LRQA is aware that the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) steering committee has lifted its three-month suspension on the International Featured Standards (IFS) organization, first announced in December 2022.
GFSI brings together 42 retailers and manufacturers from across the Consumer Goods Forum membership and extended food safety community to oversee food safety standards for businesses. IFS Food is a GFSI-recognized standard for certifying the safety and quality of food products and production processes.
As a result of ongoing consultation during the three-month period, the GFSI Steering Committee decided on 7 March that IFS has provided suitable remediation to be reinstated as of 8 March 2023.
At LRQA, we remain focused on supporting our clients with all available information following the temporary disruption. All IFS certificates linked to an audit carried out before 8 December 2022 remain recognised by GFSI. Retailers and wholesalers from the IFS network were previously informed that these certificates continued to be recognized during the suspension period.
Audits undertaken by IFS during the suspension period (8 December – 7 March 2023) will not be recognized by GFSI. Certified companies should check with their customers what is acceptable for them. Now the suspension has been lifted, audits undertaken by IFS against a GFSI recognised certification program from 8 March 2023 will be recognized by GFSI.
Where LRQA clients are impacted, we advise you to consult the below resources, which include the announcements issued by GFSI and IFS.
International Featured Standards (IFS) reinstated as a GFSI recognized CPO
IFS welcomes the lifting of the suspension by GFSI
If you cannot find answers to your specific questions in our FAQ section, please reach out to your usual LRQA contact to discuss your query.