BRCGS Storage and Distribution: The Issue 4 Guide for Morocco

What is BRCGS Storage and Distribution Issue 4, and which Moroccan sites does it cover?

It is the BRCGS standard for logistics operations: storage, distribution and transport of food, packaging and consumer products, without processing. Issue 4 is the version audited today. It covers any site that holds or moves other companies’ products, from primary production to retail.

The BRCGS guide to certification makes two points that matter from day one. A site can certify its full scope or only what it actually does: storage only, distribution only, transport only. And the standard can be accessed free of charge via the BRCGS Store. The certificate is issued by a BRCGS-approved certification body after an on-site audit; the certified site then appears in the BRCGS Directory, which brands and retailers use to find suppliers.

In Morocco, the request almost always comes from a customer: a European retailer, a manufacturer whose finished goods you hold, an exporter consolidating containers for Europe. The table helps you place your site before any other decision.

One point is not negotiable. In Morocco, food businesses must hold a sanitary approval or authorisation from ONSSA (Office national de sécurité sanitaire des produits alimentaires, the national food safety office), under Law 28-07 and Decree 2-10-473. Check that the number issued covers each warehouse and the storage activity concerned: certification comes on top of it and never replaces it. A foreign buyer qualifying a Moroccan warehouse should therefore ask for both documents.

Our BRCGS Storage and Distribution page presents the standard and compares it with IFS Logistics; this guide details the certification path of a Moroccan site.

How do you set the scope of the certificate?

Start from what the site does every week, not from what the sales brochure promises. The written scope drives the audit duration, the certification body’s quote and the requirements that apply.

Four questions settle it.

Which products? Food, packaging or consumer products; frozen, chilled or ambient. Each flow carries its own hazards: a warehouse receiving frozen seafood and empty packaging on the same dock does not face the same contamination risks for both.

Is open product handled? If so, section 9 applies. Position statement 4 of SD404 sets the threshold. Where staff only lift and move open boxes, trays or palletainers of fresh produce, a risk assessment can determine whether separate handwashing facilities and hairnets are needed. As soon as there is picking or sorting by hand, a dedicated handwashing facility, outside the toilets, and headwear covering all hair become mandatory. Toilets must not open directly into storage areas.

Are cold operations carried out under contract? Contract chilling, freezing, tempering, defrosting, high-pressure processing and, since 10 August 2026, irradiation of pre-packed products fall under section 17. The site carries them out to the product owner’s specifications and monitors the process parameters.

What happens outside the building? Subcontracted transport, an overflow warehouse, a cross-docking platform: these activities remain your responsibility towards the customer. They enter the system through contracts (clause 3.5.2.1) or through a module.

One limit does not move: processing, however minimal, is excluded. SD404 notes that even minor changes in processing conditions can have a significant effect on the safety of food. Only trimming of fresh produce for purely aesthetic reasons has been kept, by concession requested from BRCGS by the certification body, for sites already certified to Issue 3, and never for ready-to-eat produce.

Which voluntary modules should you add, and when?

Only those a customer requires or that replace a separate audit. BRCGS offers six: e-commerce, cross-docking, wholesale, contracted packing, inspection and waste management. According to the official page, the site informs its certification body before the next audit; the module is audited at the same time as the standard, which can lengthen the audit, and it is assessed as pass or fail, with no effect on the grade.

Two modules have rules clarified by position statements.

Cross-docking (section 11). Each cross-docking site gets its own audit report, and its non-conformities do not count towards the main site’s grade. Position statement 8 sets the scale:

After a successful audit, a cross-docking annex issued with the certificate lists the facilities and their locations. If a facility fails, only that facility is re-audited: the main site’s certificate is reissued without the module.

Wholesale (section 10). A wholesaler buying and reselling branded products must hold a documented fraud vulnerability assessment plan covering its suppliers (clause 10.2.2.1, position statement 3). The plan states which checks are carried out, how often, by whom and how the results are interpreted; it ranks suppliers and products, for example as very high, high, low or negligible risk. It is reviewed at least once a year and whenever something significant changes: a supplier’s financial situation, a new supply chain, an alert on a product.

For the other four modules, the official SD401 self-assessment tool summarises what is expected:

• E-commerce: online sale of finished goods to businesses or consumers, from storage facilities under the site's direct control. It requires a formal contract with each customer, shipping packaging that is tested and validated, and traceability tested at least once a year and achieved within 4 hours. Courier, parcel and pallet networks are covered for final-mile delivery only, under contract and with their performance monitored.
• Contract packing (repacking, assembly packing, labelling of packed products): a risk assessment of the operation, checks on packaging and codes (dates, batches, weights) at the start, during and at the end of each run, verification of vision systems and check weighers, and full traceability of components.
• Product inspection: a service defined with the customer (sort criteria, sampling rate, action on rejected product), a contract review before accepting the work, a risk assessment for other products, calibrated equipment and records of the activity.
• Waste management (recovery and recycling): defined types of material known to the driver, receipt segregated from product areas, segregation and cleaning rules for vehicles, storage that does not attract pests, and compliance with legal disposal requirements.

For any contracted service, the customer contract, inclusion in the hazard analysis, written procedures and staff training apply on top.

One last point: according to the BRCGS079 protocol, BRCGS expects modules incorporated into Storage and Distribution to be scheduled and completed during the unannounced audit. A module that can only be seen on a specific day of the week should be flagged to the certification body well before the audit window.

What does the auditor check in a warehouse?

That the documented system works on the dock, with the people on shift that day. Since 10 August 2026, version 8 of the SD404 position statements has aligned several clauses with the GFSI 2024 benchmarking requirements, and together they give a good picture of what the auditor asks for.

For section 17 operations, the guidance on clause 17.3 gives a benchmark. Without automatic recording, manual checks continue on non-working days, normally every two hours for chilled and every four hours for frozen products unless otherwise justified; records are kept for the product’s shelf life plus one year. Step-by-step preparation of a cold store is the subject of our article on cold store certification in Morocco, with a cold store near Tanger Med.

The Standard is organised in eight sections common to all sites: senior management commitment; hazard and risk analysis; product safety and quality management system; site and building standards; vehicle operating standards; facility management; good operating practices; personnel. Section 9 covers open products, and the following sections the modules. For traceability, the system is tested at a predetermined frequency, at least once a year, from consignor to final consignee and back, including subcontracted storage and transport; full traceability should be achievable within 4 hours (SD401 self-assessment tool).

Which audit programme should you choose?

The one your organisation can sustain every day of the year. Whatever the programme, at least one audit every three years is unannounced, and the GFSI page lists Storage and Distribution Issue 4 with the announced, unannounced (options 1 and 2) and blended announced programmes.

The calendar is managed from the day after an audit. Within three months, the certification body tells the site the year of the unannounced audit, never the date; it initiates the scheduling no later than six months after the last audit. The site must agree contractual terms before the four-month window opens and report planned shutdowns. Otherwise, the audit due date is moved, the certificate may expire and a major non-conformity is raised.

Two rules weigh on a Moroccan warehouse. Days when the site is not operating (non-working weekends, public holidays, maintenance shutdowns) do not count towards the 10 days, but they must be declared on joining the programme. And a site certified to both Food Safety and Storage and Distribution is advised to combine the two audits; if they stay separate, both must be unannounced. The general rules for unannounced and blended audits are covered in our article on the BRCGS unannounced audit and blended rules.

What are the steps, from gap analysis to certificate?

Eight steps, of which only the last ones have deadlines set by BRCGS. The guide to certification describes the path; the SD404 position statements set the cycle rules.

The grade, from AA to D, then sets the pace: a certificate of up to 12 months for grades AA, A and B, up to 6 months for grades C and D, with a “+” when the audit was unannounced. Since 1 February 2023, this also applies to sites handling consumer products only, which previously could hold certificates of up to 18 months. An audit with too many non-conformities gives no certificate: a new full audit is needed.

Three cycle rules avoid unpleasant surprises. A site cannot change certification body in the four months before the re-audit due date, unless BRCGS agrees in writing. An early re-audit, requested to improve a grade, is carried out by the certification body that issued the certificate. And an “initial” audit is the first audit at a site address, or the audit of a site whose certificate lapsed more than 24 months earlier; the three-year cycle of the unannounced audit continues through a shorter interruption.

Before asking for a quote, gather these items:

• Each customer’s written request: standard, version, modules, audit programme, deadline.
  
• Proof that the ONSSA approval or authorisation covers each warehouse and the storage activity.
  
• The list of flows: frozen, chilled, ambient, open product, returns, contract operations.
  
• The intended scope, with subcontracted activities and cross-docking platforms.
  
• The gap analysis against the SD401 checklist, or against the IFS Logistics checklist if that standard is also being considered.
  
• The name of the project lead and the deputy, and the time set aside for them each week.
  
• The company calendar: activity peaks, maintenance shutdowns, non-operating days.
  

The budget and its drivers are detailed in our article on BRCGS Storage and Distribution certification cost and timeline. If two customers require two different standards, see our BRCGS S&D vs IFS Logistics case study of a multi-client cold store near Tanger Med. And to place Storage and Distribution among the other BRCGS standards, our guide to BRCGS certification in Morocco remains the starting point.