Raising and promoting standards of product quality and assurance is a
core aim of the BMPA.
Background
We own and manage standards for the key pigmeat product groups:
Pork: British Quality Assured Pork
Bacon: Charter Quality British Bacon
Ham: Charter Quality British Ham
Sausage: British Quality Assured Pork Sausage.
These standards are widely respected and provide the assurance behind two well known consumer logos:
the Red Tractor, owned by Assured Food Standards and the Quality Standard Mark – owned by the British
Pig Executive (BPEX).
The pork, bacon and ham standards are accredited by UKAS to EN45011 and all standards are audited by an
independent certification body, EFSIS.
Modular structure
The standards have been developed to a modular structure with individual modules for:
Individual product standards are built upon a core requirement of the BRC Global Food Standard and the
British Quality Assured Pork module is a feeder for the other product standards.
The relationship between modules is outlined in the structure chart below:
Evaluation policy
Surveillance inspections are undertaken twice per year in the case of Pork and Sausage and three times
per year for Bacon and Ham. For all standards, one of the surveillance evaluations is unannounced.
It is a requirement that a participating site is registered with the British Pig Executive (BPEX) to
use the Quality Standard Mark.
