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IFS Cash & Carry

Wholesale

Standard for Auditing

Cash & Carry markets and Wholesalers

Version 1February 2010

Cash&Carry/Wholesale

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The IFS publishes information, opinions and bulletins to its best knowledge, but cannottake any responsibility for any mistakes, omissions or possibly misleading information inits publications, especially in this document.

HDE Handelsverband Deutschland Der Einzelhandel e.V. (Germany) FCD Fdration des entreprises du Commerce et de la Distribution (France)

The standard owners thank the Italian retail federation Federdistribuzione as well as Asso-ciazione Nazionale Cooperative Consumatori (ANCC) and Associazione Nazionale Coopera-tive tra Dettaglianti (ANCD), who joined the IFS, for their involvement and their active coop-eration for the development.

All rights reserved. All publications are protected under international copyright laws. With-out the expressed written consent of the IFS standard owners any kind of unauthorised useis prohibited and subject to legal punishment.This also applies to the reproduction with aphotocopier, the inclusion into an electronic database, or the reproduction on CD-Rom.

No translation may be made without ofcial permission by the IFS standard owners.

The IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale can be ordered online via www.ifs-certication.com

Or by Mail, Fax and E-Mail

HDETrade Services GmbHAm Weidendamm 1A10117 BerlinGermany

Phone: +49-(0)30-726250-74

Fax: +49-(0)30-726250-79E-mail: [email protected]

On behalf of the IFS standard owners, the HDE Trade Services GmbH is assigned to takeover the commercial administration of the IFS, it cooperates with the IFS Working Group.

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I F S

C a s h & C a r r y / W h o l e s a l e

Standard for Auditing

Cash & Carry markets and

Wholesalers


Version 1Februar 2010

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IFS, February 2010

IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The IFS would like to thank to all participants who responded to the global questionnairesurvey carried out in 2006, which was the basis for the development and improvement of the

new version of the IFS Food Standard.Your input and opinions were a big support to the IFS.We appreciate the time you have taken to positively respond to the questionnaire.

The IFS is grateful to the members of the IFS Working Group and the associated sub-workinggroups, as well as the review committee who prepared the existing document.

Members of the IFS Working Group

Andrea Artoni CONAD, on behalf of ANCD (Associazone Nazionale Cooperative tra Dettaglianti), ItalyRosanna Casciano CONAD, on behalf of ANCD (Associazone Nazionale Cooperative tra Dettaglianti), ItalyYvan Chamielec EMC Distribution Groupe Casino, France

Roberta Denatale Auchan, on behalf of Federdistribuzione, ItalyGianni di Falco Federdistribuzione, ItalienAntonella Donato COOP, on behalf of ANCC (Associazione Nazionale Cooperative Consumatori), ItalyGerald Erbach Metro Cash & Carry International GmbH, Germany

Isabelle Formaux/Luc Horemans Scamark Groupement Leclerc, FranceCcile Gillard Kaplan Groupe Carrefour, FranceAnnegret Karsch-Keller Kauand Warenhandel GmbH & Co. KG, GermanyMarguerite Knefel Systme U, FranceJan Kranghand Metro AG, GermanyLaurence Manuel Provera Alimentaire, FranceDr. Angela Moritz REWE Group, REWE-Zentral-AG, GermanyHor st Rser COOP, SwitzerlandSergio Stagni COOP, on behalf of ANCC (Associazione Nazionale Cooperative Consumatori), Italy

BatriceThiriet Auchan, FranceKarin Voss EDEKA Zentrale AG & Co KG, Germany

The IFS is also pleased to acknowledge the helpful contributions providedby the following persons:

Wolfgang Leiste EDEKA Handelsgesellschaft Sdwest mbH, GermanyRalf Marggraf EDEKA Minden-Hannover Stiftung und Co. KG, GermanyCharlotte Pilz Metro Group GmbH, GermanyGerald Erbach Metro Cash & Carry International GmbH, Germany

Lutz Hhne DAkkS GmbH, Germany

IFS Management

Stef Becker IFS Project Manager, HDEJanina Glasner IFS Quality Assurance Manager, HDEStphanie Lemaitre IFS Project Manager, FCDSabine Podewski IFS Auditors compliance, HDEAlexander Rogge IFS Managing Director, FCDMariaThalmann IFS StandardTechnical Advisor, HDEStephanTromp IFS Managing Director, HDESerenaVenturi IFS Contact Person, IFS Ofce Italy

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IFS, February 2010


Contents

Part 1: Audit Protocol

1 The History of the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.1 Purpose and contents of the audit protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.2 General requirements for the quality management system 12

3 Types of Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1 Initial audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.2 Follow-up audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.3 Renewal audit (after expiry of the previous audit) . . . . . . . . 14

4 Scope of the Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5 Rules for certication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.1 single-certication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.2 Multi-site-certication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.2.1 Rules for the initial audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.2.2 Renewal audit/Sampling rule for IFS multi-site certication

for wholesalers and cash & carry markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.2.3 Scoring, conditions of issuing audit report and certicate

for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale multi-site certication . . . 185.2.4 Scoring, conditions of awarding the IFS group certicate

for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale (ANNEX 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195.2.5 Awarding the Certicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195.2.6 Limitation of the certicate on selected sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195.2.7 Inclusion of new sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205.2.8 General rules for IFS multi-site certication

for wholesalers and cash & carry markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205.2.9 Certication body selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5.3 Normative reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6 The Certication Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.1 Preparation of an audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.2 Certication body selection contractual arrangements.

216.3 Duration of an audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6.4 Drawing up an audit plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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6 IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale

6.5 Evaluation of requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246.5.1 Scoring a requirement as a deviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246.5.2 Scoring a requirement as a non-conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246.5.2.1 Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

6.5.2.2 KO (Knock out) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256.5.3 Scoring a requirement with N/A (not applicable) . . . . . . . . . 26

6.6 Determination of the audit frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

6.7 Audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276.7.1 Structure of the audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276.7.2 The different steps for the audit report completion . . . . . . 286.7.2.1 Drawing up the pre-report of the audit and the outline

of the action plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286.7.2.2 Companys completion of the corrective action plan . . . . . 296.7.2.3 Auditor validation of the action plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6.7.3 Further rules about the audit report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

306.7.3.1 Link between two consecutive audit reports(initial and renewal audits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6.7.3.2 Translation of the audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7 Awarding the Certicate(s) for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesalemulti-site certication (ANNEX 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

7.1 Deadlines for awarding certicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

7.2 The different steps of the certication process . . . . . . . . . . . 32

7.3 The different steps of the certication process if a Majorhas been issued and a follow up audit has taken place . . . 32

8 Distribution and Storage of the Audit Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

9 Supplementary Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

10 Appeal Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

11 Complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

12 Ownership and Usage of the IFS Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

13 Review of the Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

14 Assessment of the Certication Bodies by the Companies 35

ANNEX 1:Denitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

ANNEX 2:Certication Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

ANNEX 3:Conditions for awarding the certicates for multi-site certicationsof IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

ANNEX 4:Demarcation IFS Food IFS HPC IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale IFSLogistics IFS Brokers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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Part 2: Requirements

1 Senior Management Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

1.1 Corporate policy/Corporate principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

1.2 Corporate structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

1.3 Customer focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

1.4 Management review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

2 Quality Management System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.1 HACCP (based on the Codex Alimentarius CA) . . . . . . . . . 452.1.1 HACCP system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452.1.2 Assemble HACCP team (CA Step 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462.1.3 HACCP analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

2.2 Documentation requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

2.3 Record keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

3 Resource Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.1 Human resources management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.2 Human resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.2.1 Personnel hygiene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.2.2 Protective clothing for personnel, contractors and visitors 503.2.3 Procedures applicable to infectious diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

3.3 Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.4 Sanitary facilities, equipment for personnel hygieneand staff facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

4 Production Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

4.1 Contract review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

4.2 Product specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

4.3 Product development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

4.4 Purchasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

4.5 Product packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4.6 Factory environment standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564.6.1 Choice of location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564.6.2 Exteriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564.6.3 Plant layout and process ows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564.6.4 Buildings and facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574.6.4.1 Constructional requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574.6.4.2 Walls and partition walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574.6.4.3 Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

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4.6.4.4 Ceilings/Overheads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584.6.4.5 Windows and other openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584.6.4.6 Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584.6.4.7 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.6.4.8 Air conditioning/Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594.6.4.9 (Drinking) Water supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.7 Housekeeping and hygiene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

4.8 Waste/Waste disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

4.9 Risk of foreign bodies, metal, broken glass and wood . . . 61

4.10 Pest monitoring/Pest control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

4.11 Receipt of goods and storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

4.12 Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

4.13 Maintenance and repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

4.14 Equipments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

4.15 Process validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

4.16 Traceability (including GMOs and allergens) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

4.17 Genetically modied organisms (GMOs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

4.18 Allergens and specic conditions of production . . . . . . . . . 67

5 Measurements, Analysis, Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

5.1 Internal audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

5.2 Site factory inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

5.3 Process control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

5.4 Calibration and checking of measuring andmonitoring devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

5.5 Quantity checking (quantity control/lling quantities) . . . . 69

5.6 Product analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

5.7 Product quarantine and product release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

5.8 Management of complaints from authorities andcustomers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

5.9 Management of incidents, product withdrawal,product recall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

5.10 Management of non-conforming products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

5.11 Corrective actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

ANNEX:Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

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Part 3: Requirements for Accreditation Bodies, CerticationBodies and Auditors

IFS accreditation and certication process

0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

1 Requirements for the Accreditation Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

1.1 General requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

1.2 The training of the accreditation committee(or competent person) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

1.3 Competences of the assessor of the accreditation body . . . . 78

1.4 Frequency of the assessments of certication bodies . . . . . 78

1.5 Accreditation of an internationally-active certicationbody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

2 Requirements for the Certication Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

2.1 EN 45011/ISO IEC Guide 65 IFS accreditation process . . . . 79

2.2 Signing of contract with the proprietors of the IFS . . . . . . . 79

2.3 Certication decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

2.4 Certication bodies responsibilities for IFS-Food-trainersand the IFS-Food-auditors (including freelancers) . . . . . . . 80

2.5 Specic requirements for IFS-Food-trainers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

2.6 Train theTrainer course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

3 Requirements for Auditorsfor IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

3.1 Requirements before applying for the IFS examinations . 82

3.2 General requirements for auditorsfor IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

3.3 IFS examination process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

3.4 Scope extension for IFS-Food-approved auditors . . . . . . . . 86

ANNEX 1:Product Scopes for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale Auditors . . . . . . . . 87

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Part 4: Reporting, AuditXpress Software and the IFS Auditportal

0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

1 Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

1.1 Audit overview (ANNEX 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

1.2 Audit report (ANNEX 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

1.3 Action plan (ANNEX 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

1.4 Minimum requirements for IFS certicate (ANNEX 4) . . . . 90

2 AuditXpress Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

3 The IFS Auditportal and the IFS Database(www.ifs-certication.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

ANNEX 1:Cover page of the audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94First page of the audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Explanations regarding the audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

ANNEX 2:Audit Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Chapter 1: Senior management responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Report of the N/A evaluations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Detailed audit report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

ANNEX 3:Action plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

ANNEX 4:Certicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

ANNEX:Checklist of the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

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Part 1: Audit Protocol

1 The History of the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale

Supplier audits have been a permanent feature of retailers systems andprocedures for many years. Until 2003 they were performed by the qual-ity assurance departments of the individual retailers and wholesalers.The ever-rising demands of consumers, the increasing liabilities ofretailers and wholesalers, the increasing of legal requirements and theglobalisation of product supply, all made it essential to develop a uni-

form quality assurance and food safety Standard. Also, a solution hadto be found to reduce the time associated with a multitude of audits, forboth retailers and suppliers.

The associated members of the German retail federation Handelsver-band Deutschland HDE der Einzelhandel e.V. , its French counterpart Fdration des Entreprises du Commerce et de la Distribution (FCD) and its Italian counterparts Associazione nazionale cooperativeconsumatori (ANCC), Associazione nazionale cooperative tra dettaglianti(ANCD) and Federdistribuzione drew up a quality and food safetystandard for retailer branded food products, named the IFS Food, whichis intended to allow the assessment of suppliers food safety and qual-

ity systems, in accordance with a uniform approach. This Standardapplies to all the post-farm gate stages of food processing.

The IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale was developped to optimise the auditprocedures of cash & carry markets and Wholesalers.

This current document and its audit protocol replace the clauses aboutcash & carry markets in the IFS doctrine, July 2008.

Cash & carry markets and Wholesalers can be seen as important con-nectors between producers and converters as well as commercial cli-ents. With the help of this function they can process small amounts of

unpacked products next to their wide range of goods. Therefore thisstandard is based on the IFS Food.

The IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale contains the possibility of a Multi-site-certication for similar sites/markets.

The basic objectives of the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale are:

to establish a common standard with a uniform evaluation sys-tem,

to work with accredited certication bodies and qualied audi-tors,

to ensure comparability and transparency throughout the entiresupply chain,

to reduce costs and time for both suppliers and retailers.

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2 Introduction

2.1 Purpose and contents of the audit protocol

This audit protocol describes the specic requirements made on theorganisations involved in IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale audits. The pur-pose of the protocol is to dene the criteria to be followed by a certica-tion body performing audits against the IFS requirements, and in accord-ance with the accreditation norm EN 45011/ISO IEC Guide 65.

It also details the procedures to be observed by the companies beingaudited, and claries the interest of auditing them. Only those certi-cation bodies that are accredited to EN 45011/ISO IEC Guide 65 for thescope of IFS, and which have signed the IFS framework agreement

with the standard owners, may perform audits against the IFS Cash &Carry/Wholesale and may issue certicates.The IFS requirements relat-ing to certication bodies are clearly described in Part 3 of this docu -ment.

2.2 General requirements for the quality managementsystem

In general, when auditing in accordance with the IFS, the auditorassesses if the various elements of a companys quality system are doc-umented, implemented, maintained, and continuously improved. Theauditor shall examine the following elements:

responsibility, authority, qualication and job description,

documented procedures and the instructions concerning theirimplementation,

inspection and testing: specied requirements and denedacceptance/tolerance criteria,

the actions to be taken in case of non-conformities,

investigation of the causes of non-conformities and the imple-mentation of corrective actions,

conformity analysis of the quality data and their implementa-tion in practice,

the handling, storage and retrieval of quality records, such astraceability data, document control.

All processes and procedures shall be understandable, and the person-nel responsible shall understand the principles of the quality manage-ment system.

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The quality management system is based on the following methodol-ogy:

to identify the processes needed for the quality management

system;

to determine the sequence and interaction of these processes;

to determine the criteria and methods required to ensure theeffective operation and control of these processes;

to ensure the availability of information necessary to supportthe operation and monitoring of these processes;

to measure, monitor and analyse these processes, and imple-

ment the necessary action to achieve planned results and con-tinuous improvement.

3 Types of Audit

3.1 Initial audit

An initial audit is a companys rst audit to the IFS Cash & Carry/Whole-sale. It is performed at a time and date agreed between the companyand the selected certication body. During this audit the entire companyis audited, both in relation to its documentation, and the processesthemselves. During the audit, all criteria of the IFS Cash & Carry/Whole-sale requirements shall be assessed by the auditor. In case of pre-audit,the auditor who performs this audit shall be different from the auditorwho performs the initial audit. Furthermore, the auditor of the initialaudit shall not know the conclusions of the pre-audit.

3.2 Follow-up audit

A follow-up audit is required in a specic situation, when the results ofthe audit (an initial audit or a renewal audit) have been insufcient toallow the award of the certicate (see Table N 3,3.). During the follow-up audit, the auditor concentrates on the implementation of the actionstaken to correct the non-conformities (e.g. Major) determined duringthe previous audit.The follow-up audit shall be performed within a sixmonths period from the date of the previous audit.

If the major non-conformity is related to production failure(s), the fol-low up audit shall be performed at least 6 weeks after the previous auditand no later than 6 months after the previous audit. For other kinds offailures (e.g. documentation), the certication body is responsible forthe determination of the date of the follow-up audit.

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In case of a system major the follow up audit shall take place earliestafter 6 weeks.

If there is no follow-up audit performed after 6 months, then a complete

new audit is necessary. In the event that the follow-up audit is failed, acomplete new audit is automatically necessary.The elimination of majornon-conformities shall always be established by an on-site visit by theauditor.

3.3 Renewal audit (after expiry of the previous audit)

Renewal audits are those which are performed after the initial auditprior to the next evaluation due date. The period in which a renewal

audit shall be performed is shown on the certicate. Renewal auditinvolves the complete auditing of a company, resulting in the issue ofan updated certication. During the audit, all criteria of the IFS require-ments catalogue shall be assessed by the auditor. Particular attention ispaid to the deviations and non-conformities detected during the previ-ous audit, as well as to the effectiveness and implementation of correc-tive actions and preventive measures laid down in the companys cor-rective action plan. The date of the renewal audit shall be calculatedfrom the date of the previous audit and not from the date of issue thecerticate. Companies are themselves responsible for maintaining theircertication. All IFS certied companies will receive a reminder from theIFS on-line audit portal three months before expiry of the certication.The certication bodies may also contact companies in advance in orderto set a date for a new audit. Dates which have already been set can beannounced through the IFS audit portal.

4 Scope of the Audit

The application of IFS Food Version 5 for auditing wholesalers and cash& carry markets is ensured by an independent and complete standard:

IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale.

This standard is valid for all types of wholsaling activities and wholesal-ers:

which handle unpacked products, e.g. weighing, measuring,lling, decanting, stamping, imprinting, packing, annealing,freezing, unfreezing, preserving, stocking,

and/or

which carry out processing activities; according to Ordinance(EG) No 852/2004: as processing activities are considered allactions that change the original product substantially, includ-ing heating, curing, hardening, maturing, drying, marinating,extraction, wextruding or a combination of these processes.

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5 Rules for certication

The IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale certication can be covered by a sin-gle-certication or multi-site certication process.

A company can choose between two possibilities of auditing:

5.1 single-certication of each sitea)

5.2 multi-site-certication of all sitesb) in one country.

5.1 single-certication

Every site shall be proofed separately. The company and the certica-

tion body shall agree upon the audit date.The certicate as well as pos-sibly determined corrective actions are solely related to the audited site.The certicate validity is 12 months. The audit shall be repeated afterthis period.

5.2 Multi-site-certication

5.2.1 Rules for the initial audit

The rst year, the headquarter of each country as well as all the marketsshall be audited.The company and the certication body agree upon allaudit dates in advance (announced audits).

5.2.2 Renewal audit/Sampling rule for IFS multi-site certication forwholesalers and cash & carry markets

In general:

The headquarter shall be audited every 12 months against theIFS Cash & Carry. If the company is located in several countrieswith different stores, each headquarter in each country wherethe company is engaged in a business shall be audited every 12months.

Every new site/market which will be integrated in this processhave to be checked in the rst year of working. They shall beaudited in the rst year in every case, and then, depending ontheir kind of activity, they shall be audited each year or underthe sampling plan frequency.

Every site/market audits shall be performed unannounced bythe certication body.

In addition to the above requirement, the sampling must com-ply the following rules:

The sampling must base on a risk analysis.

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In case of processing activities as dened in the Regulation(EC) N 852/2004, a sampling is possible only if no regulationor ofcial recommendation in the country for small produc-tion amount exists there are less than 250 kg/week/site of

processing activities for all animal origin food products inthe market.

The sampling is possible above 20 sites /markets, and shallbe at the ratio of 1 site/market per 5 sites/markets with a min-imum of 20. All sites/markets shall be randomly selected bythe certication body.

The certication body gets the right to expand the number ofsites/markets to be audited in one year if necessary (e.g. toomany deviations of the organisation).

An announced single-certication is permitted for companies with lessthan 20 sites/markets. A single certicate or a group certicate can beawarded.

Companies with more than 20 sites/markets can conduct a matrix certi-cation with unannounced audits which shall be announced at least 48hours in advance by the certication body. A multi-site certicate shallbe awarded. The following rules are applicable for the matrix certica-tion.

Table No 1: Examples of the number of sites/markets to audit whenmulti-site sampling is used

Total number of sites/

markets

x

between

1 and 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Number of sites/markets

above 20

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Additional number

of sites/markets to audit

0 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2

Number of sites to audit x 21 21 21 21 21 22 22 22

Example:A company has 14 sites. All sites shall be audited every 12 months(14 = x).

The number of sites is 26. Additionally to the 20 selected sites shall beaudited two sites more.The number of audited sites is 22. The 22 siteschange every year (Table 2).

Furthermore a random sample of 5% of marktes has to be audited.These 5 % are to be chosen from the sites/markets which were notaudited in the same year.

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Table No 2: Cycle of multi-site certication for IFS Cash & Carry mar-kets

Initial process First cycle First cycle First cycle Second cycle

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

For each country

Headquarter

+ all cash& carry

markets

For each country

Headquarter

+ all cash & carry

markets

For each country

Headquarter

+ all cash & carry

markets

For each country

Headquarter

+ all cash & carry

markets

For each country

Headquarter

+ all cash & carry

markets

Sampling rule

(applying for each

country, for cash &

carry sites/markets

if the number of

markets is above 20)

1 site per 5 siteswith a minimum of

20

+ newly opened

cash & carry

markets

+ 5% random

sample from all

assigned cash &

carry markets that

are not part of the

sample audited inthis year.

Sampling rule

(applying for each

country, for cash &

carry sites/markets

if the number of



20 (different from

those audited

during year 2)

+ newly opened

cash & carry

markets

+ 5 % random

sample from all

assigned cash &

carry markets that

are not part of the


Sampling rule

(applying for each

country, for cash &

carry sites/markets

if the number of



20 (different from

those audited

during year 1 and 2)

+ newly opened

cash & carry

markets

+ 5 % random

sample from all

assigned cash &

carry markets that

are not part of the


Sampling rule

(applying for each

country, for cash &

carry sites/markets

if the number of



20

+ newly opened

cash & carry

markets

+ 5% random

sample from all

assigned cash &

carry markets that

are not part of the


Chart No 1: Scheme of auditing cycle

cycle 1 cycle 2 cycle 3

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 etc.

First year

initial

audit

The initial process in year 1 and

the first full cycle from year 2 until

year 4 must be done by the same

certification body.

Year 2 until year 4 is

one full cycle, which

must be audited by thesame certification body.

The certification body

is responsible that

in one full cycle, at least

each site/market is

audited one time.

Year 5 until year 7 is

one full cycle, which

must be audited by thesame certification body.

The certification body

is responsible that

in one full cycle, at least

each site/market is

audited one time.

Each cycle

must be done

in the way likecycle 1 and 2.

If the certification body should being changed during a cycle, the group

certification must be started with the initial process like the year 1.

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5.2.3 Scoring, conditions of issuing audit report and certicate forIFS Cash & Carry / Wholesale multi-site certication

Each individual market is subject to the following conditions.

Table No 3: Scoring and awarding of certicates

Audit Result Status Action company Report form Certicate

1. At least 1 KO Not approved Actions and newinitial audit to be

agreed upon (the

new audit shall be

dated earliest

6 weeks after the

KO)

Report gives status No

2. >1 Major and/or

< 75% of therequirements arefullled

Not approved Actions and new

initial audit to beagreed upon (the

new audit shall be

dated earliest

6 weeks after the

Major)

Report gives status No

3. Max 1 Major and75 % of the

requirements arefullled

Not approved

unless further

actions taken

Send action plan

within 2 weeks of

receiving the

preliminarily report.

Follow-up audit

max. 6 months

after the audit date

upon (the newaudit shall be dated

earliest 6 weeks

after the failed

audit if it was a

process Major)

Report including

action plan gives

status

Certicate, Depend-

ing upon the results

of the follow-up

audit

4. Total score is

75% and

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5.2.4 Scoring, conditions of awarding the IFS group certicate forIFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale (ANNEX 3)

The multi-site certication is possible only if all the audited sites pass

individually the audit.

In case of failure of one site:

If one site fails the audit because of a KO evaluated with a D, severala)Major non-conformities or one Major non-conformity and total score< 75 %, the multi-site certication shall not be issued. The site whichfails at the audit shall be audited completely a new time within6 months and shall pass the audit in order to allow the multi-site cer-tication.

If one site fails the audit because of one Major and total score 75 %,b)

a follow up audit shall be performed within 6 months, in order tosolve the non conformity and then allow the multi-site certication.

If one site fails the audit because of a total score

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5.2.7 Inclusion of new sites

If the company opens a new site after the multi-site certicate wasawarded and the new site should be included in the valid certicate, the

new site shall be audited during the period. If the site passes the certi -cation body can award a new certicate which includes the new site.

5.2.8 General rules for IFS multi-site certication for wholesalersand cash & carry markets

A multi-site certication process (and the issuing of one multi-siteorganisation certicate) under the EN 45011/ISO IEC Guide 65 accredita-tion norm is possible for wholesalers and cash & carry markets, only if:

the cash & carry markets have very similar processes,

the products processed or handled at all the sites /markets shallbe identical and shall be processed or handled according tofundamentally the same methods and procedures,

the sites /markets and the headquarter shall be located in thesame country,

the headquarter manages completely the food safety and qual-ity management system and implement it on all the sites/mar-kets (central ofce and sites/markets work under the samemanagement system),

the headquarter must identify the individual risk of each siteand, if necessary, the site groups in different risk classes,

the headquarter must carry out an initial inspection visit of eachsite/market and shall monitor annually, via internal audits, eachsite/market covered by the scope of the certicate, before andduring the certication period. If there are no internal auditsconducted at all sites, this will be seen as a breach of require-ment 5.1.1. and will therefore be evaluated as an KO.

A multi-site organisation need not to be a unique legal entity, but allsites/markets shall have a legal or contractual link with the headquar-ter.

5.2.9 Certication body selection

This programm is only applicable if one certication body conducts allaudits of the headquarter and the associated sites/markets during awhole cycle (Chart No 1).

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5.3 Normative reference

IAF MD 1:2007 Mandatory Document for the Certication ofMultiple Sites Based on Sampling

EA-6 Draft Guidelines on the Accreditation of Certicationaccording to ISO/IEC Guide 65 for Producers with Multiple Pro-duction Locations

ISO TS 22003:2007 Food safety management systems Requirements for bodies providing audit and certication offood safety management systems

6 The Certication Procedure

6.1 Preparation of an audit

Before being audited, the company shall study all requirements of theIFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale in detail. The company is responsible foracquiring the current version of the Standard. In order to prepare for aninitial audit, a company can complete a pre-audit, which is only intendedto be used in-house, and does not include any recommendations. Theexpected date for the initial or renewal audit shall be communicated tothe IFS owners via the IFS audit portal.This shall be the responsibility ofthe certication body.

6.2 Certication body selection contractualarrangements

In order to perform the IFS audit, the company shall appoint a certica -tion body which is approved to perform such audits. Only those IFSapproved certication bodies which shall be accredited EN 45011/ISOIEC Guide 65 for the scope of IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale and shall have

signed a contract with IFS (see Part 3) shall carry out IFS audits andissue certicates. The list of all IFS international approved certicationbodies, by country, is available on the website www.certication.com.

Certication bodies can have a multi-skilled pool of auditors and will beable to perform audits for any type of product categories/scopes andprocesses, or may have auditors who have skills limited to individualproduct categories/scopes. Conrmation of the product scopes forwhich the certication body can perform audits shall be obtained fromthe certication body.

A contract shall exist between the company and the certication body,detailing the scope of the audit, the duration and reporting require-ments. The audit shall preferably be carried out in the language of thecompany and the certication body shall make every attempt to appoint

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an auditor whose native language or main working language is the lan-guage of the company.

It is the responsibility of the company to verify that the certication body

is accredited for IFS Food certication.

6.3 Duration of an audit

The certication bodies have an appropriate system for estimating theminimum time needed for an audit. Experience shows that the timerequired for performing an audit shall typically be 1.0 days.The prepara-tion of the relevant audit report requires an additional period of approx-imately 0.5 days.

A number of factors, which are detailed in the contract between thecertication body and the company, play a role in determining the timerequired for a comprehensive audit.They include:

the size of the site/market

the number of personnel employed at the site/market

the number of non-conformities found in the previous audit.

The audit duration might be extended or reduced, depending on the riskbased factors. The on-site audit (excluding document checking) shalltake up at least 1/3 of the total audit time.The certication body justiesdeviations from these recommendations on the rst page of the auditreport in the audit prole eld. The above-mentioned rules equallyapply to renewal audits, which must be considered as completely newaudits.

Possible reasons for time reductions or extensions may be allowed, butshall be justied and documented.

In companies where no processing activities take place, many IFS

requirements are not as complex, in terms of their application and audit-ing, as in cases of real processing plants (e.g. requirements applicableto recipes, to process validation, to prevention of contamination).There-fore, in the frame of the above applicable IFS audit duration rules,reduced audit duration may be anticipated.

In the case of companies with several premises or establishments andcentral headquarters, the audit begins in the headquarters with the ver-ication of the centrally controlled processes. In such cases, each indi-vidual establishment must anyway be audited.

In each establishment, checks are made to ensure that the centrally con-trolled processes are correctly implemented and applied on-site andwhether the corresponding information is available. If the central con-trol is effective (e.g. as regards hygiene, traceability, internal audits,

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handling of complaints), a reduction of the required audit time could bea result. Further factors of reduction of the audit time can be the use ofthe same auditor for the audit of the central headquarters and the auditsof the premises, or the performance of the audit of the premises by an

auditor who has some other comparable knowledge of the centrallycontrolled processes.

6.4 Drawing up an audit plan

The certication body draws up the audit plan.The audit plan includesadequate details concerning the scope covered and the complexity ofthe audit. It is also sufciently exible to respond to any eventualitieswhich may arise during the on-site certication audit. The audit plan

takes into consideration the audit report and action plan relating to theprevious certication audit. It also species which of the companysproducts or product ranges are to be audited.The company can only beaudited at a time when it is actually producing the products specied inthe scope of the audit. The audit is made up of the following ve ele-ments:

the opening meeting

the evaluation of the status of existing quality and food safetysystems; achieved by checking documentation (HACCP, qualitymanagement)

the on-site inspection and interviewing of the personnel

the nal preparation of conclusions drawn from the audit

the closing meeting.

The company will assist the auditor during the audit. As part of the audit,personnel from different levels of management are interviewed. It isadvisable that the companys senior managers are present at the open-ing and closing meetings, so that any deviations and non-conformitiescan be discussed, and corrective actions commenced. The auditor whoconducts the audit will assess all the requirements of the IFS, which are

relevant to the companys structure.

During the closing meeting, the auditor presents all ndings and dis-cusses all deviations and non-conformities which have been identied.As specied by the norm EN 45011/ISO IEC Guide 65, the auditor mayonly issue a provisional assessment of companys status during theclosing meeting. The certication body shall issue a provisional auditreport and outline action plan to the company, which shall be used as abasis for drawing up corrective actions for the determined deviationsand non-conformities.

The senior management of the certication body can only make thecertication decision and prepare the formal audit report after the receiptof the completed action plan.The issue of the certicate is dependent onthe audit results.

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6.5 Evaluation of requirements

The audit assesses the nature and signicance of any deviation ornon-conformity. In order to determine whether compliance with a require-

ment of the IFS has been met, the auditor has to evaluate every require-ment in the Standard. There are different ways to rank the ndings.

6.5.1 Scoring a requirement as a deviation

In the IFS there are 4 scoring possibilities:

Scoring with:

A: Full compliance with the requirement mentioned in the Standard

B: Almost full compliance with the requirement mentioned in the Stand-ard, but a small deviation was found

C: Only a small part of the requirement has been implemented

D: The requirement in the Standard has not been implemented

Points are awarded for each requirement according to the followingchart:

Table N 4: Scoring

Result Explanation Points

A Full compliance 20 points

B (deviation) Almost full compliance 15 points

C (deviation) Small part of the requirement has been implemented 5 points

D (deviation) Requirement has not been implemented 0 points

The auditor shall explain all scorings with B, C and D in the auditreport.

In addition to this scoring, the auditor can decide to give the company aKO or a Major non-conformity that will subtract points from the

total amount. These possibilities are explained within the next chap-ters.

6.5.2 Scoring a requirement as a non-conformity (ANNEX 3)

In the IFS there are also 2 kinds of non-conformities which are Majorand KO, both will lead to a subtraction of points from the total amount.If the company gets at least one of these non-conformities, the certi-cate cannot be awarded.

The certicate shall be blocked in the IFS database by the certicationbody within 2 weeks after the audit.The reason for the blocking shall beinserted in English and the company shall be informed.The schedulingof the new audit depends on the audit result.

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6.5.2.1 Major

A Major is dened as follows:When there is a substantial failure to meet the requirements of the

Standard, which includes food safety and also the legal requirements ofthe production and destination countries. A major can also be givenwhen the identied non-conformity can lead to a serious health haz-ard.

A major non-conformity can be given to any requirement which is notdened as KO requirement.

A Major will subtract 15 % of the possible total amount of points. Thecerticate is to be blocked by the certication body in the IFS database(ANNEX 3).

Table N 5: Evaluation of a Major

Evaluation Scoring Result

Major 15% of possible total amount

is subtracted

No certicate awarding is possible

In case of a Major and 75 % the new audit must be scheduled at thelatest 6 months after the audit where the Major was issued. In case of asystem Major the audit must be scheduled earliest 6 weeks after theaudit where the Major was issued.

In case of more than one Major and < 75 % a new audit must be sched-uled earliest 6 weeks after the audit where the Major was issued.

6.5.2.2 KO (Knock out)

In the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale there are specic requirements whichare designed as KO requirements (KO Knock out). If during the auditthe auditor recognises that these requirements are not fullled by thecompany, this results in a non-certication, withdrawal of the certica-tion or suspension.

In each case the audit shall be completed and all requirements shall beevaluated in order to give the company a complete overview about itssituation.

In cases when a KO has been identied, this will lead to a complete newaudit in which demonstrable evidence of compliance has to be shown.The new audit shall be scheduled not earlier than 6 weeks after theaudit where a KO was issued.

In the IFS the following 10 requirements are dened as KO require-ments:

1.2.4 Responsibility of the senior management

2.1.3.8 Monitoring system of each CCP

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3.2.1.2 Personnel hygiene

4.2.2 Raw material specications

4.2.3 Finished product (recipe) specications

4.9.1 Foreign bodies management

4.16.1 Traceability system

5.1.1 Internal audits

5.9.2 Procedure for withdrawal and recall

5.11.2 Corrective actions

KO requirements shall be evaluated according to the following scoringrules:

Table N 6: Scoring for KO requirement

Result Explanation Awarded scores

A Full compliance 20 points

B (deviation) Almost full compliance 15 points

C (deviation) Small part of the requirement

is implemented

No C scoring is possible

KO (= D) The requirement is not

implemented

50% of the possible total

amount of points is subtracted

=> No certicate awarding

is possible

Important!A C scoring is not possible for KO requirement. In relation to therespect of the requirement the auditor can only use A, B or D (= KO).

A KO can not be scored as N/A (non applicable); except for the KO-requirement 2.1.3.8 about monitoring of CCP, which might not be appli-cable according to the company and the products processed. If the com-pany does not have identied any CCP, the auditor shall score thisrequirement as N/A, and shall give a detailed justication in the audit

report why this requirement is not applicable.

The company shall verify and document in detail the reasons for thenon-applicability of this requirement.

When a KO requirement has been scored as D, 50 % of the possibletotal amount of points is subtracted, automatically meaning that thecompany is not approved for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale certica-tion.

6.5.3 Scoring a requirement with N/A (not applicable)

When the auditor decides that a requirement is not applicable the audi-tor has to use:

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N/A: Not applicable with a short explanation. In case one or severalrequirements are not applicable for a company, the auditor hasthe possibility to score them with N/A and shall explain this in theaudit report.

In the cash & carry markets, there can be areas in which unpacked goodsare handled, as well as areas in which packed goods are handled logis-tically. For this reason, some requirements may not be applicable; there-fore guidelines are provided in part 2, to give instructions on the imple-mentation of IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale.

N/A requirements shall not be included in the outline action plan, butthey shall be listed in a separate table in the audit report. As there maybe some requirements which are not applicable, using a total pointsscore for the audit may be misleading. The scoring system for the IFS

Cash & Carry is instead based on a percentage of the total availablescore and it is this which is used to decide the status of the site/marketi.e. foundation or higher level.

6.6 Determination of the audit frequency

In the IFS cash & Carry, for all kind of products and for all certicationlevels, the same audit frequency will apply. The audit frequency for IFSaudits is 12 months, starting from the date of the audit and not the dateof issue the certicate.

Table N 7: Audit frequency

Level of certicate All products

Foundation level 12 Months

Higher level 12 Months

6.7 Audit report

Following each audit, a full written report shall be prepared in the agreedformat (see Part 4).

Each audited site/market shall have its own audit report for IFS Cash &Carry/Wholesale multi site certication.

6.7.1 Structure of the audit report

The audit report shall provide transparency and condence to the readerand will be completed by the auditor. The audit report is subdivided indifferent sections.

audit summary with detailed description of the scope and a

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general summary in a tabular format for all chapters.The resultof the audit will specify the level and percentage

observations on KO requirements and Majors

a summary of all established deviations and non-conformities

for each chapter (1 to 5), including a short chapter summary

a separate list, (including explanations) of all requirements

evaluated with N/A (not applicable)

a detailed audit report.

All deviations (B, C, D) and KO requirements scored with a B, noncon-formities (Major, KO requirement scored with a D) identied during theaudit are presented in a separate action plan. Therefore the company

has to produce a corrective action plan. In this way, the reader of thereport can see the non-conformities and also the corrective actions, thatthe company is initiating.

If a Major has been identied and resolved and if the audit result isnally positive, the certication body shall mention on the audit reportthe requirement, where the Major was issued.

6.7.2 The different steps for the audit report completion

6.7.2.1 Drawing up the pre-report of the audit and the outline of theaction plan

The auditor shall explain all non-conformities (KO requirements scoredwith a D and Majors), all deviations (B, C, D) and KO requirements scoredwith a B, and all requirements that are found N/A.

It is appreciated that sections of the report may be shortened or length-ened to meet specic reporting needs, but the overall format of thereport shall remain unchanged and comply with this specic require-ment.The action plan shall include all the requirements which are notevaluated

with A or N/A.The outline action plan shall conform to the AuditXpresssoftware (IFS audit report writer assistant) outline action plan. It shallinclude the elements of the following.The outline action plan drawn upby certication bodies, which do not use the AuditXpress software shallconform to AuditXpress layout.The auditor shall complete all of Field Ain chart no. 5, explaining and justifying the deviations and non-con-formities nding before sending the company the outline action planand the pre-report of the audit.

The certication body shall send the company both the pre-report of theaudit and the outline action plan within two weeks of the audit date.

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Table N 8: Outline action plan

Numberof the

require-ment

IFS requirement Evalua-

tion

Explanation

(by the

auditor)

Corrective

action

(by thecompany)

Responsibility

Date and status of

implementation(by the company)

Release by

the auditor

Field A Field B Field C Field D

1.2.1 An organisation

chart

B

1.2.2 Competences and

responsibilities

C

1.2.3 Job descriptions

shall exist

D

1.2.4

KO

The senior manage-

ment shall ensure

KO/D

1.2.5 Employees with

inuences

Major

2.1.3.8

KO

Specic monitoring

procedures shall be

KO/B

6.7.2.2 Companys completion of the corrective action plan

The company shall enter proposed corrective actions (Field B of tableno. 8) for all deviations (B, C, D) and KO requirements scored with a Band non-conformities (Major, KO requirements scored with a D) listedby the auditor.

For all evaluated deviations with score C and D and non-conformities,Major or KO requirements scored with a B and/or a D, the companyshall clearly state the responsibilities and implementation deadlines(table no. 8, Field C). The company shall forward the corrective actionplan to the certication body within 2 weeks of having received the pre -report of the audit and the action plan layout. If this deadline is notrespected, the company has to undergo a complete initial or renewalaudit.

An IFS certicate shall not be awarded unless the corrective actions forrequirements scored with a C or D, KO requirements scored with Bspecify responsibilities and implementation dates in the action plan.

It is emphasised that the corrective action plan communicated by thecompany to the certication body cannot have an inuence on scoring,but its relevance can have an inuence on the nal decision of awardingthe IFS certicate.

The company shall always submit a written corrective action plan beforereceiving the nal report and the certicate.The intention of the correc -tive action plan is for the company to strive for continuous improve-ments.

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Remark: When a company is found to have at least one KO requirementscored with a D and as a result will not get the IFS certication, it is rec-ommended to complete the action plan, for improvement purposes.

6.7.2.3 Auditor validation of the action plan

The auditor or a representative of the certication body shall validatethe relevance of the corrective actions in the last column of the actionplan before preparing the nal audit report (Field D of the table N o 8). Ifthe corrective actions are not valid and relevant, the certication bodyshall return the action plan to the company for completion in due time.

6.7.3 Further rules about the audit report

6.7.3.1 Link between two consecutive audit reports (initial andrenewal audits)

When the auditor scores a requirement with C or D, corrective actionsshall be implemented before the renewal audit. If not, the auditor hasthe possibility to score the requirement with a Major. This requirementensures that the certication body shall read the audit report and theaction plan of the previous audit, even if he was not in charge of it.

6.7.3.2 Translation of the audit report

As the IFS is used internationally, it is important that the customersunderstand the audit report language in particular deviations and non-conformities identied by the auditor. To make use of the IFS interna-tionally and to make it widely understandable, the following explana-tions for deviations and non-conformities shall always be translatedinto English in the action plan (table No 8, Field A):

Requirements evaluated with a C or D

Major non-conformities

KO requirements scored with a B or a D.

It is an obligation and the responsibility of the certication bodies totranslate these explanations. It is strongly recommended that the pro-posed corrective actions are translated as well in English. The transla-tion shall be made under each sentence of the original version andincluded in the audit report, before uploading the nal audit report tothe audit portal.

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7 Awarding the Certicate(s)for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesalemulti-site certication (ANNEX 3)

Only one multi-site certicate is issued (headquarter + sites/markets)per country.

The certicate is awarded to the headquarter and the duration is12 months. All assigned cash & carry markets are listed in an annex ofthe certicate.

The reference of the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale shall be clearly men-tioned on the certicate.The head quarter and all assigned cash & carrymarkets has to be listed in the IFS audit portal.

7.1 Deadlines for awarding certicate

The certication body is responsible for the decision to award or notaward the IFS Cash & Carry certicate.The decision is made by person(s)other than those who have carried out the audit. The certication shallbe valid effectively from the date of issue stated on the certicate itselfand shall end after 12 months. The date for the renewal audit shall becalculated from the date of the previous audit, not from the date ofissue the certicate. If the audit is not performed in due time, the retail-ers will be informed via the audit portal.

The time between the date of the audit and the awarding of certicate isdetermined as follows:

2 weeks to draw up the pre-report of the audit

2 weeks for the company to respond to the deviations and non-conformities (i.e. draw up the action plan)

2 weeks for the auditor to check the proposed corrective actions,for the certication procedure and upload of the audit report to

the audit portal.

In total: 6 weeks between the date of audit and uploading the auditreport to the audit portal and awarding the certicate:

Target time: 6 weeks,

Maximum time: 8 weeks (Duration IA => C in the following chartN 2).

Table No 9: Certicate frequency

Level of certicate All Products

Foundation level 12 months

Higher level 12 months

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7.2 The different steps of the certication process

Chart N 2: Certicate validity audit frequency:example of a classical certication cycle

The renewal audit shall be scheduled not later than 12 months of theprevious audit. As the maximum authorised period between an auditand the award of a certicate is 8 weeks, the previous audit reportremains a further 8 weeks on the audit portal. If the renewal audit takesplace later than 12 months after the previous audit, the report will beremoved from the IFS audit portal.

Important!If the auditor gives a KO or a Major non-conformity assessment in therenewal audit, the previous certicate becomes invalid immediately(see 6.5.2).

7.3 The different steps of the certication processif a Major has been issued and a follow up audithas taken place

When the auditor gives a major non-conformity assessment and equalor more than 75 % of the requirements have been met, a follow-up auditshall be scheduled within 6 months of the rst audit. The certicationprocess is as follows:

IA

Date of the initial audit

(e.g. 12/02/2010)

C

Date of award of the certificate

Certificate validity = 12 months

C + 12 months

IA + 12 months

Date of the renewal audit, not later than

(e.g. 11/02/2011)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3

Duration in

months

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Chart N 3: Certicate validity audit frequency: follow up audit situa-tion

For the validity of the previous audit the same rules apply as describedin section 7.2

8 Distribution and Storage of the Audit Report

Audit reports shall remain the property of the company and shall not bereleased, in whole or part, to a third party without the companys priorconsent (except where required by law).This consent for distribution ofthe audit report must be in writing and can be granted by the companyvis--vis the certication body and/or vis--vis the retailer.The certica-tion body will keep a copy of the audit report.The audit report shall bestored safely and securely for a period of ve years.

9 Supplementary Action

The decision on the level of supplementary actions required on thebasis of the certicate shall be made at the discretion of the individualbuying organisation.

10 Appeal Procedure

The certication body shall have documented procedures for the con-sideration and resolution of appeals against the results of an audit.These procedures shall be independent of the individual auditor andwill be considered by senior management of the certication body.Appeals will be nalised within 20 working days of receiving informa-tion from the auditee.

IA: Initial audit

Date of the initial audit(e.g. 12/02/2010)

CDate of award of the certificate

Certificate validity = 12 months

C + 12 months

IA + 12 monthsDate of the renewal audit, not later than

(e.g. 11/02/2011)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5

Duration in

months

FUA: Follow up audit(not later than 12/08/2010)

Result: a major non-conformity and> 75% of requirements met

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11 Complaints

The certication body shall have documented procedures for handlingcomplaints received from the companies and/or other relevant parties.

An initial response will be given within 10 working days of receiving thecomplaint. A letter conrming receipt of the complaint will be issuedwithin a maximum of 5 working days. A full written response will begiven after the completion of a full and thorough investigation into acomplaint.

The base for the complaint management is the IFS framework agree-ment beween certication body and HTS GmbH.

12 Ownership and Usage of the IFS Logo

The copyright of the IFS and the registered trademark is fully owned bythe Hauptverband des Deutschen Einzelhandels (HDE), Berlin and theFdration des Entreprises du Commerce et de la distribution (FCD),Paris. The IFS Logo can be downloaded via the secured part of the IFSAudit portal.

Terms and conditions for IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale certied compa-nies Use of the IFS Cash & Carry logo and Communication about theIFS Cash & Carry certication

Form, design and colour of the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale logoWhen used, the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale logo must comply with theform and colour of the scale drawing. An IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesalecertied company may subject to the provisions mentioned below use the IFS logo in its documents.

The IFS logo can be used in printed, physical and electronic form, andin lms, providing the forms and formats are respected.The same con-ditions apply to the use of the logo as a stamp.

Restriction of comment and interpretationWhen an IFS certied company publishes documents bearing the IFSlogo, comment and interpretations referring to the IFS shall be clearlyidentiable as such.

Use of the IFS logo in promotional materialAn IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale certied company may use the IFS logofor promotional reasons and publish information about its IFS certica-tion provided that it is not visible by the end-consumer: the IFS logo andthe information about the certication may be used in correspondencewith suppliers and retailers, but not in correspondence with the end-consumer. The IFS logo may not be displayed on vehicles, the foodproducts themselves, or any kind of advertising document likely toreach the end-consumer (e.g. public exhibitions for end consumers,brochures). As for the particular case of websites which are not exclu-

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sively dedicated to a professional use, the logo may appear only onweb pages related to food quality and security. It must be ensured thatall information concerning certications refers clearly to the IFS.The IFSlogo may not be used in presentations having no clear connection to

the IFS.

Further restriction on the use of the IFS logoThe IFS logo shall not be used in a way that could make believe that theIFS owners are responsible for the respect of certication requirements.Furthermore the same applies for opinions and interpretations whichcould derivate from it. In case of suspension or withdrawal of the IFScertication, the certied company has to immediately stop the inclu-sion of the IFS logo on its documents and stop the communicationabout IFS. Furthermore the audited company has to demonstrate thatthey have stopped using the IFS logo in its documents.

Communication about the IFS certicationAll the above mentioned rules apply to any communication about IFS.This also means that using the words IFS, International FeaturedStandard, is not allowed. This, of course, includes the communicationon nished products, which are bought by the end consumer.

13 Review of the Standard

The review committee needs to demonstrate control of the quality andcontent of the standard and will review the standard and the protocolafter one year to ensure that they are still in compliance with theirrequirements. The review committee shall be formed with all partici-pants involved in the audit process: the representatives of the retailers,representatives of the industry and of certication bodies. The reviewwill be carried out at least once a year.The objective of the review com-mittee is to share experiences, discuss and decide about the changes tothe Standard, the requirements of the audit report and the training.

14 Assessment of the Certication Bodiesby the Companies

All audited companies have the opportunity to give their feedback aboutthe auditor and the IFS.The evaluations forms can be completed onlinevia the IFS audit portal at the secure part for audited companies. Theresults of the assessment will be given to the certication bodies oncea year and will be part of the review committee discussions.

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ANNEX 1: Denitions

Cash & carry markets can have or not processing activities, as denedin the Regulation (EC) N 852/2004

ProcessingAny action that substantially alters the initial product, including heat-ing, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, extraction, extru-sion or a combination of those processes e.g., Slaughtering, Carcasedressing, Production of minced meat, marinating of food of animal ori-gin, heat treating

Non-Processinge.g. Meat and sh cuts for customer request similar to retail activities,Cutting cheese, Bakery shop activities, Freezing/unfreezing

unprocessed products means foodstuffs that have not undergoneprocessing, and includes products that have been divided, parted, sev-ered, sliced, boned, minced, skinned, ground, cut, cleaned, trimmed,husked, milled, chilled, frozen, deep-frozen or thawed;

processed products means foodstuffs resulting from the processingof unprocessed products.

These products may contain ingredients that are necessary for theirmanufacture or to give them specic characteristics.

Announced auditThe audit date is agreed between the site/market and the certicationbody.

Unannounced auditThe certication body informs the company at least 48 hours inadvance.

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ANNEX 2: Certication Procedure

Voluntary: Pre-AuditVoluntary: Pre-Audit

Determination of

the audit date

Determination of

audit times

Denition of theaudit scope

Determination of

Majors, KO Audit

not approved,

temporary certicate

blocking

Action plan and

preliminary audit

report sent to

audited company

Voluntary comple-

tion of the action

plan and return to

the certication body

Finalisation of theaction plan and

report upload into

the IFS Auditportal

No certicate

Action plan and

preliminary audit

report sent to

audited company

Corrective actions of

the non-conformities

which have led

to the Major

Validation of the

corrective actions

by the certication

body within

6 months

Determination of

1 Major and particu-

lar circumstances

Not approved before

further actions,

temporary certicateblocking

4. Selection by the company of the IFS certication body

(accredited and approved).

Quotation, decision and signature of contract

3. Evaluation of the current status by the company

2. Ordering and reading of the respective copy

of IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale

1. Decision by the company to get certied against

the IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale

6. Closing meeting

Information about the determined non-conformities

Opening meeting Evaluation of the documentation

Site assessment and interviews of employees Creation of the audit conclusions

5. Realisation of the audit on-site at the determined date,

by an auditor competent in the audit scope

7. Preparation of a preliminary audit report and

preparation of action plan (2 weeks)

12. Awarding of certicate and sending of the nal report

to the audited company

11. Certication decision, determination

of the certicate validity

10. Proofreading and checking by the certication body

9. Return of the fullled action plan to the certication

body (2 weeks)

8. Completion of the action plan and determination

of corrective actions by the audited company (2 weeks)

13. Uploading of the audit datas into the IFS Auditportal

(audit details, report and action plan) by the certication body

14. Three months before the audit expires, a reminderwill be sent to the company by the IFS Auditportal for

scheduling a new audit with the certication body.The

audit shall be scheduled no later than the renewal audit

date scheduled in the certicate.

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ANNEX 3: Conditions for awarding the certi-cates for multi-site certicationsof IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale

1 site KO

and/or

> Major or

1 Major and75%

no

multi-site

certication

still

75%

no multi-site

certication

still

75%

tentative no

multi-site

certication

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ANNEX 4: Demarcation IFS Food IFS HPC IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale IFS Logistics IFS Brokers

IFS Food is a standard for auditing companies that process food or com-panies that pack loose food products. IFS Food can only be used whena product is processed or handled, or when there is a hazard for prod-uct contamination during the primary packing.

IFS Food concerns:processing and working and/ora)handling of loose products and/orb)activities undertaken during the primary packing.c)

Examples:

The IFS Food product categories from 1 to 17 relate to foodprocessing;

The IFS Food product category 18 (co-packers) only relates toactivities undertaken during the primary packing or the han-dling of loose products when there is a hazard for product con-tamination (e.g. potato packing, packing of oranges and lem-ons, sh on ice);

IFS Food is applicable to temperature-controlled processes (e.g.the transport of pig-halves, etc.), but it does not apply to pre-packed/primary packaged goods;

Handling of loose products, e.g. transport of loose bread in gridboxes;

IFS Food is not applicable to companies that handle pre-packedproducts.

IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale is the standard which covers all handlingactivities of loose and packed products in Cash & Carry markets or

wholesale companies. It also includes processing activities when smallquantities of products are concerned (like minced meat).

The requirements of IFS Cash & Carry/Wholesale are the same as IFSFood, but contain in addition guidelines on how to manage specicrequirements in Cash & Carry markets or wholesale companies. Fur-thermore, a multi-site-certication approach is possible under very spe-cic conditions (quantity of processing activities, number of stores,unannounced audits, etc.).

IFS HPC is a standard for auditing companies that process householdand personal care products, or companies that pack loose householdand personal care products. IFS HPC can only be used when a productis processed or when there is a hazard for product contamination dur-ing the primary packing.

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IFS Logistics is applicable to both food and non-food products and cov-ers all logistics activities, such as loading and unloading, transport,storage handling of packed products and further distribution.The stand-ard can be applied to all types of activities; delivery by road, rail, ship,

plane and every other type of transport (temperature controlled, with-out cooling, etc.).

Examples:

IFS Logistics covers logistics activities where the company hasa physical contact with primary pre-packed products (transport,packaging of pre-packed goods, storage and/or distribution,transport and storage of pallets).

IFS Logistics also concerns unpacked loose goods, bulk prod-

ucts and silo transport (e.g. oil, or grain) provided such goodsare not subject to any further handling (e.g. controlled-temper-ature transport) during

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