IFS Broker – a standard that clarifies the responsibilities of importers and commercial agents

Within the food supply chain, there is a category of operators who never see the product with their own eyes, do not manage warehouses or a transport fleet, and yet bear real responsibility for its safety and quality. Importers, brokers and commercial agents act as intermediaries in transactions, organise deliveries and negotiate terms – and increasingly, they must prove that they do so in a documented and verifiable manner. It is precisely these entities that IFS Broker is aimed at.

Who is IFS Broker intended for and what is its scope?

Organisations that act as intermediaries in the sale of a product can demonstrate compliance with IFS Broker. The standard can be implemented by a company that does not have its own warehouses or fleet and does not need to own the product, but is responsible for its sale. Companies operating in accordance with IFS Broker do not take physical possession of the product they sell.

The IFS Broker requirements can be applied to the trade in food products, household goods, personal protective equipment and packaging materials. This is a broad scope – it covers food importers bringing in products from outside the EU, commercial agents acting as intermediaries between manufacturers and retail chains, brokers organising transactions between entities in different countries, as well as trading companies organising deliveries without their own logistics infrastructure.

The key criterion for qualifying for IFS Broker – rather than IFS Food or IFS Logistics – is the absence of physical contact with the product and the absence of in-house processing or storage operations. A company with its own warehouse or carrying out any operations on the product should consider the appropriate IFS standard depending on the nature of those operations.

What the IFS Broker standard requires in practice

The standard focuses on three areas that define the commercial intermediary’s responsibility for product safety and quality, despite the lack of direct contact with the product.

Supplier qualification and supervision. The broker must have a documented system for verifying suppliers – manufacturers and facilities whose products they broker. It is not enough to simply sign a contract and receive an invoice; IFS Broker requires an assessment of the supplier’s reliability, verification of their certificates and quality documentation, and ongoing monitoring of certification status. For suppliers from third countries (outside the EU), verification requirements are particularly important – the broker must ensure that the manufacturer operates in accordance with the legal requirements of the target market.

Documentation and traceability management. Despite having no physical contact with the product, the broker must be able to trace the journey of every consignment – from the manufacturer to the end customer. IFS Broker requires the maintenance of comprehensive transaction records to enable traceability, as well as documented procedures to follow in the event that a product needs to be recalled from the market. In practice, this means having a system for archiving sales documents, product specifications and supplier certificates.

Complaints and incident management. The standard requires documented procedures for handling complaints from customers and forwarding them to the relevant suppliers, escalation procedures in the event of a potential product safety risk, and mechanisms for cooperation with suppliers and customers during quality incidents.

IFS Broker and other IFS standards – how to choose the right one

Choosing between IFS Broker and other standards in the IFS family is not always straightforward – particularly for companies whose operations combine brokerage activities with their own logistics or processing infrastructure.

A company that imports food and stores it in its own warehouse prior to further distribution should seek certification under IFS Logistics – as it has its own warehouse infrastructure and is responsible for storage conditions. A company that imports food directly to the customer without its own warehouse – a broker in the traditional sense – qualifies for IFS Broker. A company processing imported raw materials or packaging products under its own brand should consider IFS Food.

It is worth noting that the standard includes requirements for logistics processes carried out by manufacturing companies; therefore, it is not necessary to combine IFS Food with IFS Logistics – a manufacturer holding IFS Food certification does not need to separately certify the logistics operations carried out at its site. Similarly, an IFS Broker-certified company that starts operating its own warehouse must extend the scope of its certification to include the requirements of IFS Logistics.

Market significance – why IFS Broker is gaining in importance

The pressure on commercial intermediaries from retail chains and manufacturers is increasing for several reasons simultaneously. Retail chains require all entities in the supply chain – not just manufacturers – to have a documented quality management system. An importer or broker without IFS certification faces the necessity of responding to extensive qualification questionnaires on each occasion or risks exclusion from the procurement process.

EU regulations, in particular the food traceability requirements under Regulation 178/2002, impose an obligation on all participants in the supply chain – including intermediaries – to document the flow of products. IFS Broker is a system that translates these legal requirements into documented procedures and subjects them to verification by an independent auditor.

For Polish importers and trading agents operating in Western European markets, IFS Broker certification is a mark of credibility – proof that the company manages its product responsibility in a transparent and verifiable manner, even though it never physically handles the product.