What is the difference between ABC and BPA audits?

This sounds like the start of a bad joke, but is a question we have tried to understand. EPD has chosen to switch from an ABC to BPA audit so we decided to find out more.

Obviously EPD has made the move because they want to win more business from the US, where the ABC audit is not well known. BUT…will the audits be any different? Neither the ABC nor BPA highlight many specific differences: the audits are seen to be basically the same, although the BPA takes a larger sample size, and requiring two audits per year. We talked to Neil Whittaker, the publisher of EPD, before he began the audit, and he felt there would be little difference.

Once the audit was under way, Neil changed his view a little. He not only highlighted the different techniques, but also made the very understated observation that the BPA auditors were “a bit pickier”!