BRCGS Issue 10: Where It Stands and the Standards in Force in 2026

Which BRCGS standards are in force at the end of 2026?

Five BRCGS standards directly concern companies in Morocco and the rest of Africa, and each has a single audit version today. The table below follows ACG’s standards register and the official BRCGS pages.

On the BRCGS Food Safety page, the additional modules, the audit duration calculator and the position statements all refer to Issue 9, and the BRCGS self-assessment checklists for Food Safety are labelled Issue 9 as well. On the Packaging Materials page, the additional modules carry the Issue 7 label. That is the simplest proof that these are the versions you will be audited against.

Where does Issue 10 of the Food Safety standard stand?

Issue 10 is in preparation, and BRCGS has published neither a release date nor an effective date. Any date put forward without an official BRCGS announcement is rumour.

BRCGS consulted the industry on Issue 9 with a view to its revision and set up a technical working group to draft the new issue.

What can be said with certainty:

• the final content of Issue 10 has not been published;
• no new requirement can therefore be audited today;
• the transition rules will be announced by BRCGS with the publication.

What not to do: rewrite your system on the basis of a draft or an unofficial summary. An auditor assesses the standard in force, not a draft.

What does it change for a site starting today?

Nothing of substance: a BRCGS project launched at the end of 2026 is prepared against Issue 9. The real question is not “which issue” but “when does my buyer want the certificate”.

Five situations come up regularly in our discussions with exporters in Morocco.

A cannery in Safi that must be certified before the next fishing season. It prepares against Issue 9 without hesitation. The certificate it obtains remains valid until it expires, whenever Issue 10 comes out.

A packaging manufacturer in Kénitra still documented on the previous Packaging issue. It must update its system to Issue 7 before its next audit, if it has not done so already. Our guide to BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7 sets out the requirements of the current issue.

A small olive oil processor hesitating between START! and Food Safety. The decision depends first on the buyer: some accept START!, others require a Food Safety certificate. Ask the buyer in writing before choosing.

A cold store near the port of Tanger Med that holds seafood for certified customers. Its standard is Storage & Distribution Issue 4, not Food Safety. Its industrial customers may require it to secure the chain all the way to the port. The watch points: temperature control, packaging integrity, pallet traceability and handling of non-conforming product.

A trader in Casablanca who buys from canneries and resells for export without processing anything. It falls under Agents & Brokers Issue 3. This standard focuses on supplier approval and monitoring, traceability and incident management, since the trader does not control manufacturing itself.

For a manufacturer also considering IFS or FSSC 22000, the calendar is different: IFS Food is at Version 8, mandatory since January 2024; FSSC 22000 Version 7 was published in May 2026, with Version 6 audits still possible until 30 April 2027.

What should you do while Issue 10 is being prepared?

Consolidate what will be expected anyway: a living system, a measured culture, solid evidence. It is the best investment, whatever the next issue contains.

• Check that your documented system cites the right version of each standard (Food Safety Issue 9, Packaging Materials Issue 7, Storage & Distribution Issue 4, Agents & Brokers Issue 3).
  
• Redo the self-assessment on the official BRCGS Issue 9 checklist, in French if your team prefers.
  
• Reread the official BRCGS position statements published for Issue 9 and check that they are applied.
  
• Measure your food safety culture and present the results to the management committee.
  
• Test traceability and recall on a real lot, within the time set by your procedure.
  
• Update your food fraud vulnerability assessment and your assessment of deliberate threats.
  
• Subscribe to official BRCGS communications and name a person responsible for monitoring them.
  
• Budget a documentation upgrade and team training for the following year.
  

How does a BRCGS consultant keep watch for you?

The consultant follows official publications, turns them into concrete actions for your site and alerts you only when a decision is needed. Monitoring is only useful if it leads to a plan.

In practice, the regulatory and standards watch included in BRCGS support covers:

• new issues and their transition periods;
• official position statements and additional modules published by BRCGS;
• the requirements of destination markets (United Kingdom, European Union, West Africa);
• changes on the side of the Moroccan competent authority, ONSSA (Office national de sécurité sanitaire des produits alimentaires, the national food safety office).

When Issue 10 is published, a supported site should receive a gap analysis between its Issue 9 system and the new issue, an upgrade plan and a training proposal. Not just a link to the new text.

To go further, our complete guide to choosing a BRCGS consultant in Africa explains the role and the steps, and our how-to on working with a BRCGS consultant details who does what.