The IFS – International Featured Standards are product certification standards where certification bodies are accredited to carry out activities in compliance with requirements of EN 45011 / ISO IEC Guide 65; ISO/IEC 17021:2006.
The Food Standard for example is a quality and food safety standard applying to all post farm gate stages of food processing.
The Logistics Standard is applicable to all types of transport – truck, train, ship, plane or any other transportation, temperature controlled or ambient, both food and non-food products and includes all logistics activities including loading, transportation, off loading, storage, handling and further distribution.
The Broker Standard* concerns how Brokers select their suppliers, what quality requirements they have implemented and that they are able to fulfil legal requirements such as full traceability.
The IFS Cash and Carry / Wholesale Standard* concerns the application of IFS Food in the Wholesale Trade.
The HPC Household and Personal Care Standard* is a standard for auditing quality and safety of retailer and wholesaler branded household and personal care products. There are four product scopes within the standard: Cosmetic products- Personal care products - skin contact; Household chemical products; Housekeeping products – food contact; Products for personal hygiene - skin contact.
All the standards have been developed by the German (HDE), French (FCD) and Italian (ANCC, ANCD) retail federations in conjunction with manufactures, certification bodies and other users of the standards. The Standards relate to product safety, legality and quality management systems and are designed to help organisations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders. The standards are published by IFS through HDE Trade Services Gmbh, Berlin, Germany.
Independent confirmation that organisations meet the requirements of the IFS Standards may be obtained from third party certification bodies. Currently over 11,000 organisations worldwide are independently certified to the IFS Foods; 800 to Logistics; 120 Broker; 104 Cash and Carry / Wholesale.
All the IFS Standards specify the basic requirements for a quality management system (QMS) that an organisation must fulfil to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products (which can include services) that enhance customer satisfaction and meet applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
