Today GFSI has publicly announced, without explanation to the public, that the IFS GFSI benchmark is suspended for three months.

This has nothing to do with the validity of existing IFS Certificates.

From our point of view there is no professional food safety reasons for the suspension which we will prove in our Appeal. Rather, we believe that the reasons for the suspension lie in the strained relationship between IFS and GFSI, as IFS has had the legality of the GFSI race-to-the-top reviewed by the Federal Cartel Office under antitrust and competition law.

IFS had invited GFSI to the IFS Board for clarification, but GFSI refused and is now pursuing a confrontational path, which we very much regret.

With this suspension, GFSI calls into question the integrity of the IFS. The IFS will therefore take legal action against GFSI's activities and has already referred the case to its lawyer.

Finally, we would like to let you know that all IFS Certificates are still valid and that the retailers and wholesalers from the IFS Network have clearly informed us that these certificates will also be recognised during the GFSI suspension.