How to Get Supply Chain Certification: A Guide for Companies

As a part of the registration process for the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program, organizations will be asked to submit information that feeds into the Supply Chain Risk Assessment (SCRA). The SCRA considers the organization’s activities, its location and the location of sites, information on the certified product(s), compliance, and social risks, among others. Based on this information, an organization is assigned a verification level which determines whether an audit is needed, and if this is the case, the type and frequency of the audit.

The SCRA is only applicable to those organizations going through the supply chain certification process. Organizations that go through the farm audit process do not have to complete the SCRA. In practice, this means that organizations that include farming in their activities are considered a prospective farm certificate holder and the SCRA does not apply to them. When an organization registers for the Program, it is asked to indicate its activities. If a prospective Certificate Holder is recognized as a supply chain organization, the system will indicate that the SCRA process applies.

After the system has established that an SCRA is needed and the organization has filled out the questionnaire for each site that they wish to include in their certification profile, they can confirm their scope and view their requirements. Once this is complete, the organization can submit the SCRA by selecting the ‘calculate my verification level(s)’ button and confirming that the profile is ready to be reviewed. The final step to submit the SCRA is then to complete payment of the SCRA fee.

The complete profile is then reviewed by the Supply Chain Certification team. Once the team confirms the risk for each site within the organization’s profile, the verification levels will be displayed in the organization’s account. In addition, the organization receives an email that includes next steps for supply chain certification.  Please note that an organization can update the scope of their profile any time prior to selecting the ‘calculate my verification level(s)’ button. Once this process is set in motion, the organization needs to reach out to the Rainforest Alliance to make any changes to sites that are under review. However, new sites can be added at any time.

Currently, the review time is estimated at 3 weeks, based on the projected number of requests. This review time may increase or decrease depending on the volume of requests received and automations in the system.

The verification level refers to how often and what review processes are needed to assess the risk at a specific site. This verification can range from an internal Rainforest Alliance review of the certification profile of an organization, to a site audit carried out by a Certification Body.

The Rainforest Alliance review
The review is a remote method of verification through which the Rainforest Alliance evaluates compliance with the 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard by evaluating evidence submitted by the Certificate Holder. This can include looking at the Certificate Holder’s self-assessment, non-conformance history if applicable. The Rainforest Alliance may contact the company to ask for additional information.

The Rainforest Alliance automated check
This method of verification evaluates basic compliance with the program through data collected in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform, including up-to-date traceability, submitted seal approvals and valid license agreements.

The CB on-site audit
In this type of audit, representatives of a Certification Body travel to a site to obtain audit evidence and evaluate compliance with the relevant Standard requirements.

The CB desk audit
In this type of audit, the Certification Body works remotely and reviews documentation to evaluate compliance with the relevant Standard requirements.

Levels A through E indicate how often an organization needs to present data related to compliance to the Rainforest Alliance, and in what way.

A site that falls under verification level A is considered low risk. Therefore, the Rainforest Alliance considers it sufficient to review information itself, rather than ask the organization to undergo an audit from a CB. The Rainforest Alliance conducts a review of an organization’s level of compliance with their applicable requirements and any non-conformance history. A site under verification level A will receive an endorsement, which has the same weight as a Certification Body-issued certificate and allows for the organization to carry out transactions in the Rainforest Alliance platforms.

For all other levels (B-E), third-party (Certification Body) verification is required at least in year one of the three-year certification cycle. The verification becomes more in-depth as the risk increases, from a desk audit to an on-site audit through a Certification Body. If the Certification Body that carries out the audit makes a positive decision, it can issue a Rainforest Alliance certificate. The organization is then allowed to carry out transactions in the Rainforest Alliance platforms.

While there are several factors that feed into your verification level, the general rules set out below will help you understand where you might fall in terms of verification level, but you won’t know the specific verification level until you have completed the process in RACP:

Sites that process product (processing is altering the product resulting in a different output from the input. i.e. green coffee to roasted coffee, cocoa powder to finished chocolate, made tea to flavored tea) will generally fall into the higher verification levels (C-E). While sites that don’t process and are handling or trading will generally fall into lower verification levels (A-B).

Factors that can decrease the verification level:

• Sites where the total volumes (certified and non-certified) within the certificate scope fall below our small volume thresholds, (2020 Certification and Auditing Rules,p. 25).
• Sites that have valid certificates for schemes we recognize.
• Sites that are ONLY processing Rainforest Alliance Certified product.
• Sites that do not physically handle Rainforest Alliance Certified product.

Factors that increase the verification level:

• Sites that are responsible for paying the Sustainability Differential (SD) and Sustainability Investments (SI).
• Sites that are part of a multi-site certification scope and are the certification administrator of sites that have verification levels B-E.
• Sites that need to comply with origin matching requirements per Annex S6.
• Social requirements being applicable to sites based on the following parameters, all three parameters need to be met for social requirements to apply (Chapter 5 of the Supply Chain Requirements in the 2020 Standard):
  • They are processing AND;
  • They are located in a country where the Corruption Perceptions Index is 57 or lower AND;
  • They are located in a country where Rainforest Alliance also certifies farm certificate holders.

In general, organizations handling volumes below the small volume thresholds (2020 Certification and Auditing Rules, p. 25) and/or not physically handling product and/or only handling Rainforest Alliance products are placed at the lowest risk level. Organizations on the highest risk level are those processing unfinished certified and non-certified products and those that present a potential risk in social topics. Social requirements become applicable to sites that meet the following parameters: They are processing AND they are located in a country where the Corruption Perceptions Index CPI is 57 or lower AND they are located in a country that Rainforest Alliance farm certificate holders. All three parameters need to be met in order for social requirements to become applicable. Social requirements are those listed in Chapter 5 of the Supply Chain Requirements in the Standard.