IFS Food Certification Consultant for Morocco and Africa

What is IFS Food certification, and who asks for it?

IFS Food is the IFS standard that assesses a food manufacturer’s products and production processes. It checks that the site can make safe, authentic, quality products that comply with the law and with customer specifications. Audits are carried out by IFS-qualified auditors working for independent, accredited certification bodies.

The current version is IFS Food Version 8. IFS states that Version 8 audits have been mandatory since 1 January 2024. A project starting today goes straight to Version 8, with no transition to manage.

The official IFS Food fact sheet lists the product groups covered: oils and fats, meat and fish, dry goods and supplements, dairy, eggs, fruit and vegetables, beverages, combined processed foods and pet food. Across North and West Africa, that covers most export processors: fish canneries, citrus and berry packhouses, table olive and olive oil plants, nut and cocoa processors, biscuit makers, dairies and juice plants.

IFS Food is a GFSI-recognised programme. The GFSI list of certification programme owners shows IFS Food v 8 with several scopes, including pre-process handling of plant products and the processing of animal and plant products, perishable or ambient-stable. A buyer who accepts “any GFSI-recognised standard” will therefore accept IFS Food. A buyer who names IFS will not accept a substitute.

If you are the buyer

Retailers, brand owners and importers rely on certification to qualify suppliers they cannot visit every month. The fact sheet notes that the IFS Database gives customers visibility of supplier performance. Before you list a new supplier in Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire or Egypt, check three things: the standard and scope on the certificate match what you buy, the level achieved, and whether the site has passed an unannounced audit.

Which IFS standard fits your business?

The right standard depends on what the site actually does. IFS publishes several certification standards and a set of development programmes. Five cases cover almost every company we work with.

IFS also publishes standards for household and personal care products (IFS HPC) and for wholesale (IFS Wholesale / Cash & Carry). They are outside the scope of this page.

Three points come up in nearly every first meeting.

Food or Logistics? A manufacturer storing its own finished goods normally falls under IFS Food. IFS Logistics is for the provider who stores, moves or handles other companies’ products. Mixed cases exist, such as a packhouse renting out part of its cold rooms; settle the scope with the certification body before the audit. IFS notes that an IFS Logistics audit can be combined with other IFS audits.

Broker and trading. A trader that processes nothing does not need IFS Food, but remains responsible for what it sells. IFS Broker assesses the compliance of the service the trader provides. It does not replace certification of the trader’s suppliers: a buyer may require both.

Progress is not a certificate. IFS replaced the IFS Global Markets name with IFS Progress and kept the content unchanged. It is an assessment that tracks progress from one level to the next towards certification. Confirm in writing that your buyer accepts it as an interim step.

On GFSI recognition, the official GFSI page lists IFS Food v 8, IFS Logistics, IFS Broker and IFS PACsecure, but for the last three it cites versions earlier than those IFS publishes today. The current versions (Logistics 3, Broker 3.2 and PACsecure 3) appear among the programmes undergoing benchmarking against the 2024 GFSI requirements (page read on 5 November 2026): check with your buyer which version they expect.

How does IFS scoring work, and what does a KO requirement change?

An IFS audit is not a pass/fail checklist. Each requirement receives a score, converted into points, and the total becomes a percentage. That percentage, together with the absence of any Major or KO non-conformity, decides the certificate. The rules are set out in the official IFS scoring brochure (version 2.4, published November 2024), which applies to IFS Food Version 8 and to IFS Logistics, IFS Broker and IFS PACsecure.

What a managing director needs to remember:

• KO requirements can only be scored A, B or D. There is no C.
• A single D on a KO requirement deducts half of the possible points. The audit is lost, whatever the rest looks like.
• A Major deducts 15% and blocks the certificate until a follow-up audit proves the corrective actions; the certificate can then only be issued at Foundation level.
• A final score below 75% means the audit fails.
• IFS separates deviations (B, C, D, and KO scored B), which have no safety impact, from non-conformities (Majors and KO scored D).

Certificates carry a Foundation or Higher level depending on the score, and buyers read the difference. Chart 6 of the standard sets the thresholds: Higher level for a total score of at least 95%, Foundation level from 75% to below 95%. The certificate is valid for 12 months. With a Major non-conformity it can only be issued at Foundation level, even if the final score reaches 95%.

Which requirements are KO in IFS Food Version 8?

KO requirements are defined in the standard itself and cover topics IFS treats as non-negotiable for product safety and compliance. The official Version 8 text lists ten:

Our working rule does not wait for that list: in the gap analysis, every KO requirement is reviewed first, with the exact evidence the auditor will ask for. A site can live with a few B scores on ordinary requirements. It cannot afford a D on a KO.

After the audit

The brochure sets two timescales. Corrections are made immediately, and evidence must reach the certification body within four weeks of receiving the provisional action plan. Corrective actions, which address root causes, can take longer depending on severity, up to one year, and are checked at the recertification audit. Prepare the response plan before the audit: who fixes what, with which evidence, by when.

What does an IFS Food audit look like, announced or not?

The IFS Food audit takes place every year, and IFS states that at least one audit in every three must be unannounced. You will not always choose the day you are assessed.

The auditor scores every requirement and justifies each B, C, D, Major or KO in writing; the certification body reviews the findings before any decision. Only IFS-approved auditors can carry out IFS audits. They are specifically trained, have passed the IFS exams and attend calibration training every two years. Star status signals that a site has passed an unannounced audit, and IFS also offers a separate unannounced IFS Food Safety Check.

For a site in Africa or the Middle East, an unannounced audit means:

• records are completed every day, not the night before;
• a trained deputy can host the auditor when the quality manager is away;
• harvest and fishing peaks are run as tightly as the low season, with seasonal workers trained on arrival;
• senior management is reachable and can explain its commitments.

The minimum audit duration comes from a mandatory IFS calculation tool based on three criteria: the total number of employees over the year, the number of product scopes and the number of process steps. It is never less than two days (16 hours). The certification body then sets the final duration, taking into account the factors the standard lists for extending or reducing it.

IFS Food, BRCGS or FSSC 22000: which one?

The one your customers require. All three are GFSI-recognised and share a common core: HACCP, prerequisite programmes, traceability, allergens, fraud and culture. Their audit logic differs.

A vegetable cannery selling to both the UK and Germany will often need BRCGS and IFS. The smart answer is one system that serves both audits, with specific work only on each standard’s own requirements and audit protocol. See our BRCGS certification and FSSC 22000 pages. For a cold store, the choice is usually between IFS Logistics and BRCGS Storage & Distribution Issue 4; again, the customer decides.

Before you start: a readiness checklist

• Get written confirmation from each customer of the standard required (IFS Food, BRCGS, FSSC 22000) and the level expected.
  
• Check that your national food-authority approval covers every activity and product in scope (in Morocco, the ONSSA approval or authorisation).
  
• List the products, lines, processes and outsourced activities to include.
  
• Gather the HACCP plan, flow diagrams and latest verification records.
  
• Collect customer specifications and product technical sheets.
  
• Pull the last 12 months of complaints, test results, non-conformities, withdrawals and recalls.
  
• List known infrastructure works (floors, roofs, zone segregation).
  
• Name an IFS project lead and a deputy for the whole project.
  
• Book senior management time during the gap analysis.
  
• Plan training from day one, not the week before the audit.
  

Keeping IFS certification year after year

The certificate opens a cycle of annual audits, some unannounced, and the score is compared from one year to the next. Maintenance rests on internal audits covering every requirement, KO first; a management review that tracks food safety indicators and the culture plan; change management for new products, lines and suppliers; monitoring of the IFS Food 8 doctrine, which IFS updates to clarify how requirements are read; and ongoing training, especially for new and seasonal staff.

Many sites then outsource internal audits or a pre-audit before each deadline: see our audits and inspections. When the food safety manager post is vacant, a shared-time expert can hold the role: see outsourced QHSE. Our IFS Food, HACCP and internal auditor training runs in English, French or Arabic; Moroccan companies can prepare funding with our CSF and OFPPT funding service, with no promised amount.