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IFS Certifications

IFS (International Featured Standard) food safety protocol certification to help suppliers supply safe products.

Guarantee of legality, safety and quality of products

*IFS Food News* In April 2023, the new update of the IFS Food standard was published, now Version 8, with which it can be audited from October, being mandatory to apply it from January 2024.

This new revision arises from the need to adapt the standard to the 2020 Codex Alimentarius and the new ISO 22003-2, which has an impact on food certification schemes that operate in accordance with ISO/IEC 17065, such as IFS Food. Comments that have been collected from stakeholders regarding version 7 are also considered in this version.

In summary, in addition to the adaptation to the Codex Alimentarius and the upcoming ISO 22003-2, the changes in the new version include the following points:

Restructures some requirements to improve audit trail tracking.
The scoring system retrieves the letter B, as a deviation.
It improves the wording of requirements, being more coherent and clear.
The word "Audit" is recovered, instead of "Evaluation".

The doctrine is also reduced by requirements grouping and a new free IFS software is introduced to support internal audits and reporting.

Granting of marks and certificates

If the Audit is passed and meets the requirements, the organisation obtains the AENOR IFS Certificate.

IFS – International Featured Standard

It is a private technical protocol developed by German, French and Italian distributors, with the purpose of helping suppliers to supply safe products in accordance with specifications and current legislation.

This protocol requires the prior implementation of a quality management system, a HACCP system based on the Codex Alimentarius, as well as the implementation and management of Prerequisites and Facilities. It includes all supplier requirements and conforms to international requirements (GFSI), providing a clear view of food safety and quality control concepts through supplier assessments, which provide a complete overview of supplier activity.

Objectives:

To guarantee the legality, safety and quality of the products manufactured.
Establish a common standard with a common evaluation system.
Ensure the supply of safe products, in accordance with their specifications and in compliance with legislation, achieving cost reduction and achieving transparency throughout the supply chain.
Reduce costs and time for manufacturers and distributors.
Ensure transparency and rigor in certification systems.

Benefits:

It facilitates compliance with applicable legislation.
Reduces the costs of possible errors in any production chain.
Provides organized communication with all stakeholders.
It provides confidence to consumers.
Improve documentation.
More efficient and dynamic control of food safety risks.
Incorporates the Prerequisite Programs into the organization's management system.
Time and cost savings, by carrying out audits together with other Food Safety schemes (HACCP, BRCGS ).
Integrate food safety and quality control.
It adapts to sectoral trends such as Food Fraud, Food Defense and the implementation of a Food Safety Culture.

Due to the structure of the scheme and the great coincidence with food safety requirements, it is easy to integrate with the certification of the BRCGS protocol and the UNE EN-ISO 22000 standard (Food safety management systems), with the possibility of integrating the systems and thus optimizing the processes with the consequent reduction of audit time and costs.

It can also be carried out in conjunction with audits of UNE EN-ISO 9001 (Quality management systems).

AENOR now offers you the opportunity to automatically obtain the certificates of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and/or GMP based on the Codex Alimentarius. If the certificate is from IFS Logistics, you have the opportunity to receive HACCP certification directly. Find out how to obtain the certificates.

More IFS certifications

IFS Logistic

The IFS Logistic standard is applicable to both food and non-food products, such as: transport, storage, distribution, loading and unloading docks, etc. It applies to all types of logistics: shipments by road, rail or ship, frozen or unfrozen products.

IFS Broker

The IFS Broker standard is applicable to brokers and/or food importers. This certification scheme verifies that these operators have implemented the appropriate measures in their processes in order to transmit to their suppliers the food safety and quality requirements and have supervised compliance with these requirements, so that the products supplied comply with both legal requirements and contractual specifications.

IFS PACsecure

The IFS PACsecure standard is applicable to all types of sites where packaging materials for food products are manufactured and supplied (e.g. plastic vegetable sheets, beverage cans, flour wrapping paper, etc.) and non-food products (e.g. packaging materials that will come into contact with the skin such as cosmetics or also packaging materials for household products, consumer goods, hardware, etc.)

IFS HPC

The IFS HPC standard is applicable to household and personal care products that are intended to come into contact with the body; directly and/or indirectly (e.g. cosmetic products, cleaning chemicals, products that come into contact with food and personal hygiene products). This includes all consumer and professional user products.

This certification can be perfectly integrated with other certification schemes, having the possibility of obtaining immediately, together with the IFS Food or IFS PAC Secure certifications, the certificates of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and/or GMP based on the Codex Alimentarius. If the certificate is from IFS Logistics, you have the opportunity to receive HACCP certification directly. Find out how to get the certificates.

IFS GLOBAL MARKET

The Global Market standard is a verification established at three levels: Basic (only applicable in those countries where HACCP is not a legal requirement), Basic plus and Intermediate, being a very efficient tool so that IFS certification can be achieved within three years. Currently the Global Market Program is available for Food, Logistics and HPC.

If you are also an exporter of agri-food products, you should know the 2016 FSMA Food Safety Modernization Act, drafted by the FDA of the United States, which seeks to improve the food safety of foods, particularly those from third countries. This law establishes the requirements for the export of agri-food products destined for the United States, while at the same time facilitating companies' consolidation in the American market.

IFS ESG Check

The IFS ESG Check enables companies to assess their sustainability situation , identify risks and plan their future engagement. It is a tool to guide sustainability issues and integrate related areas such as environmental, social and good governance issues.

At AENOR we have long been concerned about sustainability in the food sector, from primary production to the processing industry. This allows us to have an adequate focus and experience in the sustainability aspects posed by the IFS ESG Check module. This core module focuses on assessing the company's management system and establishing the framework principles in relation to sustainability.

As an optional add-on module, the IFS ESG Check also allows companies to evaluate their carbon footprint management system and calculate their footprint, which is a growing market demand and a potential differentiator.

Key benefits:

Simple, easy-to-use assessment tool recognized by major distributors.
It facilitates legal compliance in environmental, social and governance aspects.
It begins the path to enter more complex sustainability systems.

Sectors and experience of the Certification

Integration with other systems

Due to the structure of the scheme and the high coincidence with food safety requirements, it is easy to integrate with the certification of the IFS (International Featured Standard) protocol and the UNE EN-ISO 22000 standard (Food Safety Management Systems), and the BRCGS standard there is the possibility of integrating the systems and thus optimizing the processes with the consequent reduction of audit times and costs.

Audits can also be carried out from UNE EN-ISO 9001 (Quality management systems).

AENOR now offers you the opportunity to automatically obtain the certificates of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and/or GMP based on the Codex Alimentarius. If the certificate is from IFS Logisitcs, you have the opportunity to receive the HACCP certification directly. Find out how to get the certificates.