The decision by GFSI to suspend IFS has caused uncertainty in the market and raises many questions.

IFS will follow the appeal procedure and has handed over the case to its lawyer. For this reason, we cannot share details at this moment. However, we want to state again that the reason is a communication misunderstanding, not a food safety issue. Also, we would like to emphasise that this suspension does not affect the validity of the certificates.

Just like many others, we were surprised by the GFSI’s action. On 8 December at 11:47 pm we were informed by email of the suspension and about its publication on 9 December. We, therefore, had no time to prepare information for the CBs and IFS-certified companies.

Initially, our main concern was to ensure that our certificates would continue to be accepted to prevent damage to suppliers as far as possible. The retail and wholesale companies in our network have indicated to us that they will do so and will inform their suppliers accordingly.