General terms and licensing conditions of IFS Management GmbH ("IFS Management") for "IFS Consultant"
1. Preliminary remarks
The purpose of IFS Management is to conduct the business activities in relation to the International Featured Standards ("IFS"). The primary function of the IFS is to provide a standardized process for monitoring the product safety and the quality of producers of food and other products (e.g. cosmetics, packaging materials etc.) as well as services such as logistics and trading activities. IFS Management is the sole owner of all rights of use and exploitation in relation to the Community trademark “IFS” (no. 003763612).
Since the creation of IFS, IFS Management has seen an increasing demand from companies seeking consultancy services in connection with IFS certification. For this reason, IFS Management is introducing the "IFS Recognized Consultant" offering suitable consultancy services to industry, logistics and service providers that wish to obtain and/or maintain IFS certification for one or several IFS standards.
2. Subject matter of the terms and licensing conditions
These terms and licensing conditions set out the requirements Consultant must meet to be registered as an IFS Recognized Consultant as well as the application and registration procedure. The terms and conditions also set out Consultant’s obligations as an "IFS Recognized Consultant" as well as the obligations of IFS Management. Moreover the licensing of the “IFS Recognized Consultant-Logo” as well as the “IFS-Logo” and the terms of use of both logos are subject of these terms and licensing conditions.
3. Application and registration requirements and procedure for non-IFS Auditors
3.1. At first Consultant has to fill out and submit the registration form for “IFS Recognized Consultant” accessible on the IFS website. Thereby Consultant has to prove that he possesses the following expertise and experience which an IFS Recognized Consultant has to provide:
Educational and professional experience:An university degree related to the IFS standards and at least 2 years of professional experience in the manufacturing industry. The experience has to be directly related to production such as quality management, production or product development;
or
An university degree that is not related to the IFS standards but at least 5 years of professional experience in the manufacturing industry, The experience has to be directly related to production such as quality management, production or product development;
or
A vocational training related to the IFS standards and at least 5 years of professional experience in the manufacturing industry. The experience has to be directly related to production such as quality management, production or product development.
At least 100 days of professional experience as a consultant.
At least 3 references of previous customers which prove that Consultant was active as consultant for them. These references must be provided together with the contact details of one contact person per company. By submitting the registration form Consultant agrees that IFS Management gets in contact with the contact persons of the given customers and confirms that the respective contact persons have agreed to be contacted by IFS Management.
With regard to the specific IFS standard for which Consultant wants to be recognized for completion of a qualifying training in food hygiene (including HACCP) and/or a course concerning risk management.
Knowledge of regional legislation.
Language skills of the country where Consultant wants to offer consultancy services.
Secondly, Consultant has to pay the starter package fee according to the latest schedule of fees with credit card.
Thirdly, Consultant has to expressly accept the terms and conditions of the IFS e-Learning (Moodle).
3.2. After having successfully registered and paid the starter fee Consultant will be admitted to attend the mandatory IFS e-Learning courses for qualification as an IFS Recognized Consultant. Consultant has to attend the general course and at least one IFS standard specific module.
Within one week after completion of the mandatory courses Consultant has to complete the IFS online exam for IFS Recognized Consultants. If Consultant fails to pass the exam, he can repeat the exam within one month after the first attempt.
3.3. After having successfully passed the IFS online exam IFS Management will activate Consultant’s access to the IFS Recognized Consultant Portal. The activation can take up to 2 weeks. Consultant specifies his or her access data in his or her registration.
After activation of Consultant’s access to the IFS Recognized Consultant Portal Consultant is authorized to offer consultancy services as “IFS Recognized Consultant”.
4. Application and registration requirements and procedure for IFS Auditors
4.1. At first Consultant has to fill out and submit the registration form for “IFS Recognized Consultant” accessible on the IFS website. Thereby Consultant has to prove that he or she is already an IFS Auditor. He or she furthermore has to provide at least 3 references of previous customers which prove that Consultant was active as consultant for them. These references must be provided together with the contact details of one contact person per company. By submitting the registration form Consultant agrees that IFS Management gets in contact with the contact persons of the given customers and confirms that the respective contact persons have agreed to be contacted by IFS Management.
Secondly, Consultant has to pay the annual consultant fee according to the latest schedule of fees with credit card.
4.2. After having successfully registered and paid the annual consultant fee IFS Management will activate Consultant’s access to the IFS Recognized Consultant Portal. The activation can take up to 2 weeks. Consultant specifies his or her access data in his or her registration.
After activation of Consultant’s access to the IFS Recognized Consultant Portal Consultant is authorized to offer consultancy services as “IFS Recognized Consultant”.
5. Obligations of the IFS Recognised Consultant
5.1. Upon submitting the registration form, Consultant undertakes to book and attend IFS update courses if new versions are published for any IFS standards for which Consultant offers consultancy services. If Consultant fails to attend the IFS update courses, Consultant will automatically lose Consultant’s registration as an IFS Recognized Consultant for the respective standard. The IFS update courses may be subject to a fee which is payable by Consultant.
5.2. If Consultant works as both an IFS Recognized Consultant and an IFS Auditor, Consultant has to keep Consultant consultancy services strictly separate from Consultant IFS audits. This means that Consultant must not provide consultancy services to the companies for which Consultant has conducted an IFS audit, and Consultant must not conduct an IFS audit for companies to which Consultant have provided consultancy services.
5.3. Upon submitting the registration form, Consultant guarantees to IFS Management that all information which Consultant provides in Consultant’s registration form and/or which Consultant will upload to the IFS Consultant Portal at a later date is correct and complete.
6. Licensing
6.1. Once Consultant’s status as IFS Recognized Consultant has been activated by IFS Management, Consultant may access the "IFS Recognized Consultant" logo as well as the “IFS” logo.
6.2. During the term of Consultant’s registration as an IFS Recognized Consultant, IFS Management shall grant Consultant the simple, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the "IFS Recognized Consultant-Logo” as well as the “IFS-Logo” to designate and advertise Consultant consultancy services. Consultant is expressly prohibited from editing and/or changing the Logos in any way.
6.3. The starter package fee as well as the annual registration fee include the licensing fee for the use of the two Logos.
7. Obligations of IFS Management
7.1. Once IFS Management has active Consultant’s access to the IFS Recognized Consultant Portal, IFS Management undertakes to publish Consultant's contact details under the category "IFS Recognized Consultant" on the IFS website. _IFS Management furthermore ensures the publication of such data as long as Consultant is an IFS Recognized Consultant.
IFS Management shall give Consultant the possibility to enter further details about himself or herself, his or her company and his or her expertise under the category "Recognized Consultant" on the IFS website.
7.2. IFS Management cannot be held liable for publishing incorrect contact details. However, IFS Management undertakes to correct any mistakes without delay upon Consultant's request.
In addition, IFS Management cannot be held liable for any temporary unavailability of the IFS website and/or the IFS Consultant Evaluation portal for any reason whatsoever. 'Temporary' means an interruption in access to the IFS website and/or the IFS Consultant Evaluation portal lasting up to two working days.
7.3. IFS Management undertakes to inform Consultant in good time of any new versions of IFS standards due to be introduced as well as any changes to the respective IFS standards.
7.4. IFS Management undertakes to provide the possibility to download the IFS Audit Manager App in the Pro- and Cloud-version as well as all published IFS material for free after having activated Consultant’s access to the IFS Recognized Consultant Portal.
8. Evaluation portal
8.1. IFS Management shall give companies the opportunity to evaluate Consultant's services on the IFS website. Such evaluation shall consist of ratings and individual comments. Upon submitting the registration form, Consultant expressly consents to the publication of such evaluations on the IFS website. It is known to Consultant that the evaluations can be viewed by all visitors of the IFS website.
8.2. In the case customers violates criminal or civil law as well as the principles of morality or the reputation of IFS Management, IFS Management is entitled to change or remove customer’s evaluations without informing customer and/or Consultant. In this case IFS Management is furthermore entitled to permanently suspend Customer’s access to the IFS Consultant Evaluation Portal.
8.3. If Consultant has any complaints or objections in connection with the evaluations or other content of the IFS Consultant Evaluation Portal or if he or she believes that the content or evaluations infringe a copyright he or she owns, Consultant shall inform IFS Management GmbH by following IFS Management GmbH’s standard notification procedure for removing illegal content. Please click here to request the removal of content. As soon as Consultant has submitted such request, IFS Management GmbH will check the complaint and endeavour to remove the illegal content within a reasonable period of time.
8.4. IFS Management is entitled to make changes to the IFS Consultant Evaluation Portal and its terms of use without the consent of IFS Recognized Consultant and his customers. Any changes made to the general terms of use shall be announced through publication of the current version on the IFS website and shall therefore be deemed received. There is no obligation to communicate such changes to IFS Recognized Consultant and his customers.
9. Liability
9.1. IFS Management expressly disclaims all liability for Consultant's services. Consultant shall indemnify IFS Management against any claims by third parties in connection with Consultant's services and shall compensate IFS Management for any damage and expenses incurred in this respect, including any legal costs that may arise.
9.2. Consultant guarantees to take out appropriate liability insurance for consultancy services and maintain such insurance for the duration of his activities as an IFS Recognized Consultant. IFS Management has the right to request information on and access to the insurance documents at any time.
10. Costs / annual fee
10.1. All costs incurred by Consultant in connection with his or her participation in IFS courses shall be borne by Consultant. IFS Management cannot be held liable for any costs incurred by Consultant in connection with its registration and activities as an IFS Recognized Consultant.
10.2. The current schedule of fees is attached as Annex 1 to these terms and licensing conditions and can be downloaded at the IFS Recognized Consultant portal.
10.3. IFS Management may increase the annual fee by giving Consultant three months before end of the calendar year. If the fee increases by more than 10% (ten per cent), Consultant has to inform IFS Management within one month that Consultant no longer wishes to be registered as IFS Recognized Consultant.
11. Accounting terms and dates
11.1. Two months before the end of a contractual year IFS Management will ask Consultant whether Consultant wishes to continue the contractual relationship. If Consultant wishes to continue the contractual relationship, he or she has to pay the annual fee with credit card. Once IFS Management received the payment the respective invoice is being send to Consultant via Email.
11.2. All invoices shall be issued by IFS Management in Euros. Any foreign exchange fees shall be borne by Consultant.
12. Withdrawal of the registration as “IFS Recognized Consultant”
12.1. Consultant may inform IFS Management that Consultant no longer wishes to be registered as IFS Recognized Consultant by giving IFS Management a two weeks’ notice. IFS Management will delete the registration of Consultant as IFS Recognized Consultant without 2 weeks after receipt of the notice.
IFS Management will not repay the annual listing fee nor any starter package or course fee neither in full nor proportionally.
12.2. IFS Management shall be entitled to withdraw Consultant's registration prior to the end of a term if Consultant fails to fulfil an essential obligation under these terms and licensing conditions within 14 days after a warning has been issued. A breach of an essential contractual obligation is committed, in particular,
if Consultant fails to observe the strict separation of consultancy services and IFS audits;
if Consultant publishes false information about himself or herself and/or his or her company on the IFS website and/or has such information published;
if Consultant edits the IFS-Logo or the IFS Recognized Consultant-Logo;
if Consultant provides consultancy services despite failing to attend the compulsory IFS courses as set out in these terms and licensing conditions and/or does not have the qualifications specified in Clause 5.
IFS Management will not repay the annual listing fee nor any starter package or course fee neither in full nor proportionally.
13. Transfer
The Consultant may not transfer his registration as an IFS Recognized Consultant to third parties. Registration is granted exclusively to the individual.
14. Other provisions
14.1. These general terms and licensing conditions and the legal relationship between IFS Management and Consultant overall shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany; the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) shall not apply.
14.2. The place of jurisdiction for any disputes arising from or in connection with these general terms and licensing conditions as well as the legal relationship between IFS Management and Consultant overall shall be Berlin. IFS Management shall also be entitled to bring an action against Consultant at its general place of jurisdiction.
ANNEX 1: IFS Recognized Consultant program Schedule of Fees No. 1
Berlin, October 2017
IFS Management GmbH