The SQF Agents & Brokers Code, Explained for Buyers

The SQF Agents & Brokers Code (Edition 9) is a certification standard SQFI published on July 6, 2026, for companies that buy, sell, or broker food and general merchandise without physically handling it. If you source ingredients through a trader, importer, or broker, it gives you a third-party certificate to put in your supplier-approval file for an intermediary you previously could not audit.

For years, the broker in the middle of your supply chain was a blind spot. You qualified the manufacturer. You qualified the grower. The trading company that connected you to them sat outside your audit scope, because there was nothing to audit. That changed on July 6.

What the SQF Agents & Brokers Code covers

The code certifies the controls a non-handling trade business runs in its systems and on paper. SQFI lists the requirement areas as supplier approval, traceability, complaints management, documentation controls, and risk-based decision-making.

None of that involves a production line, because these businesses don't have one. An agent or broker's product is the transaction: matching a buyer to a supplier, moving the paperwork, and standing behind the claim that the goods are what the documents say. The code audits whether that business can actually trace a lot back to its source, whether it approved the supplier it sold you, and whether it has a real process when a complaint or a recall lands.

Who needs it, and who doesn't

The code applies to agents, brokers, traders, merchants, importers, and exporters. Virtual operations are fully eligible, so a broker running the entire business from a laptop can certify. SQFI is explicit that physical footprint is not a barrier.

What it does not cover is anyone who touches the product. Receiving, storage, and physical handling fall under separate SQF codes. If a company warehouses your goods or repacks them, the Agents & Brokers Code is the wrong standard. The line is simple: if they hold inventory, they need a different code. If they only hold the deal, this is the one.

Why this matters for your supplier qualification

Here is the operator problem it solves. When you buy an ingredient through a broker, your supplier-approval program has a gap. You can qualify the producer if you can see them. But the broker who sourced the lot, consolidated it, or relabeled the documents has been effectively invisible, and in a trace-back, that middle link is where the chain breaks.

Retailers already know this. SQFI notes that major retailers including Aldi require their agents and brokers to hold recognized third-party certification. The demand is not new. The SQF certificate is just a new way to meet it.

So the move is straightforward. If a supplier in your program is a broker or trading company, you can now require the Agents & Brokers certificate as part of qualification, the same way you require an SQF or BRCGS certificate from a manufacturer.

One caution, because it is the difference between a real control and a checkbox. The certificate verifies the broker's own systems: their traceability, their supplier approval, their complaint handling. It does not certify the food itself, and it does not replace qualifying the actual producer. A broker with a clean certificate can still sell you a lot from a manufacturer you never approved. Use the certificate to close the middle-link gap, not to skip the producer.

The FSMA 204 angle

There is a regulatory reason this code arrived now. The FDA Food Traceability Rule (FSMA 204) requires every company in the supply chain for a listed food to capture and pass Key Data Elements at each Critical Tracking Event. Brokers, importers, and traders are a link in that chain, and they are frequently the link that cannot produce a clean record, because they never had a food safety system built to.

A certification that audits a broker's traceability is the trade layer catching up to the rule the rest of your suppliers already live under. If you handle a 204 food, the intermediary's traceability is not optional, and now there is a standard that tests it.

How the audit works

The audit is annual, announced, and short. SQFI sets a minimum of half a day, with the certification body deciding the final length based on the size and complexity of the business. Audits run 100 percent remotely, which is what keeps the cost down. There are no unannounced audits unless a company specifically requests one. Annual registration is $650.

Agents & Brokers Code vs the Food Safety Services Code

These are two different SQFI codes for two different kinds of non-manufacturer, and they are easy to confuse. We covered the Food Safety Services Code when it went to public comment. The Services Code targets the vendors who perform work at your site: sanitation crews, pest control, calibration, maintenance. The Agents & Brokers Code targets the companies that trade your product without ever being at your site or touching it.

Both exist for the same reason. The SQF system is extending certification to the businesses around a certified site that used to sit outside anyone's audit.

What to do this quarter

Pull your approved-supplier list and flag every entry that is a broker, trader, or importer rather than a manufacturer or grower. Those are the ones the certificate is built for.

Then add the Agents & Brokers certificate to your qualification requirements for that group, with a date. Ask each broker whether they plan to certify and when. Certification is new, so most will not have it yet, and that is fine. The point is to put the requirement in writing now, so the ones who never intend to certify surface before your next audit, not during a recall.

And keep the producer qualification separate. The broker certificate is a new control on the middle of the chain. It is not a shortcut around the two ends.

Frequently asked questions

What is the SQF Agents & Brokers Code?

It is an SQFI certification standard, Edition 9, published July 6, 2026, for businesses that buy, sell, or broker food and general merchandise without physically handling it. It certifies their supplier approval, traceability, complaints management, and documentation controls.

Who needs SQF Agents & Brokers certification?

Agents, brokers, traders, merchants, importers, and exporters, including fully virtual operations. Companies that receive, store, or physically handle product are excluded and fall under other SQF codes.

Is the SQF Agents & Brokers Code GFSI recognized?

Not yet. SQFI expects formal GFSI benchmarking in 2027. Until then it is a valid SQF certification, but not a GFSI-benchmarked one.

How much does SQF Agents & Brokers certification cost?

Annual registration is $650. The audit is announced, runs a minimum of half a day, and is conducted 100 percent remotely, so audit fees are lower than an onsite standard.

Does a broker's certificate replace qualifying the manufacturer?

No. It verifies the broker's own systems and traceability. You still have to qualify the actual producer of the ingredient. Use the certificate to close the intermediary gap, not to skip the source.

The bottom line

The businesses in the middle of your supply chain just became auditable. That is the whole story: a link that used to sit outside every audit now has a certificate you can require and check.

If you run supplier approval on spreadsheets, adding a new certificate requirement and tracking who holds it is the kind of thing that quietly falls apart between audits. Beacon keeps supplier qualification, certificate expiry, and traceability in one place. If your broker records live in an inbox, see how it works.