IFS HPC 2 and the IFS Focus Day in Chile
On 13 April 2016, IFS published a second issue of the IFS HPC Standard will be valid from 1 October, 2016 onwards. From January 2017 onwards, certification to IFS HPC Issue 1 will no longer be possible.
The new version of the IFS HPC Standard contains a number of significant changes for certified sites. This includes the introduction of a new scoring system as well a restructuring or rewording of existing requirements. In total, the standard now lists 237 requirements, an increase of 15. One of the most conspicuous changes is the introduction of an entirely new chapter on Product Defense.
The concept of Product Defense refers to the protection of products from intentional acts of contamination or tampering. This may include biological, chemical, physical or radiological agents. However, this chapter is only applicable to companies producing or exporting goods in or to countries that are subject to product defense legislation, OR In case of a specific customer requirement Also new are five requirements related to outsourcing (if relevant), as well as the monitoring requirement for each critical control point, which will serve as a KO-criterion.
Before this interesting background, the IFS Focus Day took place in May at the event center “Centroparque” in Santigo de Chile. On this day, a series of conferences addressed the major issues and the new challenges that organizations in the food market need to face nowadays.
Under the direction of Rodrigo Quintero, DQS Chile Managing Director and IFS Director in LATAM, the event included the participation of around 400 guests not only from Chile but also from Argentina, as well as expositions of food distribution chain leaders and international technical experts.
We extend our congratulations for the successful experience and promotion of DQS Chile in terms of food standards in the region.
For more information on IFS, the standards and how to achieve certification, please visit the website of ww.dqs-cfs.com, where an overview of the main changes was first published.