IFS Food Audit Preparation: Documents, KO Requirements, Checklist

Which documents and information should you prepare before the audit?

Two files: the one the certification body receives before the audit, and the one the auditor reviews on site. The first sets the scope, the duration and the choice of auditor; the second shows that the system actually produces evidence.

For the contract, the official IFS Food Version 8 text requires the site to inform the certification body clearly of:

• all products on site and the related processes in the audit scope, decentralised structures included;
• any part of production outsourced to a third party on behalf of the site;
• exported products and their destination countries;
• any exceptional request to exclude product groups;
• its IFS or other GFSI certification history: scope, date of the last certification audit, year of the last unannounced audit, any certificate withdrawn in the past.

On site, the auditor cross-checks documents against what is seen in production. Here is the file to keep ready, organised by requirement.

A practical note: an IFS audit starts with product samples chosen by the auditor and a traceability test on those products. Your file must therefore let you trace any lot quickly, not only the ones the team has rehearsed.

How do you prepare for an unannounced audit?

By treating every day of the window as an audit day. At least one audit in every three is unannounced; the window runs from sixteen weeks before to two weeks after the audit due date, and every requirement must be implemented before it opens.

At the latest four weeks before the window opens, the site sends the certification body:

• the names of the people to contact on site;
• if needed, a blackout period of ten working days at most, split into a maximum of three periods, plus any non-operating periods;
• for seasonal products, the expected production dates: the usual window does not apply, no blackout period is permitted and the audit can take place at any time during the season.

Denying the auditor access, except in case of force majeure, leads to withdrawal of the certificate within two working days, an e-mail to IFS Database users who follow the site, and an invoice for the total cost of the audit. For an unannounced audit, the audit time schedule is only shared at the opening meeting.

What we put in place with our clients before each window:

• a trained deputy who can welcome the auditor and open the audit when the quality manager is away;
• a reception procedure posted at the gatehouse: whom to call, which protective clothing, which route;
• records filled in and verified every day, including at the height of the season;
• senior management that is reachable and able to present the policy and the culture plan;
• a mock audit run without notice, to test how the organisation really responds.

A site that has undergone an unannounced audit obtains IFS Star status, visible on its certificate.

How can you test the ten KO requirements yourself?

By asking each KO the question the auditor will ask, and producing the evidence. A KO requirement can only be scored A, B or D: a B earns zero points, while a D deducts 50% of the total and blocks the certificate, according to the official IFS scoring brochure.

CCP monitoring and customer agreements are the only two KO requirements that can be declared not applicable, with a written justification. All the others apply to every site.

How does audit day unfold, and who must be there?

Quickly onto the floor. The opening meeting and the review of the management system must be kept short, so that the auditor can start the on-site evaluation, typically 30 minutes after arriving. At least 50% of the audit time is spent in the production areas.

The audit trail, as the standard describes it:

1. a short opening meeting and an explanation of the audit plan;
2. product samples and the start of a traceability test;
3. an overview of the system, the HACCP plan, the site plan and the process flow diagrams;
4. the on-site evaluation: processes, good manufacturing practices, CCP monitoring, staff interviews, receipt, storage and dispatch, laboratory, maintenance, staff facilities, external areas;
5. the document and record review, cross-checked with what was observed;
6. the closing meeting: presentation of all findings, deviations and non-conformities.

The most senior manager on site on the audit date attends the opening and closing meetings. Lines in scope must be running; a stopped line whose HACCP plan differs can be started later during the audit, otherwise an extension audit will be needed. The audit is held in the site’s working language: under the IFS Food 8 doctrine, no interpreter is allowed when that language is French or English, among others.

Which gaps come up most often, and how do you avoid them?

The gaps we find most often in gap analyses, in Morocco and West Africa, have less to do with a missing document than with evidence that does not follow through.

• Frozen specifications: the supplier sheet dates from the site’s opening, and the packaging has changed since.
• Forgotten customer agreements: an export label or a recipe tolerance agreed by e-mail and never passed on to production.
• CCPs monitored but not verified: the readings exist, but the responsible person signs them at the end of the month.
• An incomplete internal audit programme: some chapters audited twice, others never.
• A recall test reduced to a traceability test: requirement 5.9.2 asks for a test of the end-to-end process.
• Corrective actions with no effectiveness check: the action is closed, but nobody checked that it worked.
• B scores taken lightly: since Version 8 they are deviations, each with a correction and a corrective action.

What should you do in the four weeks after the audit?

Run a plan prepared before the audit. The certification body issues the action plan at the latest two weeks after the last audit day; the site then has four weeks to provide evidence of its corrections and propose its corrective actions, with owners and dates.

The evidence IFS accepts for a correction includes training records, updated procedures with traceable modifications, before and after photos, evidence of communication to staff, an internal audit or inspection report and a repair invoice. A quote is only evidence of intention, so it is not accepted. Corrections and corrective actions are translated into English. If the evidence is inadequate, the certification body returns the action plan for completion; if it is not completed in time, the certificate may not be issued.

• 30 days before: self-test of the ten KO requirements, recent traceability and recall tests, complete internal audit programme.
  
• 30 days before: scope, outsourcing and destination countries confirmed in writing to the certification body.
  
• 7 days before: document file organised by requirement, deputies named, senior management available.
  
• Audit day: lines in scope running, the day’s records completed, attendance document signed.
  
• 14 days after, at the latest: action plan received, owners and deadlines assigned the same day.
  
• Four weeks after receiving the plan, at the latest: evidence of corrections and corrective actions, translated into English, sent to the certification body.
  

The full timeline, from gap analysis to certificate, is in our guide to IFS Food certification in Morocco; what the audit costs in time and what makes it vary is covered in IFS Food certification cost and duration.