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IFS Household and Personal Care Standard
Current Status
A standard for auditing quality and safety of retailer and wholesaler branded household and personal care products
Since November 2009, a new IFS standard has been published: the IFS HPC, for Household and Personal Care products under private labels (retailer brands).
1.What is the scope of the IFS HPC?
The IFS HPC includes four different products scopes:
- Cosmetic products = Personal care products - Skin contact
- Includes all the products described in the Cosmetic legislation (e.g. shampoo, toothpaste, lubrication strip of shavers, washable temporary tattoos, cosmetic wipes, make up for dolls or children, skin patches and substances applied with skin-patches, etc.) - Householdchemical products
- Cleaning and polishing products, as well as impregnated products intended for household and car activities (e.g. detergents, all products intended for cleaning activities, liquid or wipes, window cleaners, etc.). It also includes specific cleaning products e.g. products for swimming pools.
- Products and materials that are intended to improve the air odor (e.g. air freshener sprays or aerosols, candles, etc.)
- Insecticide products. - Housekeeping properties – Food contact
- Materials and articles described in the Regulation (EC) N° 1935/2004, which are intended to come into contact with food (e.g. plastic and carton cups/forks/plates, aluminum foils, products for “daily use”, etc.)
- Other kinds of materials and articles (e.g. sponges, dustbin plastic bags, etc.) - Products for personal hygiene - Skin contact
- Products or materials that are intended for human body care, except cosmetic products (e.g. hair brushes, shavers, tissues, some medical devices class 1, diapers, feminine hygiene, wigs, artificial lashes, artificial nails, jewelry, etc.)
- Product or materials that are intended to come into contact with the inside of the mouth (e.g. toothbrush, adhesive toothpaste, dental floss, dental wood/plastic sticks, etc.)
The standard excludes the following products:
- Medicines
- Products for oral consumption
- Toys (except cosmetics for toys)
- Lubricants (e.g. motor lubricants, etc.)
- Textiles
- Food products: vitamins and food supplements
- Not single use utensils such as: ceramics (plates), stainless steel forks and knives, etc.
- Packages, containers and materials that are intended to come into contact with the products. In this case, packaging materials shall be considered as raw materials.
- Medical devices (class more than 1), for example blister plasters, condoms, etc.
- Electronic/electric devices
2.How is the IFS HPC standard structured?
The IFS HPC standard has exactly the same structure as the other IFS standards:
-An audit protocol (describing rules for audit frequency, audit duration, scoring system, etc.)
-An audit check-list: the IFS HPC check-list contains 221 requirements and 5 KO requirements
- Requirements for auditor competences and for certification bodies
-Requirements for templates to be used for the audit report and for the certificate.
3.Where can I get the IFS HPC standard?
The IFS HPC standard can be bought on line on our website www.ifs-certification.com, “Shop” link, for a price of 59,00 EUR, plus shipping and handling fees. The IFS HPC standard is currently available in English language. Other versions will be available soon:
-French and German versions in December 2010,
-Italian version in January 2011.
4.What are the several steps for an IFS HPC certification, from the moment when companies receive any requests from their customer(s)?
As soon as the company receives any communication from their customers about the IFS HPC standard, the first steps of the general certification process can start. The several main steps are:
1.To get the IFS HPC standard, in order to know the requirements,
2.To assess the company, in order to check at which level the company fulfills the IFS HPC requirements. The company can perform a self-assessment or ask for an external assessment. IFS can provide such service if necessary (see section 6).
3.Once the company is ready for the “real” IFS HPC certification audit, the company should contact an IFS HPC approved certification body (list available below in section 9 and on the IFS website).
4.To schedule the IFS HPC certification audit, together with the selected certification body.
5.If the results are conforming, the certification body issues an IFS HPC certificate, as well a complete IFS HPC audit report and action plan.
5.Are some training courses available for HPC companies?
From April 2010 on, IFS Academy offers 2 days training courses for companies. The goal of these training courses is to learn more on the IFS HPC standard, on the risk assessment approach and on tools to implement the IFS HPC requirements on site. All the dates of the training sessions are published on the IFS website, IFS Academy section.
Currently there are 2 different courses:
- IFS HPC version 1, (current dates: 1-2 July 2010, Paris (English) / 8-9 September 2010, Paris (French) / 6-7 October 2010, Paris (French) / 19-20 October 2010, Berlin (German) / 3-4 November 2010, Milan (English) / 3-4 November 2010, Nurnberg (German) / 8-9 December 2010, Paris (English)).
- Risk assessment, (current dates: 21-22 September 2010, Frankfurt (English) / 6-7 October 2010,
Hannover (German) / 13-14 October 2010, Paris (French) / 17-18 November 2010, Paris (French) / 15-16 December 2010, Paris (French)).
The training sessions are provided in English, French and German languages. Sessions in Italian will be soon available.
For further information about the training sessions for companies, please contact Nina Lehmann (Phone: + 49 30726250 94 / E-mail: lehmann@ifs-certification.com / IFS office
6.Is there a possibility to undertake IFS HPC pre-assessments, via a recognized IFS expert?
If companies would like to check the level of implementation of the IFS HPC requirements within their organization before the certification audit, they have the possibility to ask IFS to check it, through an assessment. This assessment will be undertaken by a recognized scope specific IFS HPC expert. If you would like to organize it, please contact the IFS offices, in order to receive a tender.
7.Would guidelines be developed for IFS HPC?
Additionally to the training courses, IFS will publish IFS HPC guidelines, which will help companies to understand and to implement IFS HPC requirements, for each scope. These guidelines will be available by the last quarter 2010.
8.What competences do auditors have to perform IFS HPC audits?
Auditors who are willing to perform IFS HPC audits shall have an HPC related degree, a minimum of 2 (or 5) years experience in the HPC processing industry and shall have performed a minimum of 10 audits in general.
Furthermore they shall be competent for one or several scopes. For each scope they would like to be IFS HPC approved for, they shall either show a 2-years experience in the HPC processing industry or have performed 10 audits in the scope.
Auditors shall then participate at a 5 days training course, organized by IFS, and pass a written examination. Auditor trainings have started since November 2009. In general, the course is organized every 3 months. Auditor training courses are leaded by recognized scope specific experts, who have been deeply involved in the development of the IFS HPC standard:
-Scope 1: Sebastian Fischer Rombach,
-Scope 2: Valérie Midéna,
-Scope 3: Christian Zolesi,
-Scope 4: Franck Courtray.
An Italian expert will soon join our board of experts.
9.What are the requirements for certification bodies? Where can I get the list of IFS HPC approved certification bodies?
Certification bodies shall have a specific accreditation for the scheme IFS HPC (under EN 45011 / ISO IEC Guide 65 accreditation) and shall sign a contract with IFS.
The list of IFS HPC accredited certification bodies will be available on the IFS website (www.ifs-certification.com).
Currently, at the time of publication of this FAQ document (July 2010), the certification bodies having IFS HPC approved auditors are:
-DQS,
-Eurofins certification,
-LNE,
-Quality
-TUEV North
-TUEV South,
-SAI Global.
Currently, auditors are available for the 4 different IFS HPC scopes.
10.What is the difference of scope application between IFS HPC, IFS Logistics and IFS Broker standards?
IFS HPC only concerns companies processing, treating or packing household and personal care products which are not already pre-packed.
IFS Logisticscovers all logistics activities, such as loading and unloading, transport, storage handling of packed products and further distribution. The standard can be applied to all types of activities; delivery by road, rail, ship, plane and every other type of transport (temperature controlled, without cooling, etc.).
IFS Broker applies when the company does neither process nor “see” the products. This standard applies when the company only buys the products and sells them directly to customers, without having contacts with products.
In general, for further information about the IFS HPC standard, please contact Stéphanie Lemaitre (lemaitre@ifs-certification.com).
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