Doctrines serve as authoritative interpretations of how specific requirements should be understood and applied. They are not optional guidance. They define the expected approach during certification audits.
In April 2026, IFS published updated doctrines across three of its core standards. Updates reflect accumulated audit experience, emerging regulatory priorities, and feedback from the certification ecosystem. When doctrines change, the basis for assessment changes with them.
Companies operating under these standards need to review how the updates affect their current system documentation and day-to-day practices.
What comes in the way of keeping up with doctrine updates
- Internal teams unaware that doctrine updates have been published
- Procedures and risk assessments not reviewed following doctrine changes
- Assumption that existing documentation remains sufficient without re-evaluation
- Limited ownership of monitoring regulatory and scheme-level updates
- Doctrine changes not communicated across relevant functions
Standards are living documents. Doctrine updates are a direct signal of where audit scrutiny is developing.
Audit-focused insights
From an audit perspective, doctrine updates are applied from the moment they are published. Auditors assess against current interpretations. Key areas of focus include:
- Whether internal systems reflect updated requirement interpretations
- Evidence that compliance teams are aware of the changes and have evaluated their impact
- Alignment between documented procedures and current doctrine expectations
- Review records demonstrating that doctrine updates have been assessed internally
- Justification of decisions made in areas directly addressed by the updates
Certima’s Mission
As an impartial certification body, Certima assesses compliance with international food safety measures. Certification enables businesses to demonstrate that they meet regulatory and client requirements for food safety and quality through rigorous compliance.
While Certima does not provide operational guidance, audits serve as a valuable tool for businesses to strengthen transparency and trust in the delivery of safe food products, while evaluating their fraud prevention strategies and supply chain integrity.