Supplier qualification
BRCGS, FSSC 22000 and IFS: what a certificate actually tells you
A useful certification check identifies the producing site, the scheme and version, the covered products and processes, and the current validity. A general claim that a supplier is certified is not enough.
Last reviewed: September 22, 2026
01
GFSI does not certify anything
The Global Food Safety Initiative issues no certificates and audits no factories. It publishes benchmarking requirements and recognizes certification programs that meet them. A site is never GFSI certified - it holds a certificate under a scheme that GFSI recognizes.
Consult the current GFSI recognition directory for the relevant version and scope. Food manufacturing programs include BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS and SQF, with GLOBALG.A.P. and PrimusGFS covering primary production.
02
The ISO 22000 misunderstanding
This is the single most common gap between what a buyer thinks they have and what they actually have.
| ISO 22000 alone | Not GFSI-recognized. A sound food safety management standard, but on its own it does not meet the benchmark. |
|---|---|
| FSSC 22000 | ISO 22000 plus the applicable sector prerequisite programs plus FSSC additional requirements. GFSI-recognized. |
A supplier offering an ISO 22000 certificate against a buyer specification that requires a GFSI-recognized scheme has not met the specification - often without either side noticing until an audit.
03
What separates the main schemes
| Scheme | Where it carries most weight | Character |
|---|---|---|
| BRCGS | UK and broadly international | Prescriptive and detailed; issues a graded result, so two certified sites are not equivalent |
| FSSC 22000 | International, strong in manufacturing | Management-system led, built on ISO 22000 with sector prerequisites added |
| IFS Food | Continental Europe, notably Germany and France | Process-compliance focus; result expressed as a score rather than simply pass or fail |
| SQF | United States | Food safety certification, with a separate quality program available; confirm the exact code and scope required |
None is inherently stronger than the others - they are benchmarked against the same requirements. Preference is usually a matter of which market the buyer sells into.
04
The scope trap
A certificate is not a badge for a company. It is issued to a site, for a defined scope - named products, named processes, sometimes named packaging formats. Products or activities outside that scope cannot be represented as covered by that certificate.
A real-world shape of this: a site holds a current certificate whose scope names one packaging format. The buyer orders a different format from the same site and assumes the certificate follows. It does not. The certificate is genuine, current, and irrelevant to the goods being shipped.
Scope is also where certificates quietly go stale. A site adds a line, changes a process, or introduces a format, and the certificate still describes what it did at the last audit.
05
What to ask for
- The certificate itself, not a statement that one exists.
- The scope text - read it against the product and format being bought, word for word.
- The validity dates, and what happens to the program if a recertification audit slips.
- The grade or score, where the scheme issues one. Certified is not a single standard of performance.
- The certification body, so the certificate can be verified independently rather than taken from a PDF.
06
How we handle it
This site publishes no certification badges or seals anywhere, and that is deliberate. A logo in a footer tells a buyer nothing verifiable. Instead:
- Certificate, scheme and scope text held per producing site and issued to the buyer, so the scope can be read against the actual order
- Validity dates tracked, so an expiry is raised before it affects a program rather than discovered during qualification
- Scope checked against the specific product and packaging format being quoted, not against the supplier in general
- Where a scheme is not GFSI-recognized, that is stated plainly rather than presented as equivalent
Product programs this guide applies to
Next step
Planning a program that has to meet these requirements?
Send the product, target market, pack format and expected volume. We review the commercial fit and come back with the questions that matter before a quotation.
Source and scope
Source. GFSI benchmarking requirements and the published list of GFSI-recognized Certification Program Owners; scheme documentation from BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS and SQF. GFSI: certification and recognition.
Scope. General information for commercial buyers. Scheme requirements, versions and recognition status change; verify any certificate directly with the issuing certification body before relying on it. Nothing here states or implies certification held by ALPHATRADE or by any producing site.
Inquiries: sales@alphatradecorp.com