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IFS Broker Certification and Training in South Africa
IFS Broker is the IFS standard for businesses that buy, sell, broker or import food, household and personal care products and packaging without making them. Retailers and importers in Europe and beyond ask for it when product reaches them through a trader rather than straight from the factory. ASC’s three online courses take your team from what the Standard asks for to a trading office that is ready for its first audit.
- IFS Broker Version 3.2
- Eight KO requirements
- Supplier approval
- Traceability and recall
- Food fraud and product defence
- Audit scoring
- Unannounced option
How an IFS Broker audit is scoredVersion 3.2
Every requirement is scored, and the total decides the result.
- AFull compliance: 20 points
- BAlmost full compliance: 15 points
- CPart of the requirement implemented: 5 points
- DNot implemented: minus 20 points
- MajorMinus 15 percent of the possible total
- KO DMinus 50 percent and no certificate at that audit
IFS Broker training courses, from introduction to implementation
Three courses, one ladder. Start with the introduction for the people who work with the system every day, give management the decisions only they can make, and give your technical team the implementation course when you are building the system for the first audit.
Prices are in South African rand. The smaller figures under each price are indicative conversions at today’s exchange rate. You pay in rand and your bank sets the final rate.
IFS Broker Version 3.2
For traders, brokers, sales agents and importers
Introduction to IFS Broker Version 3.2 Course
For QA and QC staff, procurement, traders, logistics coordinators and internal auditors.
- Scope, product scopes and the four broker types
- The eight KO requirements
- Specifications, suppliers, traceability and recall
- How the audit is scored
R1 195About 7 hours · online
View the course
IFS Broker Version 3.2 for Management Course
For managing directors, owners and commercial, procurement and general managers of trading businesses.
- What the Standard expects of senior management
- Policy, culture, resources and management review
- Supplier and service provider risk you sign off
- Scoring, the action plan and keeping the certificate
R1 195About 6 hours · online
View the course
Implementation of IFS Broker Version 3.2 for Trading Companies
For the technical, quality and compliance team that builds and runs the system.
- Scope, gap analysis and the project plan
- The HACCP based risk assessment of broker services
- Supplier approval, food fraud, traceability and recall
- Internal audit, the first audit and the action plan
R5 500About 24 hours · online
View the courseTaking all three? The IFS Broker Version 3.2 Course Bundle is R6 312 instead of R7 890, a 20 percent saving. For the documents themselves, ASC Food Safety Consultants sells the IFS Broker Version 3.2 Document Templates Toolkit, the same worked example the implementation course teaches with.
What is IFS Broker?
IFS Broker is one of the IFS standards owned by IFS Management GmbH. It audits the service a trading business provides, not a production line: how it agrees specifications with customers, chooses and monitors suppliers and service providers, checks consignments, traces lots, handles complaints and incidents and recalls product. Version 3.2 was published in February 2024 and applies to every IFS Broker audit from 1 July 2024.
Broker or middleman
Negotiates sales or purchases for others and earns a fee or commission, without owning the goods.
Sales agent
Sells on behalf of a manufacturer or another company under an agency agreement.
Trader or dealer
Buys goods and sells them on in its own name, for example a fruit exporter selling to retailers in Europe.
Importer
Brings products into a market and places them on it, often carrying the legal duties of the first seller.
IFS Broker does not cover processing or the physical handling of goods. A trader that runs its own warehouse or trucks either certifies them under IFS Logistics as well or has them excluded with a statement on the certificate. Customer branded products cannot be excluded from the scope.
The eight KO requirements of IFS Broker
A KO scored D takes 50 percent off the possible total and no certificate can be issued at that audit. A KO can score A or B, but never C, and only 5.2.2 can be marked not applicable. This is where most implementation effort, and most audit preparation, should go.
- 1.2.2KO n° 1: Senior management responsibility and resources
- 2.3.1KO n° 2: The HACCP based risk management system
- 4.2.2KO n° 3: Customer specifications complied with
- 4.6.1KO n° 4: Traceability
- 5.1.1KO n° 5: Internal audits
- 5.2.2KO n° 6: Special analyses the customer asks for
- 5.5.2KO n° 7: Withdrawal and recall
- 5.7.2KO n° 8: Corrective actions
Work out your IFS Broker score
Enter the scores from a gap analysis, an internal audit or a mock audit. The calculator follows the IFS Broker Version 3.2 scoring rules. Leave out requirements scored not applicable.
| Result | Score | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Higher level | 95 percent or more, no Major and no KO | Certificate issued once the action plan is accepted |
| Foundation level | 75 percent or more, below 95 percent, no Major and no KO | Certificate issued once the action plan is accepted |
| Not yet certified | One Major and 75 percent or more | A follow-up audit within six months must close the Major, then foundation level at best |
| Not passed | Below 75 percent, more than one Major, or any KO scored D | A new audit, not earlier than six weeks after the failed one |
How IFS Broker certification usually works
Most South African trading companies need four to nine months from a standing start, depending on how much of the system already exists and when the trading season falls.
- Gap analysisScore the business against every Part 2 requirement and the Part 1 rules, the way the auditor will.
- Build the systemPolicy, risk management, specifications, supplier approval, traceability, food fraud, product defence and incident management.
- Prove it worksInternal audits of all requirements, a traceability test, a recall test and a management review before the audit.
- Choose the auditPick an accredited certification body, agree the scope and product scopes, and decide whether to take the unannounced option.
- Audit and action planSend the action plan within four weeks of the provisional report. The certificate follows once it is accepted.
- Keep it runningAudit every twelve months and tell the certification body within three working days of events the Standard lists.
Understanding the difference between IFS Broker training and consulting
Training helps your team understand the requirements. Consulting helps your business implement, verify and prepare the system for audit.
| Need | ASC online training | ASC Food Safety Consultants |
|---|---|---|
| Understand what IFS Broker requires | Yes, through the online courses | Leadership briefings and project planning |
| Documents and records | Worked examples in the implementation course | The TK18 document templates toolkit, or documents written for your business |
| Gap analysis and internal audit | Methods and practice in the courses | On-site or remote gap analysis and internal audits by lead auditors |
| Audit preparation | Scoring, the action plan and the audit day explained | Mock audits, action plans and support up to certification |
Toolkit: IFS Broker Version 3.2 Document Templates Toolkit. Consulting: contact ASC Food Safety Consultants.
Who should understand IFS Broker requirements?
Fresh produce exporters
Citrus, pome and stone fruit, grapes and vegetables sold to retailers in Europe, the United Kingdom and the Middle East.
Importers and distributors
Businesses bringing nuts, spices, dried fruit, canned goods or ingredients into South Africa.
Private label suppliers
Traders who own the specification and label of a customer branded product made by a contract packer.
Packaging traders
Companies selling food contact packaging made by other manufacturers.
Sales agents
Agents representing manufacturers to retailers and food service customers.
Retail and importer suppliers
Any trading business whose customer has asked for an IFS Broker certificate.
IFS Broker guides
IFS Broker certification and training FAQs
What is IFS Broker?
IFS Broker is the IFS standard for companies that trade food, household and personal care products or packaging without making them: brokers, sales agents, traders and importers. It audits how the business controls the products it sells through contracts, specifications, supplier approval, traceability and incident management.
Which version applies now?
IFS Broker Version 3.2, published in February 2024. Every IFS Broker audit from 1 July 2024 is a Version 3.2 audit, read with the IFS Broker Doctrine.
Is IFS Broker GFSI recognised?
Check the current list of GFSI recognised certification programmes on the GFSI website before you rely on recognition for a customer requirement, because the list changes.
How is an IFS Broker audit scored?
Each requirement scores A (20 points), B (15), C (5) or D (minus 20). A Major takes 15 percent off the possible total and a KO scored D takes 50 percent off. 95 percent or more with no Major or KO is higher level and 75 percent or more is foundation level.
Which course should I start with?
Staff who work with the system start with the Introduction course. Directors and senior managers take the Management course. The technical or quality manager who builds the system takes the Implementation course, ideally after the Introduction.
Do the courses come with a certificate?
Yes. Each course issues an ASC certificate of completion when you pass its final assessment. It is a training certificate, not an IFS qualification, and it does not certify your company.
Are these IFS approved courses?
No. They are independent ASC courses that explain IFS Broker Version 3.2 in our own words with requirement references. They are not issued or endorsed by IFS Management GmbH. Read the exact wording in your own copy of the Standard, free from the IFS website.
Can ASC help us implement IFS Broker?
Yes. ASC Food Safety Consultants offers the IFS Broker document templates toolkit, gap analyses, internal audits and implementation support through to certification.
Understand IFS Broker and prepare your trading office for its first audit
Learn what IFS Broker asks of a business that never touches the product, how the audit is scored, and how ASC can support your training, documents and audit preparation.
- Choose your courseIntroduction, Management or Implementation, or all three in the bundle.
- Enrol onlinePay in rand and start straight away from any device.
- Learn at your paceLessons, case studies, knowledge checks, scenario games and a final assessment.
- Download your certificateTraining evidence for your records and your audit.
ascfoodsafetytraining.com is ASC’s online training website for courses, assessments and certificates. For consulting, FSMS implementation and document support, visit our main website ascfoodsafety.com. Browse all ASC food safety courses.