No TÜV SÜD Certification Mark
Certification:
Voluntary assessment of management-system with written confirmation (no certification)
Basis for Certification (certification standard):
IFS PROGRESS FOOD Standard in the currently valid version (http://www.ifs-certification.com)
Standard owner:
IFS Management GmbH
No TÜV SÜD certification mark is issued. Certified organisations are authorised to use the IFS logo according to the rules defined by the standard owner.
What does the standard IFS PROGRESS FOOD cover?
The IFS PROGRESS FOOD standard defines the requirements for an organisation's food safety processes. These requirements include, but are not limited to:
- Implementation of a quality and food safety management system
Planning, implementation, assessment, corrective actions
Hazard assessments plus control elements - Resource management skills
Human resources, facilities and equipment, training - Intensive planning and safe production processing
Environmental, personal and process hygiene
Suitability of packaging materials, machinery and vehicles
Correct product labelling (allergens, correctness, scope)
Systems for the evaluation of suppliers and service providers - Measurements, analyses, improvements
On-site visits, inspections, emergency responses and control - Product safety
Security at the premises, product protection
What does “written confirmation” according to IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD by TÜV SÜD Management Service GmbH mean?
- The customer has submitted to voluntary assessment (audit) according to defined criteria (certification standard).
- A written confirmation is only issued if the assessment (audit) does not reveal any major nonconformities with the requirements of the IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD standard.
- The written confirmation is valid for a restricted period of time.
- To maintain validity of the written confirmation and to participate in the IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD program, the audited company must annually complete an announced audit with a positive result.
- IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD is a program specifically for small businesses or businesses in an early development stage, which after a period of three years should fulfil the more advanced requirements of the standard IFS FOOD
- According to the standard owner’s requirements, communication of the written confirmation for IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD is restricted to B2B communication. Communication to consumers is not permitted.
How do we audit?
Independent and qualified experts (auditors) apply the following auditing techniques:
- Document review:
Review of documentation such as documented procedures, work instructions
Inspection of recipes/formulations and specifications
Evaluation of food labelling
Specific traceability tests
Evaluation of analysis results
- On-site-audit:
On-site inspection of all areas of the organisation
Assessment along an audit path, from incoming goods inspection to outgoing goods and along critical control points
Checking the routes of employees and goods
Interviews with the employees of the organization
Comparison of documentation with the actual processes
What is beyond the scope of an assessment according to IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD?
Audits are always based on sampling. Given this, it is impossible to inspect every single product or every single production process. TÜV SÜD assessments thus cannot give a 100% guarantee that all food products of a audited company are free from nonconformities or that the organisation meets the criteria of the standard at all times, even though this is one of the key objectives of the IFS GLOBAL MARKETS FOOD standard.
