Certification Impartiality: What Changes in 2026

What changed in 2026 for certification impartiality?

Three texts, published between late 2024 and summer 2026, affect the rules that separate consultancy from certification. None of them overturns the principle; each one changes how it is applied. The table places them in time, as of 5 November 2026.

The GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) announced the publication of its version 2024 on 20 December 2024, and its decision of 26 November 2025 set 17 May 2026 as the application deadline for programmes recognised against version 2020.1. The respective roles of the consultant and the certification body are explained in our guide consultant vs certification body: who does what; this article covers what has moved.

What does FSSC 22000 Version 7 change for auditors from a consultancy background?

It narrows what consultancy contributes to an auditor’s qualification, without closing the door. The rule is read by comparing the two versions, Part 4, sections 3.5.1 and 3.5.3.

The effect is twofold. A consultant who has only worked on quality can no longer rely on that background to become an FSSC 22000 auditor. And an auditor from a consultancy background is still mostly shaped by industry or audit experience: six months of consultancy at most, out of two years.

What does not change matters as much. Every audit gives rise to an integrity declaration signed by the senior representative of the site and by the auditors, confirming that no actual or perceived conflict of interest exists (Part 3, section 6.3). An auditor still may not perform more than two three-year certification cycles at the same organisation (section 5.9). Certification bodies remain accredited to ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO 22003-1.

The accreditation bodies’ affiliation, on the other hand, changes name. Version 6 required accreditation bodies to be members of the IAF (International Accreditation Forum) and signatories of its multilateral recognition arrangement; Version 7 requires them to be members of Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) and signatories of its MRA, for food safety management systems and for FSSC 22000 (Part 5, section 1.1). The upgrade timeline is set by the Version 7 Upgrade Process document; our articles on FSSC 22000 Version 7 changes and the v6 to v7 upgrade plan cover the rest.

Does Global ACI replace the IAF rules?

It takes over their role and their texts, without changing their substance. The mandatory documents issued on 10 July 2026, in application since 28 August 2026, say so in their introduction: on the transfer of the role of the IAF to Global ACI, the text has been reformatted as a Global ACI document without any substantive change.

• Global ACI-TECH-3-001 carries over IAF MD 1:2023, certification of multi-site organisations.
• Global ACI-TECH-3-004 carries over IAF MD 5:2023, determination of audit time for quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management systems.
• Global ACI-TECH-3-008 carries over IAF MD 11, audits of integrated management systems; it remains mandatory for the application of clause 9.1.6 of ISO/IEC 17021-1.

Two practical consequences follow. First, references are changing in offers, reports and schemes, but at different speeds: FSSC 22000 Version 7 describes itself as already endorsed by Global ACI as a sub-scope of its MRA, while still citing IAF MD 1, MD 2 and MD 4 under their old names; IFS Food Version 8, published before 2026, refers to the IAF multilateral agreement. An IAF reference in a document is therefore not an anomaly in itself.

Second, the question to put to your certification body becomes: is its accreditation body a signatory of the Global ACI MRA for your scope? For a company in Morocco, the answer is not automatic. Our guide to checking a certification body and a certificate shows where to look.

What do the GFSI version 2024 requirements ask of certification bodies?

More written commitments and more transparency. The Key Changes document, which compares versions 2020 and 2024, highlights several for certification bodies.

• A personal commitment. All personnel involved in the certification process sign a contract or agreement that commits them to confidentiality, impartiality and independence from commercial or personal interests, and to declaring any personal conflicts of interest.
• A public list. The scheme owner makes the list of active certification bodies publicly available without request.
• Accreditation under a recognition arrangement. Certificates are issued by bodies accredited by accreditation bodies that are signatories to the multilateral recognition arrangement for the appropriate scope; if a body offers a wider range of services than its accredited scope, that scope must be made public.
• Industry experience. Auditors show at least two years’ full-time work in food safety functions.
• A report that belongs to the site. The audit report is released only at the discretion of the certified organisation.

A scheme moves to version 2024 through benchmarking. As of 4 November 2026, the GFSI page listed FSSC 22000 Version 6 among the recognised programmes, and Version 7 among the programmes undergoing benchmarking.

What does not change, and what should you do in 2027?

The foundation remains ISO/IEC 17021-1: a certification body does not provide management system consultancy, does not carry out its clients’ internal audits and does not certify a client advised by a related body when that link threatens its impartiality, with a recognised mitigation of two years. Our guide to choosing an ISO consultant in Morocco details these clauses. On the IFS side, the IFS Food Version 8 standard rules out any auditor who advised the site within the previous two years and limits to three the consecutive full audits by the same auditor.

For a company that is certified or has a project under way, five actions are enough:

• Ask the body for the names of the planned auditors, and object to any auditor who advised you.
  
• Check that the body’s accreditation body is a signatory of the Global ACI MRA for your scope.
  
• Check that your body appears on the public list of active bodies for your standard.
  
• Update the references (Global ACI instead of IAF) in your purchasing and supplier approval procedures.
  
• Plan the FSSC 22000 Version 7 upgrade between 1 May 2027 and 30 April 2028 if you hold a Version 6 certificate.