Regulations for IFS Food, IFS Broker, IFS Logistics, IFS Cash & Carry

Certification bodies who want to carry out IFS audits have to fullfill the following requirements:

1. Accreditation (or in the process of accreditation) according to EN 45011
2. Signing of IFS Framework Agreement
   
3. Indication of a designated contact person for IFS
4. At least one approved IFS Auditor (or in the process of approval)
5. At least one internal trainer, who leads the internal auditor training
   
   

Further details regarding the requirements:

ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm) IFS accreditation process

The certification body shall be accredited for IFS according to ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm) by an IAF or EA recognised accreditation body (see section 1.) Certification bodies in the process of IFS accreditation to ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm) may organise the witness assessment(s) before having achieved accreditation status. They shall demonstrate that they are actively applying for ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm) accreditation.

Note: In case of withdrawal or suspension of the ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future norm ISO/IEC 17065) accreditation of the scope of IFS for the certification body, the whole certification process is stopped and the certification body is no longer allowed to issue any IFS certificates. In particular, the certification body cannot issue IFS certificates from the date of withdrawal or suspension, even for the audits which have been already performed but which are still in the certification process (review of the report, certification decision, etc.).

Signing of contract with the proprietor of IFS

After having applied and then gained IFS accreditation to ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm), in order to be allowed to perform IFS audits, the certification body shall sign a contract with IFS in which it commits to meet all IFS requirements. The certification body is not authorised to perform IFS audits (except the first witness assessment during the accreditation process) before having signed this contract.

Certification decision

The decision concerning the certification can only be made following the recommendation of a competent person or a certification committee. The person in charge of assessing the audit reports (reviewer) shall be either an approved IFS auditor, an IFS trainer or shall fulfil the following rules:

• To have a food university degree and two (2) years professional experience in the food safety and quality related professions
• To have attended (as auditor or observer) at ten (10) complete audits (related to GFSI recognised standards or other food safety schemes) in the last five (5) years
• To have participated in a hygiene training course
• To have participated in IFS Train the trainer course
• To be different of the person who performed the audit.

The review shall be documented.

The decision concerning the certification can only be made following the recommendation of a competent person or a certification committee. Furthermore, decision can only be made by a person different from the person who performed the audit. The competent person for the certification decision or at least one of the members of the certification committee shall be an IFS auditor, an IFS trainer or an IFS reviewer.

According to ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm), the final certification decision shall be made by the certification body and shall not be subcontracted.

Certification bodies’ responsibilities for IFS trainers and the IFS auditors (including freelancers)

Certification bodies have the following responsibilities:

• To facilitate witness audits (by accreditation bodies and/ or by Integrity Program).
• To ensure that at least one member of their staff is an IFS trainer who has taken part in an IFS “Train the Trainer” course; the trainer is responsible for the in-house training of all auditors intending to become IFS auditors or who already are IFS auditors. Persons intending to become IFS trainers shall meet the requirements mentioned in 2.5.
  Note: for a certification body which is starting IFS activities, this in-house training can be organised by IFS, on request.
• To ensure that the auditor is competent for the scope of the audit and its execution and is able to access and to apply relevant laws and regulations, based on IFS and internal certification body’s requirements; the certification body shall maintain these competences (continuous supervision by the certification body) and shall monitor audit execution by on-site witness audit. Every auditor shall be monitored by an IFS on-site witness audit at least once every two (2) years, and the results of this witness audit shall be documented. The observer shall be an IFS approved auditor or shall follow the same rules as for trainers (see section 2.5).
• To maintain records of auditor competences.
• To ensure that no auditor has either acted against IFS rules, for example acting as a consultant, or has been active in and/ or on behalf of the company being audited during the previous two (2) years. That is to say, during the certification process, no other commercial and/ or personal relationships are permitted between the auditee and the auditor.
• To ensure that no auditor shall perform more than three (3) consecutive IFS audits of the same company (only applies for complete audits, whatever the time between them; follow up and extension audits are not concerned by this rule).
• To ensure that an auditor is employed by only one IFS certification body for performing IFS audits and this for a period of not less than 12 months. In special cases, IFS offices shall be contacted and may allow exceptions.
• To sign an audit order for each audit, this includes a statement accepting all the above-mentioned requirements.
• To organise a 2-day training session for IFS auditors once a year for the purposes of sharing experience, calibration and updating knowledge of relevant legal requirements, etc. The trainer shall lead a part of the training course.
• To perform an on-site witness audit of an auditor during a food safety audit and/ or an audit under ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future norm ISO/IEC 17065) accreditation to ensure the auditor’s competence (see glossary) before he/ she has applied for the IFS examinations. The certification body shall state the date, the name of the audited company where the on-site witness audit took place, and the name of the observer in the IFS examination application file. The minutes of the on-site witness audit shall be provided on request to the IFS in English, French or German. The observer for the on-site witness audit of an auditor applying for IFS examination shall comply with the same requirements as the trainers (see section 2.5).
• To include the name of the observer in the audit portal when uploading the audit data, when it has scheduled specific on-site IFS witness audit(s) according to chapter 4.7 of ISO/IEC Guide 65 (future ISO/IEC 17065 norm) on internal audits.
• To be fully cognisant of the examination regulations provided by the IFS offices.

The certification body is responsible for choosing an auditor with the corresponding scope(s), language, competence(s), etc. for each IFS audit.

Specific requirements for IFS trainers

IFS trainers shall have the following profile:

• Fulfil requirements for IFS auditors as described in section 3.2 a), b), c) and d)
• Have audit experience to GFSI standards or other food safety schemes,
• Have knowledge of food legislation,
• Have taken part in a “Train the Trainer” course organised by IFS,
• Be fluent in writing and speaking the languages they will use during participating at training and leading training; they shall inform the IFS offices about the languages they are able to use when teaching.

In order to keep his/ her knowledge of IFS up to date, each IFS trainer shall take part in a 2-day IFS training seminar every two (2) years. These seminars are organised by IFS and shall be the basis for in-house training to all auditors.

“Train the Trainer” course

The “Train the Trainer” course is provided by the IFS.

When a new version of the Standard is published, the certification body’s trainer shall take part in the new “Train the Trainer” course organised by IFS and carry out in-house training of all the already IFS approved auditors, before performing audits based on new version.

In case of publication of new doctrines, the trainer shall train all IFS auditors before the doctrine comes into force.

Requirements for IFS Auditors

In general, the auditors shall meet the requirements of chapters 7.2 and 7.3.1 of ISO 19011.

During an IFS audit, auditors shall, as IFS good auditing practices, use relevant samples of products, in order to investigate on-site the auditee’s production processes and documentation and to check the fulfilment of IFS requirements. In particular, auditors shall perform, during the audit, a traceability test in the company.

IFS publishes Guidelines which can provide further information on topics to be checked and/ or requested to the audited company during the audit.

Requirements before applying for the IFS examinations
(IFS Food)

Before applying for IFS examinations, auditors shall have met the following requirements:

• They shall have signed a contract with the certification body (see topic 4.4 of ISO/IEC Guide 65, future ISO/IEC 17065 norm).
• They confirm to the certification body that, for a period of at least 12 months, they will perform IFS audits only for the respective certification body. They may, however, work for several certification bodies on other standards. In special cases, IFS should be contacted and may allow exceptions.
• They shall have participated at the IFS in-house course organised by the certification body.
• They shall have submitted all the relevant information about their competence to the certification body.
• The certification body shall have observed and confirmed the professional qualification and competence of the auditors.

General requirements for auditors when applying for IFS examinations
(IFS Food)

Candidates applying for qualification as IFS auditors shall meet the following requirements and provide evidence with the application documents. An outline CV is available from IFS.

a) Education in the food sector

1) A food-related university degree (bachelor’s and/ or master’s degree equivalents) and two (2) years professional experience in the food industry in relation to food production activities (quality, production, R & D, …).
or
2) If the candidate started directly as an auditor after completing his/ her food-related university degree then the candidate shall have five (5) years professional experience in the food processing industry.
or
3) If the candidate has a university degree but not a food-related one, (bachelor’s and/ or master’s degree equivalents) then the candidate shall have five (5) years professional experience in the food industry – in relation to food production activities (quality, production, R & D, …).
or
4) Professional education in food processing (high degree) and five (5) years professional experience in the food industry – in relation to food production activities (quality, production, R & D, …).

b) General audit experience

A minimum of ten (10) complete audits shall be performed by the auditor in the food processing industry during the previous two years. The audits shall have been carried out in different companies.

c) Food hygiene (including HACCP) training

Qualified training on the basis of the Codex General Principles for Food Hygiene.

d) Training in auditing techniques based on Quality Management System or Food Safety Management System

Duration: one week/ 40 hours or equivalent.

e) Specific and practical knowledge per product scopes and technology scopes auditors apply for (see Annex 1 for product and technology scopes)

For product scopes:

At least two (2) years professional experience in the food industry in relation to food production activities for each applied product scope.
or
At least ten (10) food safety GFSI recognised audits and/ or second party audits including quality and food safety investigations with traceable origin and confirmed by the retailer or by the industry, per scope.

Audits shall have been carried out in different companies.

Note: approvals of scopes 7 (combined products) and 11 (pet food) are connected to other scopes. Further explanations are provided in Annex 1.

For technology scopes:

At least two (2) years professional experience in the food industry in relation to food production activitiesfor each applied technology scope.
or
At least five (5) food safety GFSI recognised audits and/ or secondparty audits including quality and food safety investigations with traceable origin and confirmed by the retailer or by the industry, per scope.

Audits shall have been carried out in different sites.

f) Language

If the auditor wishes to perform audits in language(s) different from his/ her mother language, he/ she shall be able to provide evidence for speaking fluently this/ these other language(s). In this case, the IFS offices may request that he/ she take an oral examination in the language concerned.

g) IFS in-house training

IFS in-house training materials shall be based on the materials provided by IFS. The auditor shall have taken part in the in-house training (covering IFS, food-related legislation, food hygiene) undertaken by an authorised IFS trainer and organised by the certification body. The minimum duration shall be two (2) days. The auditor shall be competent in the language used during the training (native language and/ or languages declared by the auditor in the IFS examination application form).

Remark: For the auditors who intend to perform other IFS Standard audits see IFS respective Standard, Part 3, chapter 1.

IFS is responsible for the technical validation of the auditors’ application files before they take part in IFS examinations. If the auditor’s CV does not meet the above-mentioned requirements, IFS may reject the auditor’s examination application. If the auditor does not show sufficient evidence for the product and/ or technology scopes he/ she is applying for, IFS may reject the applications for the product and/ or technology scopes concerned.

All CV’s content shall be confirmed by a person from the accredited certification body who shall put his/ her name and position on the bottom of the CV.

Note: IFS offices have the possibility to withdraw an IFS auditor approval or not to accept him/ her at the examination, if the information provided in the CV is false. This kind of breach will be also forwarded to the IFS Integrity Program.