The development of the IFS standard was based on
ever-rising demands of consumers, increasing liabilities of
retailers and wholesalers, increasing legal requirements, and the
globalization of product supply. All of these points made it essential
to develop a uniform quality assurance and food safety standard.
The members of the German Retail Federation:
Hauptverband des
Deutschen Einzelhandels (HDE), its French counterpart
Fédération
des entreprises du Commerce et de la Distribution (FCD), and its
Italian counterparts
COOP, CONAD, Federdistribuzione – have
collaborated on a quality and food safety standard for retailer (and
wholesaler) branded food products, which is intended to assess
suppliers’ food safety and quality systems, with a uniform approach
that harmonizes the elements of each.
Objectives
Basic objectives of the International Food Standard include:
- Establishing a common standard with a uniform evaluation system,
- Working with accredited certification bodies who manage a pool of well-qualified and approved auditors,
- Ensuring comparability and transparency throughout the entire supply chain, and
- Reducing costs and time for both suppliers and retailers.
Structure/Recognition
The IFS is divided into four main sections: audit protocol, technical
requirements (which includes senior management responsibility,
quality management system, resource management, etc),
requirements for accreditation bodies, certification bodies and
auditors, and reporting.
The IFS program is recognized by the Global Food Safe Initiative
(GFSI), and is also specified worldwide by many retail chains.
Why Choose IFS?
- Competitive Advantage – IFS
Certification can offer a number of
key benefits to companies striving
for excellence in quality and
customer satisfaction, and seeking
a competitive advantage within
their marketplace.
- Acceptance – Many retailers
participated in the development
of the standard, hence it’s widely
accepted among major retailers.
-
Certification Bodies (CB)
Oversight - CBs must hold a
current EN 45011 accreditation in
order to certify facilities according
to the standard. This ensures IFS
audit consistency is maintained by
all accredited Certification Bodies
worldwide.
- Auditor Quality – an IFS
professional auditor must meet
fundamental requirements:
- audit experience (at least 10
audits in the last 2 years),
- effective knowledge of HACCP
principles,
- qualification in quality
management, and
- pass an oral and written exam.
IFS provides a Standard free of charge in the Americas. Now, for 2011, we’re offering
free access to IFS auditXpress software for companies who commit to IFS certification (North and Latin America only).
The
IFS auditXpress software provides the following benefits:
- Point-by-point electronic version of the IFS Food Safety and Quality Standard
- Use the software to perform required internal audits with the exact same criteria and software used by the auditor
- Download the official audit report/action plan into the software to make comparisons between internal audits and official audits
- Tips for implementing the IFS standard for very relevant requirements
- US and EU Food Law cross-reference
- See year-over-year progress with the ability to produce reports on specific categories to help with continuous improvement
Additionally, the newest version of the IFS auditXpress software allows the company to benchmark their processes against other IFS-certified industry and sector-specific manufacturers.
The IFS auditXpress software is an invaluable tool in a company’s preparation for food safety certification to the IFS Standard. The online cost of the software is $295.00 US. This is a fantastic value-add for our customers.
To get this free offer a company needs to sign a contract with QMI-SAI Global and then notify us by
foodsafety@qmi-saiglobal.com that they would like to receive their free access code for the download of the auditXpress software. It’s that simple! We take care of the rest.