Strategic Selection of Certifiers: Evidence from the BRC Food Safety Standard

Standards play a vital role in promoting food safety. Certification helps buyers identify suppliers who meet certain expectations defined by various standards. Producers choose a certification body to audit their manufacturing site and determine if they can be issued a certification for a given standard. Using data the from the British Retail Consortium global standards program, we examine producers’ choice of certification bodies. Two important considerations in producers’ choice of certification bodies are the geographic proximity between the certification body office and the audited site, and the perceived audit leniency of the certification body.