BRCGS Consumer Products Certification

The BRCGS Global Standard Consumer Products is a British Retail Consortium (BRCGS) standard to guarantee the safety, legality and quality of non-food products that are sold in the wholesale and retail trade. Non-food products are all articles which do not consist of food. More than 700 organizations in over 48 countries have already been certified, and ever more suppliers are following suit. According to the BRCGS this BRCGS Consumer Product certification is increasing by 11% every year.
Certification enables access to many brand owners, retailers, food-related service companies and manufacturers, above all in the Anglo-American market. The aim of the standard is to protect consumers based on consistent quality and risk management, and to provide the retail trade with high-value and safe products. 

The standard is composed of two Standards;

• Personal Care and Household
• General Merchandise 

Each Standard is certificated at two levels, Foundation and Higher based on the requirements.
Personal Care and Household covers formulated and fabricated products which typically have higher hygiene requirements due to the nature and usage of products. Examples include cosmetics, medical devices, nappies, food wrap and household cleaners.
General Merchandise covers a wide range of mainly fabricated products where management of the production process to ensure the safety and quality of the products is the primary concern. Examples include electrical equipment, toys, furniture, textiles and jewellery                                                                                                                                                           

Scope of the Standard: 
The Standard scope covers the requirements for the manufacture and supply of safe and legal consumer products of consistent quality. These consumer products may be branded or unbranded for business to business use or retailer branded (private label). The certification of this standard provides assurance for product safety, legality and quality and that the products manufactured have met any legal or customized conformity assessment measures.  

The scope of operations applicable are:

• Manufacturing of raw materials (excluding packaging) and finished products for business to business or for retail sale to consumers including contracts or assembly packing of consumer products.

The scope of products applicable are:

• Non-food, manufactured products placed on the consumer market
• Raw materials and components manufacturers
• General Merchandise Standard products such as apparel, hair accessories, furniture, flooring, electrical appliances, DIY goods, toys and cookware.
• Manufacture and subsequent storage and distribution which are under the control of the manufacturer, prior to delivery to the retailer or customer.
• Companies with ISO 9001 and or ISO 22716 GMP guidelines can be certified to these standards.

Products applicable under Risk categories are:

• High risk - Electrical goods, entertainment (AV), electronics, wireless devices, lighting, furniture (inside and outside), seasonal articles (Christmas/Public holidays), health and beauty products (cosmetics), chemicals and dyes, toys, baby and children’s products.  
• Medium- Clothing, shoes, soft home furnishings (textiles), automotive, ironmongery, lawns & gardens, cooking & dining (household goods), office equipment, plants, sports articles, wardrobe 6 organisation.
• Low- Home decoration, jewellery, bags & luggage, pets and pet accessories, stationery