IFS certification: definition, standards and audit preparation.

This page is the entry point to the topic: definition, scope of the standards, steps to certification, how the audit works, common mistakes and consequences for teams. The deeper dives - the IFS Food standard, the Broker programme, the version of the standard, the real budget - are covered in the dedicated guides linked throughout.

In brief

• IFS is a family of private standards for auditing, created at the initiative of European retailers and partly recognised by the GFSI.
• Each activity has its own standard: IFS Food for manufacturers, IFS Broker for brokers and importers, IFS Logistics for transport and storage.
• Certification is required by retailers as a commercial prerequisite for selling under private label.
• The audit follows an annual cycle ; the certificate is valid for approximately 12 months and a renewal audit is required every year.
• Scores per requirement range from A to D, with specific rules for major non-conformities and KO requirements.
• The most cost-effective preparation is documentary and continuous: centralised, up to date and traceable.

What is IFS certification?

Definition and origin

IFS, originally International Food Standard, is an audit standard created in 2003 at the initiative of German and French retailer associations. Its initial objective: to provide a common framework for assessing the safety and quality of suppliers manufacturing private-label products. The name later evolved to International Featured Standards to cover scopes beyond food (logistics, household and personal care products, packaging).

Three ideas underpin the scheme:

1. A standard, not a law. IFS is not a public regulation: it is a private standard, owned by an organisation that defines its requirements and governs its audits.
2. Third-party certification. Audits are carried out and certificates issued by accredited certification bodies, not by the IFS organisation itself.
3. A common language for retail. The standard enables a retailer to compare its suppliers on a consistent basis, across borders.

IFS and GFSI: recognition, not equivalence

The GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) is an initiative bringing together retailers and manufacturers, whose benchmarking framework dates back to the 2000s. It does not certify companies : it recognises certification programmes, owned by their scheme owners. IFS is among the recognised certification programmes, alongside BRCGS, FSSC 22000 and GLOBALG.A.P. (list of recognised programmes).

In practice, "GFSI-recognised" is not a synonym for "identical to another standard". Two recognised standards assess different requirements. The choice depends on the expectations of your customers and your markets. To compare the options, see our guide GFSI certifications, and for the alternative most often compared, our comparison IFS or BRCGS.

The different IFS standards: which one applies to your activity?

IFS is not a single standard but a family of standards. The right approach: start from your actual activities (what you manufacture, store, transport, buy), not from your trading name.

The family extends beyond this table: IFS PACsecure for food-contact packaging, IFS Wholesale / Cash & Carry for wholesale. Always check the version in force with your certification body.

IFS Food and the "IFS food standard": the food industry standard

IFS Food assesses products and manufacturing processes: process control, HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), hygiene, traceability, supplier management, food safety culture. It is the standard that concentrates search volumes and the expectations of operational teams; it is often referred to in English as the IFS food standard. Its version 8, mandatory for audits since 2024, revised the structure, frequencies and scoring. Our detailed analysis: IFS version 8.

IFS Broker: brokers, traders and importers

IFS Broker targets operators who market or broker products without physically handling them : brokers, agents, importers, trading companies. The audit covers sourcing and document verification processes, and can be carried out remotely under certain conditions. Full details in our IFS Broker guide ; day-to-day document management is covered on our page IFS Broker certification.

IFS Logistics: transport, storage and distribution

IFS Logistics applies to providers who transport, store or distribute food and non-food products, including under controlled temperature. It assesses the hygiene of facilities, temperature control, pest control, traceability and the monitoring of subcontractors. A company combining trading and storage may fall under several standards at once.

IFS Higher Level: the higher level

Take care not to confuse the version of the standard (for example IFS Food v8) with the certification level. Some standards, including IFS Food, distinguish between a basic level (Foundation Level) and a more demanding Higher Level level. The level achieved depends on the audit result and the rules of the standard. The Higher Level is therefore not a separate standard: it is a performance objective within a standard. The exact thresholds and conditions are set by the standard and its doctrine.

Who is IFS certification for?

Manufacturers and processors

Any food manufacturer that processes, packs or assembles products intended for sale under private label is concerned first and foremost. This also covers less obvious categories: ingredients, flavourings, intermediate preparations, co-packing. As soon as a retail customer requires IFS, the question is no longer "is it necessary?" but "for which scope?".

Brokers, importers and logistics providers

Operators without production activities are often surprised to be concerned: a broker who never touches the product must nonetheless prove that it controls its suppliers and its information flows. Here again, it is the retailer that sets the requirement according to the risk and the nature of the service.

Why retailers require it

For a retailer, a recognised, third-party audited standard is a risk management tool : it reduces the burden of directly auditing thousands of suppliers, harmonises criteria across countries, and transfers to the supplier the responsibility for proving its compliance. The commercial stake is direct: without an up-to-date certification, a product can be delisted or a tender lost. This explains why preparation is, in practice, as much a Purchasing matter as a Quality matter.

How to obtain IFS certification: the steps, from gap analysis to audit

Step 1 - Map the scope

List the activities, sites, products and customers concerned. A poorly defined scope generates unnecessary requirements or, more seriously, applicable requirements that are not covered.

Step 2 - Choose the standard and the certification body

The standard follows from your activities. The certification body must be accredited for the targeted standard and scope: check its accreditation and the auditor's technical competence (in relation to the standard itself and the auditor qualification rules).

Step 3 - Carry out a gap analysis

This is the pivot of the entire process. Compare your practices with the applicable requirements, requirement by requirement, and document the gaps: documentation gaps, practice gaps, evidence gaps. An honest gap analysis takes time and saves much more.

Step 4 - Address gaps by priority

Two families come first: KO requirements (whose failure directly compromises safety or compliance) and dated frequencies (reviews, internal audits, recall tests, supplier reviews). Documentation, training and evidence of implementation follow.

Step 5 - Plan the audit

The audit date should be anticipated according to the standard's timetable and the availability of certification bodies. Allow a margin: it is better to reach the anniversary date with actions closed than with an action plan still in progress.

Step 6 - Process the report and the action plan

After the audit, non-conformities give rise to an action plan with owners and deadlines, followed by verification. This loop also builds the performance of the next audit. Our IFS Food certification guide covers the process from end to end; for day-to-day management, see our page IFS Food certification.

How the IFS audit works: scoring, KO requirements and major non-conformities

What the auditor scores: grades A, B, C, D

Each applicable requirement receives a score, according to a public scoring scale:

The official scoring scale and calculation rules are described in the IFS Scoring System brochure. The commonly applied certification threshold is 75%, subject to specific rules on major non-conformities and KO requirements.

Major non-conformities and KO requirements

Two mechanisms carry more weight than the average score:

• A major non-conformity ("Major"): a substantial failure or an out-of-control process that may affect food safety. It results in a deduction of 15% of the total possible score and, on its own, prevents the certificate from being issued following the audit. A follow-up verification may be required once corrective actions have been implemented.
• AKO requirement : a point whose failure directly calls safety or compliance into question. A KO requirement scored D results in a deduction of 50% of the total and causes the audit to fail. Important point: a "C" score is not permitted, and a "B" on a KO requirement earns no points.

Types of audit

An initial audit precedes the first certification. Renewal audits follow an annual cycle: the certificate is valid for approximately 12 months and the audit is scheduled within a window around the anniversary date. Some standards provide for unannounced audits for companies that achieve a high level of performance, or remote audits for suitable scopes such as Broker. The precise rules vary by standard: confirm them with your certification body.

How much time and what cost should you plan for?

Duration: distinguish preparation, audit and cycle

Three durations coexist and should not be confused:

• Preparation : from a few weeks to several months, depending on the gap between your practices and the requirements. It is the most elastic variable - and the one most often underestimated.
• The on-site audit : the duration depends on the standard, headcount, number of lines, products and processes. For IFS Food, it is calculated using the tool provided by the standard and is never less than two effective days, with a mandatory share of the time spent in production areas.
• The cycle : annual. The certificate bears an expiry date that is authoritative; renewal is prepared well in advance, not the week before.

Cost: budget items, not a single price

No generic figure is reliable. The cost of IFS certification depends on the standard, the scope, the number of sites, headcount, the number of audit days and the certification body. You need to think in terms of budget items :

• audit fees (calculated in particular on duration and number of sites);
• ancillary costs: travel, any additional or follow-up audits;
• any external support (consulting, training);
• the internal time involved, often the heaviest and least quantified item;
• document management and deadline tracking tools.

To frame a budget, request several comparable quotes and include indirect costs. Our dedicated analysis: cost of IFS certification.

Common mistakes that cause an audit to fail

1. Treating preparation as a purely documentary project. The standard assesses actual implementation, not a written intention.
2. Skipping the self-assessment. Discovering a major gap on audit day amounts to letting the auditor discover it for you.
3. Letting supplier certificates and documents expire. Expired certificates, old analyses, outdated specifications: this is the most mechanical and most avoidable cause of deviation.
4. Neglecting KO requirements and dated frequencies. A management review or recall test outside its window becomes a documented deviation.
5. Maintaining an approved supplier list inconsistent with actual purchases. A gap between the system and reality is immediately visible.
6. Failing to bring the food safety culture to life. Written but not communicated, not measured, not adopted by teams, it does not pass.
7. Leaving each department on its own version of documents. Purchasing, Goods Receipt, Quality and Production must work on the same version, at the same time.
8. Testing traceability "for show". A recall exercise carried out seriously is a powerful indicator of maturity.

What IFS certification changes for Quality, Purchasing and Regulatory teams

Certification is not an isolated Quality project: it redistributes responsibilities.

Quality

Quality becomes the guarantor of consistency between the system and the shop floor : running reviews, managing corrective actions, maintaining KO requirements, preparing and using the internal audit. Its challenge is less to produce procedures than to demonstrate that they are applied and reviewed.

Purchasing

Purchasing becomes jointly responsible for supplier compliance. Approval, assessment and monitoring of suppliers, at least annual review, safety, quality, legality and authenticity criteria: these are requirements that concern purchasing decisions. A non-compliant supplier is not a Quality problem, it is a supply risk.

Regulatory

The regulatory role consists of securing the compliance of products and labelling and feeding the risk analyses: claims, allergens, authenticity, monitoring of applicable requirements. This work directly feeds several requirements of the standard.

The common foundation: a reliable document base

What these three teams share is an identical need: an up-to-date supplier and product document base. This is precisely the function of a centralised supplier and product data management platform such as Tracklab : centralising supplier and product information, automating document collection, tracking deadlines (certificates, validity dates, reviews) and leveraging document content with AI. Tracklab does not carry out audits and does not issue certificates: the tool secures preparation and follow-up between two audits; it replaces neither your quality approach nor your certification bodies.

Conclusion: the decisions to take, now

IFS certification is neither a drafting exercise nor a simple annual appointment: it is a system of evidence that is maintained continuously. Four decisions shape what comes next.

1. Clarify your scope. Which standard, which sites, which products, which customers? A vague scope makes everything else approximate.
2. Address KO requirements and dated frequencies first. These are the points that cause certification to be lost, and the actions that pay off soonest.
3. Secure supplier data. Certificates, specifications, analyses, declarations: centralised, up to date, in their latest version, with deadlines tracked.
4. Establish an annual loop, not a campaign. Supplier reviews, internal audits, recall tests and the action plan must keep running between two audits.

The next concrete step: launch a gap analysis on the applicable requirements, then check the freshness and availability of your supplier documents. That is where, in most companies, the fastest gains are concentrated ahead of an IFS audit.