BRCGS Packaging Issue 7 Timeline: Key Dates and GFSI Status 2026–2027

Where does BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7 stand in early 2027?

Issue 7 is the only version a packaging manufacturer is audited against. BRCGS published it in October 2024 and audits have been carried out against it since April 2025. None of the BRCGS documents we consulted in November 2026 (the Standard’s web page, position statements, protocols, the October 2026 review) announces an Issue 8.

The table below shows only dates published by BRCGS, GFSI or the European Commission.

The review BRCGS published on 9 October 2026, for the Standard’s 25th anniversary, gives a measure of the roll-out: more than 500 sites have chosen the Standard since Issue 7 was launched, more than 6,000 delegates have attended BRCGS-approved training, and more than 25,000 opportunities for improvement have been identified and corrected at audited sites. It reports a single critical non-conformity in the first year of Issue 7 audits, then, in the second year, critical non-conformities linked to HARA implementation and to the effectiveness of internal audits.

What did position statement P708 change on 10 August 2026?

It amended two clauses to align Issue 7 with the 2024 GFSI benchmarking requirements. According to P708, a position statement is mandatory from its implementation date or, where no date is given, from its date of publication on the BRCGS website.

For a site certified before August 2026, three actions are usually enough. Re-read the product defence plan and the training records of the people who drew it up. Identify the areas and equipment where disinfection is needed given the product’s intended use. Document the validation of cleaning: trials, swabs, acceptance criteria. A procedure that simply says “clean every week” is no longer enough. The full method is in our packaging hygiene and contamination control checklist.

Which audit rules apply in 2027?

Those of the BRCGS079 and BRCGS080 protocols, updated on 6 October 2026 and applicable to Packaging Materials Issue 7. Version 6.1 of BRCGS079 updated, among other things, its reference to Packaging Materials, which still pointed to Issue 6.

• Unannounced audit: at least one every three years. For a newly certified site, the first takes place in one of the two years after the initial audit. A manufacturer certified for the first time in 2025 should therefore prepare for it in 2026 or 2027. The certification body notifies the year within three months of the audit, never the date, and the audit may take place at any time in the four months before the audit due date.
• Blended audit: recertification only. The remote part covers the requirements coded blue in the Standard, the on-site part those coded orange; Module 10 is audited on site only.
• Deadlines after the audit: 28 days to submit corrections, root cause analysis and preventive action plan; certificate within 42 days if certification is granted.

The site remains responsible for everything that allows the unannounced audit to happen: a contract signed with the certification body before the four-month window opens, information on maintenance shutdowns, named deputies. If a maintenance shutdown covers much of the window, the certification body may move the window, and the current certificate may then expire. The full audit process is set out in our guide to BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7.

Is Issue 7 recognised by GFSI?

Not yet on the page of recognised programmes. On 5 November 2026, that page listed the Packaging Materials Standard at Issue 6, with announced, unannounced and blended announced audit programmes, recognised against version 2020 of the GFSI benchmarking requirements. The GFSI page of programmes undergoing benchmarking against version 2024 lists, for BRCGS, Packaging Materials Issue 7, alongside Food Safety Issue 9, Storage & Distribution Issue 4 and Agents & Brokers Issue 3.

BRCGS, for its part, describes Packaging Materials as the first packaging standard recognised by GFSI, and P708 states that its amendments result from the assessment of the Standard against the 2024 GFSI requirements. GFSI had published no benchmarking decision on Issue 7 as of 5 November 2026: check the GFSI page before relying on this recognition with a buyer.

The same GFSI page shows other standards used by packaging makers in the same position: IFS PACsecure version 3 and FSSC 22000 Version 7 are also among the programmes undergoing benchmarking. This is not peculiar to BRCGS; it is the normal timetable of a benchmarking cycle.

What we advise our packaging clients:

• read each buyer’s specification: “BRCGS Packaging certificate” and “GFSI-recognised certificate” do not call for the same evidence;
• ask for written confirmation from any buyer that requires GFSI recognition that it accepts Issue 7 while benchmarking is under way;
• do not delay the audit: Issue 6 is no longer audited, and waiting for the GFSI decision does not change the standard you must apply.

What should you watch in the first half of 2027?

Four topics, two of them linked to the PPWR.

1. The GFSI decision on Issue 7, and the update of the page of recognised programmes.
2. New versions of BRCGS documents: position statements, protocols, Interpretation Guideline. A site that prepared its system in 2025 must re-read each new version.
3. The PPWR acts: the Commission still has to adopt several acts, including the implementing act on the harmonised label, with mandatory labelling expected no earlier than 12 August 2028, and the delegated acts on design for recycling, due by 1 January 2028. The detailed timeline is in our article on the PPWR since 12 August 2026.
4. Your customers’ questionnaires: PFAS, recycled content, recyclability. They often arrive at the same time as the BRCGS audit, as our case study of a flexible packaging printer shows.

Your action plan for the next six months:

• Check that the manual, procedures and training refer to Issue 7 and P708, and no longer to Issue 6.
  
• Re-read the product defence plan and train the people who draw it up (4.4.1).
  
• Document the validation and verification of cleaning, disinfection included where needed (4.8.2).
  
• Ask the certification body for the year of your next unannounced audit and keep your shutdown dates up to date.
  
• Obtain written confirmation from each buyer of the standard and issue it accepts.
  
• Appoint someone to follow publications from BRCGS, GFSI and the European Commission.