the first to be recognized by GFSI.^[8] LGC, a UK science group, completed its purchase of the program, then called BRC Global Standards, in November 2016.^[9] In February 2019 BRCGS introduced "Brand Reputation through Compliance" as its brand signature.^[10]

Three features shape how BRCGS works:

• It grew out of retailers' audits. Because it started with retailers' own-brand suppliers, it has detailed requirements on labelling (6.2, a fundamental requirement) and product authenticity (5.4) as well as hazards.^[5]
• It is detailed. Many clauses spell out how a requirement must be met, not just the outcome, which gives a new system a clear checklist.
• It is graded. Every Food Safety certificate carries a grade from AA to D, which buyers can read, and the grade sets how often you are re-audited. (SQF rates audits too, on a 100-point scale.)^[1]

Which BRCGS Standard Do You Need?

"BRCGS certification" usually means the Food Safety standard, but BRCGS writes several, and you are certificated to the one that matches what your site does. A packaging plant uses Packaging Materials; a warehouse uses Storage and Distribution.

Issues and dates from brcgs.com; GFSI status from GFSI's list of recognized certification programme owners, accessed October 5, 2026.^[20]

GFSI recognition matters because a buyer that asks for "GFSI certification" is asking for a scheme on GFSI's recognized list, unless it names one. GFSI calls this "once certified, accepted everywhere." BRCGS's recognized standards are currently benchmarked against GFSI's 2020 requirements, and BRCGS is going through benchmarking against the 2024 version.^[20]

Who Needs BRCGS Certification in the U.S.?

No U.S. law requires BRCGS certification. Sites get it because a customer asks for it, and large buyers widely accept it. BRCGS has said since 2021, most recently in June 2023, that seven of the top 10 global retailers, six of the top 10 quick-service restaurant chains and half of the top 25 manufacturers accept its Food Safety standard.^[21] The U.S. sites that end up with BRCGS usually fall into one of these groups:

• Retail and private-label suppliers. Many retailers require GFSI-recognized certification and accept BRCGS.^[22] Our Walmart supplier requirements guide shows how that works at Walmart.
• Exporters. BRCGS started with UK retailers, and Food Safety sites are certificated in 137 countries, so buyers abroad, especially in the UK, may name it.^[4][3]
• Packaging, storage and distribution sites. BRCGS has dedicated standards for both, so a food customer can ask its packaging supplier and its warehouse for the same family of certificates.
• Co-packers and ingredient suppliers. Manufacturers and ingredient companies also specify BRCGS for their own suppliers.^[22]

BRCGS vs. SQF: Which One?

Both are GFSI-benchmarked, so either usually satisfies a buyer who just asks for GFSI certification. BRCGS was founded by retailers, spells out how many requirements must be met and is graded AA to D; SQF scores the audit out of 100 and turns the score into a certification rating and audit frequency rather than a letter grade.^[23] If a customer names one, use that one.

What Does the BRCGS Food Safety Standard Require?

Issue 9 of the Food Safety standard has nine sections. Sections 1 to 7 apply to every site. Section 8 applies only where a site has high-risk, high-care or ambient high-care zones, and section 9 only where a site trades food it doesn't make and includes it in the audit scope.^[5][1]

Section titles and fundamental clauses from Issue 9, Part II. Fundamental clauses are marked FUNDAMENTAL in the standard.

Twelve requirements are designated fundamental: senior management commitment (1.1), the food safety plan (section 2), internal audits (3.4), supplier and raw material approval (3.5.1), corrective and preventive action (3.7), traceability (3.9), layout and segregation (4.3), housekeeping and hygiene (4.11), allergen management (5.3), control of operations (6.1), labelling and pack control (6.2) and training (7.1).^[5] A major non-conformity against the statement of intent of any one of them means the site is not certificated at that audit, however well the rest went.^[1]

Food safety culture is part of senior management commitment. Clause 1.1.2 requires a written plan to develop and improve the site's food safety and quality culture, built around communication, training, employee feedback, the behaviours expected of staff and performance measurement, with an action plan and timescales. At the audit, a senior manager discusses the plan and the auditor talks to staff about it.^[5][1]

Does BRCGS Certification Replace FDA Requirements?

No. BRCGS certification is a private standard your customers ask for. FDA rules are the law. A U.S. food plant certificated to BRCGS still has to meet the FDA rules that apply to it, for most plants 21 CFR Part 117, and the auditor will check that you have a system to keep up with them.^[5][6] Very small "qualified facilities" have modified requirements, and plants covered by FDA's seafood or juice HACCP rules follow those instead of Part 117's hazard analysis subpart (§ 117.5).^[6] The two systems overlap a lot, which is why many plants run one system that meets both. The table shows where to look twice.

FDA references are to 21 CFR Parts 1, 117 and 121 as published on eCFR, accessed October 5, 2026.

BRCGS offers an optional add-on, Module 13: Meeting FSMA Requirements for Food, which audits FDA preventive controls requirements that the core standard doesn't spell out. It runs in the same audit, is pass or fail rather than graded^[1], and BRCGS says it doesn't certify FSMA compliance or guarantee that an FDA inspection will find the site fully compliant.^[27]

FDA doesn't require a particular course to be a PCQI. Training at least equivalent to an FDA-recognized standardized curriculum qualifies, and so can job experience (§ 117.180(c)).^[6] Many teams still take formal PCQI training as the simplest way to document the qualification.

How Does the BRCGS Audit Work?

You choose an audit option with your certification body. Under Issue 9 there are three:^[1]

Announced audits happen in the 28 days before your audit due date. A mandatory unannounced audit can happen at any point in the 4 months before it.^[1] Under a 2024 position statement, clause 1.1.10 makes the site responsible for having everything in place for an unannounced audit, including contract terms agreed with the certification body before the 4-month window opens. Miss that and the due date moves, your certificate may lapse and you get a major non-conformity. Turning the auditor away on the day gets the certificate suspended.^[28][1]

A typical audit takes 2–3 days on site, usually 8–9 hours a day and never more than 10. The certification body sets the length with BRCGS's audit duration calculator, which uses full-time-equivalent employees per main shift, the size of the facility and the number of HACCP plans in scope. Other factors, such as process complexity, can move it by no more than 30%.^[1]

What happens on audit day

1. 01Opening meetingConfirms the scope and the plan for the audit.
2. 02Production facility inspectionThe auditor walks production and storage, observes changeovers, checks line start-up procedures and checks the process flow diagrams. About half of the audit is spent in production areas.
3. 03InterviewsDiscussions with staff and managers, including on the food safety and quality culture plan.
4. 04Document reviewThe HACCP plan and the quality management system.
5. 05Vertical audit and traceabilityA traceability challenge and mass balance through raw material intake, production records, finished product checks and specifications.
6. 06HACCP verification and label reviewCCP monitoring records, and sample labels checked against specifications and the law.
7. 07Closing meetingThe auditor confirms every non-conformity but won't predict the certification outcome. A written summary follows at the meeting or within one working day.

Your most senior operations manager, or a nominated deputy, has to attend the opening and closing meetings. The same auditor can't audit your site more than three times in a row.^[1]

How Are BRCGS Audits Graded?

Every finding is graded critical, major or minor, and the count sets your grade. The certification body's management reviews each finding before the certificate decision.^[1]

The plus sign marks an unannounced audit. From Issue 9, Part III, Table 2 and section 2.3.2.

For every non-conformity you have 28 calendar days to send the certification body evidence of correction, a root cause analysis and a preventive action plan. Miss that and there's no certificate. A C grade with two majors, and any D grade, also needs a revisit, on site or remote, within the same 28 days.^[1]

The findings auditors raise most often are on the factory floor: in BRCGS's 2024-25 data, all five of the most-cited Issue 9 clauses were in section 4, Site Standards, led by premises and equipment hygiene (4.11.1) with 4,715 non-conformities.^[2] Our guide to the most common BRCGS non-conformities covers the top ten and the evidence that closes each one.

How Long Is a BRCGS Certificate Valid?

A BRCGS certificate runs 12 months (grades AA to B) or 6 months (C and D) between audits, and expires 42 days after the next audit due date, which leaves time for the certification decision. The due date is set from the first day of your initial audit, not from the date the certificate was issued.^[1]

• Certificate issued: within 42 days of the audit, once non-conformities are closed.^[1]
• Audit report: uploaded to the BRCGS Directory within 49 days of the last audit day, whether or not a certificate is issued.^[1]
• Late audits: if an announced or blended audit slips past the due date without one of the justifiable reasons BRCGS lists, such as travel restrictions or a natural disaster, you get a major non-conformity under clause 1.1.10 at the next audit.^[1][5]
• Changing certification body: not allowed in the last 4 months before the re-audit due date unless BRCGS agrees in writing.^[28]
• After a recall: you must tell your certification body within 3 working days about a significant incident, such as a recall or regulatory enforcement, and give it the information to judge the effect on your certificate within 21 days.^[5]

What Does the Certificate Cover, and How Do Buyers Check It?

The certificate covers the products and processes agreed with the certification body before the audit, from raw materials to dispatch. Excluding products is allowed only by exception, when they are clearly different and made in a physically segregated area, and you can't exclude parts of the process or parts of the standard. Any exclusions are written on the report and the certificate.^[1]

• Site code: every audited site gets a unique 6-, 7- or 8-digit site code, printed on the audit report and certificate. Anyone can check a site's listing by searching that code in the public BRCGS Directory.^[1]
• Report sharing: the audit report belongs to you. You can share it with customers in the Directory, and they then see current and future reports without asking again.^[1]
• Alerts: the Directory emails everyone with shared access if a certificate is suspended, withdrawn or expires without being replaced.^[1]
• The logo: sites with no exclusions can use the BRCGS logo on stationery and marketing, but never on products or packaging. It isn't a product certification mark.^[1]

How Much Does BRCGS Certification Cost?

There's no list price for BRCGS certification. The audit is quoted per site, and your starting point decides most of the internal cost. These are the lines to budget for:

A better grade is the cheapest way to lower ongoing cost, because it keeps you on a 12-month cycle.

How Do You Get BRCGS Certified?

Pick the standard and scope, close your gaps against Issue 9, run the system and your internal audits, then book an audit with a BRCGS-approved certification body. How long it takes depends on where you start. Small or developing sites can begin with BRCGS START! at Basic or Intermediate level, and BRCGS publishes a tool for moving from START! Intermediate to Issue 9.^[18][32] Step by step:

1. 01Confirm the standard and scopeCheck which BRCGS standard your customer wants and which products and processes must be in scope. A site is certificated for the scope on its certificate.
2. 02Get the standard and BRCGS's toolsDownload Issue 9 and read the current position statements, which change some clauses. BRCGS also publishes Interpretation Guidelines and an Issue 9 self-assessment tool.^[11][28][32]
3. 03Find your gapsCompare your system and site against every clause, with an internal team or an outside reviewer. You can use outside consultants, but your site has to run its own system day to day.^[5] The certification body that will audit you can't consult on closing gaps; an optional gap assessment is available through ASI Training and Consulting, LLC, which operates separately from the certification body and has no effect on audit outcomes.^[1]
4. 04Train the teamYour HACCP team leader needs in-depth knowledge of the Codex HACCP principles, and internal auditors have to be trained and competent.^[5] Add HACCP, BRCGS internal auditor or internal auditing training where you need it.
5. 05Build and run the systemPut the procedures in place and build up records. BRCGS says a new site is unlikely to show full compliance at an audit less than 3 months after it starts operating.^[1]
6. 06Run internal auditsYour internal audit program needs at least four audit dates spread across the year and must cover every activity in the system at least once a year.^[5]
7. 07Book the certification auditChoose a certification body approved for the standard, with auditors qualified in your product category. BRCGS rates certification bodies from one to five stars in the Directory, and some customers accept only four- or five-star bodies, so check with yours. Then pick an audit option and send the information needed to calculate the audit length. You can decline a particular auditor.^[1]
8. 08Close the non-conformitiesSend evidence of correction, the root cause and a preventive action plan within 28 days.^[1]
9. 09Get your certificate and stay readyThe certificate is issued within 42 days of the audit and listed in the BRCGS Directory. Then keep the system running: every site gets at least one unannounced audit every three years, and BRCGS can make its own announced or unannounced visits.^[1]

What's Changing: Issue 10 and the 2026 Position Statements

Two things are moving. First, BRCGS updated its Issue 9 position statements, effective for audits from August 10, 2026. For food sites the main change is clause 7.4.2: protective clothing must now include suitable protective footwear where needed, alongside the snoods for beards and moustaches the clause already required. The same document carries two earlier statements: since May 1, 2024 a site can't change certification body in the 4 months before its re-audit due date without BRCGS's written agreement, and since 2024 the site has been responsible for the arrangements an unannounced audit needs.^[28][5]

Second, Issue 10 is being written. BRCGS ran a public consultation on Issue 9 that was open until February 15, 2026.^[3] Its technical working group was due to meet for the first time on April 1, 2026 and to run for about 12 to 15 months. As of BRCGS's August 11, 2026 update, no publication date had been announced, so Issue 9 is the standard you'll be audited against until Issue 10 is published and takes effect.^[33]

How Kiwa ASI Can Help

Kiwa ASI delivers BRCGS audits in the United States as a listed office of Kiwa's BRCGS-approved certification bodies, Kiwa Agri Food (UKAS-accredited, UK) and Kiwa España (ENAC-accredited).^[34] Our St. Ann, Missouri offices are listed in the BRCGS Directory for Food Safety, Storage and Distribution, Gluten-Free and START!; they are not listed for Packaging Materials or Agents and Brokers.^[35] Our auditors can't advise you on how to pass, which keeps the certificate you hand your customers independent. See our BRCGS certification page for audit options and a quote.

BRCGS internal auditor training, BRCGS Storage and Distribution training, HACCP training and PCQI training are offered through ASI Training and Consulting, LLC, which operates separately from the certification body and has no effect on audit outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions