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IFS Accreditation
Certification bodies intending to perform IFS audits shall comply with the following rules. The prescribed tender procedure for certification bodies is supplied by IFS.
Requirement 1: Accreditation and Accreditation Process
DIN EN ISO/IEC 17065 IFS Accreditation Procedure
The certification body shall be accredited for IFS according to ISO/IEC 17065 by an IAF or EA recognized accreditation body. Prior to obtaining the accreditation, certification bodies undergoing the process of IFS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17065 may already carry out a maximum of five audits with an admitted IFS auditor. In this case, at least one of the audits will be assessed by the accreditation body in the as a witness assessment. All audits (including at least one complete certification procedure) will be reviewed by the accreditation body in the course of the initial assessment by the head office. This requires that the certification body provides evidence that it has submitted an application for accreditation according to ISO/IEC 17065 and that a valid contract is in place between the certification body and the IFS.
Requirement 2: Signature of the IFS Framework Agreement
Contract conclusion with the standard owner of the IFS
After having applied for IFS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17065 and 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 before having signed this contract. The contract shall only be valid if all requirements regarding auditors, trainers, reviewers etc. have been fulfilled. For further information, please read Section 3 of the IFS Food Standard.
Requirement 3: Indication of a contact person assigned to the IFS
The contact data of the certification body shall be indicated to the IFS. This includes the address and the names of the respective contact persons responsible for Standard Management, Auditors Management, the Integrity Programme, Training and Accounting.
Requirement 4: At least one approved IFS auditor (or a person undergoing the process of approval)
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.
The IFS publishes Guidelines which can provide further information on topics to be checked and/or requested to the audited company during the audit.
For further information regarding the prerequisites and requirements of the IFS for the approval of auditors and for audits, please refer to section 3 of the IFS Food Standard
Requirement 5: At least one internal trainer
IFS trainers shall have the following profile:
• Fulfil requirements for IFS auditors as described in the IFS Food Standard section 3.2 a), b), c) and d),
• Have audit experience according to GFSI standards or other food safety schemes,
• Have knowledge of food legislation,
• Have participated in a “Train the Trainer” course organised by the 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 check the IFS updated information provided by IFS. These IFS updated information shall be used for in-house training to all auditors.
Requirement 6: Reviewer
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 an auditor or observer) at ten 10 complete audits (related to GFSI-approved 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.
Note: the reviewer, if not a trainer or an auditor, shall attend the two-day in-house certification body training session once a year.
The decision concerning the certification can only be made following the recommendation of a competent person or a certification committee. Furthermore, only a person who has not performed the audit may take the decision. The competent person for the certification decision or at least one member of the certification committee shall be an IFS auditor, an IFS trainer or an IFS reviewer. The final certification decision shall be made by the certification body and shall not be subcontracted.
