CERT Certification SOP 35 en

Certification
Standard Operating Procedure
Valid from: 01/10/2019
Distribution: External
 CERT Certification SOP

Table of contents
1. Purpose of this Document............................................................................... 3

2. Area of Application .......................................................................................... 3

3. Languages and Translations........................................................................... 3

4. Certification System ........................................................................................ 3

5. FLOCERT certification cycle and applicable compliance criteria ................ 4

5.1 Three-year certification cycle for Producers & Traders ............................................... 4
5.2 Six-year certification cycle for Small Licensees ............................................................ 5

6. Certificates........................................................................................................ 5

7. Permission to Trade ......................................................................................... 6

7.1 Traders ............................................................................................................................... 6
7.2 Producer organisations .................................................................................................... 6

8. Audit, evaluation and certification process ................................................... 6

8.1 Scheduling and preparation of the audit ........................................................................ 6
8.2 Execution of the audit ...................................................................................................... 6
8.3 Closing meeting ................................................................................................................ 7
8.4 Evaluation and certification ............................................................................................. 7

9. Certification Sanctions .................................................................................... 8

9.1 Cancellation of Permission to Trade / Denial of Certification ...................................... 8
9.2 Suspension of Permission to Trade or Suspension of Certificate .............................. 8
9.3 Decertification ................................................................................................................... 8
9.4 Financial sanctions ........................................................................................................... 9

10. Right to appeal ................................................................................................. 9

11. Re-entry after decertification .......................................................................... 9

12. Scope Extension .............................................................................................. 9

13. Trader Corporate Certification .......................................................................10

14. References ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

15. Change History...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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1. Purpose of this Document

This Standard Operating Procedure describes the FLOCERT certification system and its underlying rules and
principles such as the certification cycle, the concept of compliance criteria and the rationale behind
certification sanctions. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the audit and certification process.

2. Area of Application
This Standard Operating Procedure applies to all involved parties in FLOCERT certification including
FLOCERT staff, auditors and certified customers.

3. Languages and Translations

FLOCERT operates in the following five languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. This
means that customer service and documentation are provided in at least these five languages, while
FLOCERT’s website and other marketing material are maintained in English and Spanish.
English as the primary language is to be used in case of conflict of interpretation between translated
documents.
The requirements for translator/translations are defined in the audit preparation letter that you will receive
prior to every audit. In case a language barrier exists during the audit you are responsible to ensure that
translation is provided as required. In case the requirements for translations are not fulfilled this is interpreted
as not providing access to necessary information and may have consequences for your certification.

4. Certification System
FLOCERT Public Compliance Criteria
Compliance Criteria (CC) are established by FLOCERT to translate Fairtrade Standard requirements and
FLOCERT certification policies into verifiable control points that are monitored during the certification process
to determine compliance with the Fairtrade Standards. Compliance Criteria lists are published here
http://www.flocert.net/fairtrade-services/fairtrade-certification/compliance-criteria/
Non-conformity with a Compliance Criterion is understood to be a non-conformity with the corresponding
Standard requirement.
Below you can find the different types of compliance criteria and to which Compliance Criteria List they are
applicable:
Type of Core Major Development Voluntary Best Practices
Compliance Compliance Compliance Compliance (only (only checked in initial
Criteria (checked in all (checked in all checked in renewal and renewal audits)
audits) audits) audits (year 3, 6, etc.)
Small
Producer x x x
Organisations
Hired Labour
x x x
Organisations
Contract
x x x
Production
Traders x x x

Major Compliance Criteria

FLOCERT classifies a limited number of Compliance Criteria as major that reflect key Fairtrade principles (e.g.
ban on child labour). Non-conformity with a major compliance criterion is considered a threat to the objectives
and the reputation of the Fairtrade system and may lead to direct certification sanctions.

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Core Compliance Criteria

Core Criteria are the Fairtrade baseline Standards and need to be complied with at all times.
Development Compliance Criteria
Development requirements refer to the continuous improvement that certified organisations must demonstrate.
Compliance with development criteria is verified against an average score of 3.
Voluntary Best Practices (VBP)
VBP serves as indication where a trader stands on the path to even fairer trade practices. The score on VBP
criteria is not relevant for the evaluation process as no non-conformities are created based on VBP.
Timeline & Applicability
Some CC might not be applicable to your specific situation or will become applicable only in the future.
The number linked to a CC (0, 1, 3 or 6) represents the number of years until a CC becomes applicable to you.
For example, for initial audits, only criteria with timeline 0 apply.
You will find limitations to the applicability of a CC at the beginning of a CC text in brackets. For example
• a requirement might only be applicable for customers dealing in a particular product – indicated as:
(banana) -,
• might only apply to larger companies – indicated as (NA for small companies) -,
• or might only apply after a transition period - indicated as (1 July 2015).
Performance Ranks
Compliance Criteria generally have 5 levels of compliance (ranks) that are numbered from 1 to 5 (1 standing
for complete lack of conformity and 5 for best practices) Ranks 1 and 2 indicate non-compliance whereas
Ranks 3 to 5 denote compliance. It must be noted that some Compliance Criteria may not have all 5 levels of
compliance but may just have No and Yes as answers signifying non-compliance and compliance respectively.

5. FLOCERT certification cycle and applicable compliance criteria

5.1 Three-year certification cycle for Producers & Traders

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After you have successfully completed the initial audit and fulfilled all evaluation steps, you will receive a valid
Certificate that covers the first certification cycle. For information on trading possibilities prior to receiving the
Certificate, please refer to Chapter 7. Permission to Trade.

In every cycle, you receive one renewal audit. In addition, up to two more confirmation audits (i. e. focused or
unannounced audits) may take place depending on our assessment of your individual needs. This assessment
is based on the following criteria: Compliance with the Fairtrade Standards, Fairtrade Premium amount
received/paid and your individual setup.
Further unannounced audits can be conducted at any time if there are strong indications that your activities
reveal critical deviations from the Standard.
The first renewal audit is carried out during year 3 of your certification. Compliance, including fulfilment of
Corrective Measures (CM), must be achieved before the certificate is renewed for the next 3-year cycle. The
same 3-year cycle continues into year 6.
It is important to note that although some CC may only become valid at a future point in time, you are
encouraged to be in conformity with these CC or start working towards conformity as early as possible as a
means for organisational strengthening and sustainable business development.

5.2 Six-year certification cycle for Small Licensees

If you are classified as a Small Licensee, your certification cycle is 6 years. Renewal audits will take place
every six years; confirmation audits are usually not conducted.
If you no longer meet the criteria of a Small Licensee you must inform FLOCERT proactively. In this case we
will change your status to the relevant customer category (which implies adjusted certification fees to your
category). For further details please consult the TC SmallLicenseeDefinition ED.

6. Certificates
Each certified customer will be provided with a Certificate of Conformity valid for 4 years. This period of validity
will be 7 years for a Small Licensee. A Certificate will only be issued if you are compliant to all CC relevant for
that point in time.
If you are certified as both a producer and a trader, you will only receive one Certificate which includes both
scopes. You will have only one certification cycle based on the producer certification cycle and audits will be
combined for efficiency reasons.

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If you are a certified producer and you wish to also be certified as a trader because you plan to start exporting
for another producer organisation, you have to ask for a scope extension. Then you will receive a permission
to trade for the trader service, valid until an initial audit has been conducted.
For producers, the Certificate indicates the products (product category and type) that are allowed to be sold
as Fairtrade. For traders the Certificate indicates the product category and type the trader is allowed to buy
and sell as Fairtrade.

7. Permission to Trade
7.1 Traders
If you are a trader, you will receive a preliminary Permission to Trade valid for 9 months upon receipt of
payment of the initial certification fee. You are granted this status to facilitate initial Fairtrade sales, which
would then form the basis for the initial audit.
If you (as an applicant) are found to have started transacting Fairtrade business before having received the
Permission to Trade, no Permission to Trade can be issued before you have been audited. Please also see
9.4 Financial Sanctions.

7.2 Producer organisations

If you are a producer organisation, you will receive the Permission to Trade letter only after an initial audit,
provided there are no major non-conformities identified or once you have corrected all major non-conformities.
The Permission to Trade is valid for 9 months and enables you to start trading in Fairtrade products. Once all
non-conformities are fulfilled, a valid Certificate will be issued.
You must achieve compliance within the regular timeframe (refer to 8.4 Evaluation) and before the expiry date
of the Permission to Trade letter.

8. Audit, evaluation and certification process

The following chapter provides an overview of the audit, evaluation and certification process of FLOCERT.

8.1 Scheduling and preparation of the audit

Prior to each audit, the responsible certification analyst will provide the assigned auditor with the Terms of
Reference (ToR) which will define the scope of the audit. The assigned auditor will contact you to determine
a convenient audit date. At this point you will also receive information about any prospective observer
accompanying the auditor, if applicable. Once an audit date has been agreed upon, the auditor will send you
the audit preparation letter containing detailed information on the scope of the audit.
For Unannounced Audits, the auditor will not send the audit preparation letter to you prior to the audit, The
responsible certification analyst will provide the assigned auditor with an unannounced audit letter which will
be handed to you by the auditor upon arrival on site. It might be possible that - depending on the scope of the
unannounced audit - you receive short notice notification via email to make sure that the contact person in
your organisation is available on the audit date. In this case you will receive the audit notification via email and
should immediately confirm your availability for the audit date to the auditor.

8.2 Execution of the audit

The auditor will evaluate your performance against the FLOCERT compliance criteria during the audit. You
are required to accept announced and unannounced audits at your premises, as well as at your subcontractor’s
premises and provide all requested information needed to demonstrate compliance with the Fairtrade
standards.
Filming or recording of audits is not allowed without prior approval by FLOCERT and the auditor(s).

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8.3 Closing meeting

The auditor will complete a closing report with all detected non-conformities and present this report during the
closing meeting which will be held at the end of the audit. During the closing meeting the auditor will explain
all non-conformities to you. If you are a producer the auditor will also inform you of your score on Development
Criteria (only applicable in renewal audits) and if you are a trader, about the results of the Voluntary Best
Practice criteria (only applicable in initial and renewal audits).
You can choose to propose corrective measures aimed at correcting the detected non-conformities during the
closing meeting, or you can wait for the FLOCERT evaluator to request them from you after the audit. The
auditor is not permitted to advise you on how to fulfill the non-conformities identified but is permitted to explain
the requirements and offer practical examples of what other customers have done in similar situations. For
more guidance on how Corrective Measures can be proposed in an efficient manner, please refer to the CERT
Effective CM ED.
Following the audit, the audit results will be reported to FLOCERT by the auditor within 14 days.

8.4 Evaluation and certification

After receipt of the audit results the responsible certification analyst (evaluator) will evaluate the audit report
and findings. The evaluator has the right to change, confirm or delete non-conformities identified by the auditor.
Non-conformities might also be added after the audit, in case the supporting documents submitted provide
evidence of further non-compliance.
The table below provides you a step-by-step overview of the evaluation workflow and the corresponding
timelines.
You are welcome and encouraged to submit evidence before the deadline. However, please note that
FLOCERT may only start the evaluation on expiry of the deadline. Please note that if the submitted evidence
is not complete, delays in the process or sanctions may be the result.
In case you are not able to propose the corrective measures or to send the requested objective evidences
within the defined deadline, please contact your certification analyst to discuss a solution.

Timelines for the evaluation workflow until certification

Audit is finished

14 days Auditor sends audit report to FLOCERT

2 months FLOCERT confirms non-conformities and requests corrective measures1.

1 month You send corrective measures proposal to FLOCERT in case no corrective

measures have been suggested during the closing meeting of the audit (in the
case of producers’ renewal audits with an average score for development
criteria under 3, you select target scores for individual development criteria until
the target average is 3 or above ).

14 days FLOCERT confirms corrective measures proposed and depending on the

nature of the non-conformities, requests objective evidence2 or an onsite follow
up audit as a means of confirming compliance.

1 Corrective Measures (CM) are measures suggested by the customer to correct a situation that is not according to the
Fairtrade requirements and generated a non-conformity.
2 Objective Evidence (OE) is the evidence provided by the customer that proves that corrective measures have been

implemented and the situation that generated the non-conformity has been therefore corrected accordingly.

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45 days (Traders) You send objective evidence to FLOCERT

4 months (Producers)

1 month FLOCERT evaluates objective evidence and sends evaluation recommendation

to certifier (Certification Manager or Senior Certification Analyst)

14 days Certifier sends confirmation to evaluator; evaluator sends decision to you

9. Certification Sanctions
Based on your compliance, the certifier can decide to apply any of the following certification sanctions at
his/her discretion.
The decision to apply any of these sanctions will be based on a careful consideration of your organisation’s
overall compliance and will be explained to you in an official communication. The certifier will consider the
following aspects when deciding which sanction should be applied:
a. Severity of non-conformities found during the latest audit.
b. Amount of non-conformities found during the latest audit.
c. Repetition of non-conformities
d. Failure to comply with certification rules, procedures and contractual obligations.
e. Risk to the credibility of the Fairtrade system

9.1 Cancellation of Permission to Trade / Denial of Certification

If this sanction is applied to you, you will cease trading in Fairtrade products with immediate effect. You may
not sign any new Fairtrade contracts, as they will not be recognized as Fairtrade transactions, nor will already
existing contracts be recognized under Fairtrade terms.

9.2 Suspension of Permission to Trade or Suspension of Certificate

If this sanction is applied to you, you are not allowed to sign Fairtrade contracts with new trade partners, nor
are you allowed to advertise or make any reference to maintaining a valid Fairtrade certification.
During the suspension period, all Fairtrade contracts signed prior to your suspension remain valid and have
to be fulfilled. You may also sign new contracts with Fairtrade certified trade partners with whom you had at
least one Fairtrade transaction in the past 12 months. However the volume cannot exceed 50% of the
volumes traded as Fairtrade in the preceding 12 months with that certified trading partner.
The duration of suspension is dependent on the evaluation workflow timelines (refer to 8.4 Evaluation). If you
do not take the necessary steps to lift the suspension within the given timelines, it will lead to decertification.

9.3 Decertification
If this sanction is applied to you, you have to stop trading under Fairtrade terms with immediate effect. You are
not allowed to sign any new Fairtrade contracts nor are you allowed to fulfil existing contracts under Fairtrade
terms, as these will not be recognized as Fairtrade contracts in the evaluation of your Fairtrade certified trading
partners.

9.3.1 Immediate decertification / Cancellation of Permission to Trade

In cases of very severe non-conformities that require transactions to stop immediately, a decision to decertify
may be taken before completion of the evaluation workflow.

9.3.2 Decertification with moratorium for re-entry

This sanction may be applied if you had been decertified due to non-compliance before or in combination
with an immediate decertification.

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If the sanction is applied to you, you need to fulfil additional requirements if you want to apply again for
certification: You can only apply once the moratorium period has passed and you have implemented
changes in your operations or management that will allow you to comply with the Fairtrade Standards.

9.4 Financial sanctions

FLOCERT may apply financial sanctions under the following conditions:

• If an applicant commenced Fairtrade business before having received the Permission to Trade or its
Fairtrade certificate, a charge of TWICE their annual certification fee calculated on a pro-rata basis from
the date of their earliest Fairtrade transaction.
• If a certified customer has non-compliances which cannot be resolved retrospectively within the
certification cycle. (E.g. Non-Member Business, Overselling under suspension, Transacting with an entity
who remain uncertified, etc.,) a charge of TWICE their annual certification fee calculated on a pro-rata
basis from the date of the earliest transaction that led to the non- compliance.3

A financial sanction will not exceed 5000 EUR.

10. Right to appeal

Should you disagree with an evaluation or certification decision taken by FLOCERT, you may appeal or request
a review of the evaluation decision. For further information, please refer to the Appeal & Review Procedure
(EXE AppealReview SOP) published on the FLOCERT website.

11. Re-entry after decertification

If you have been decertified, you may re-apply to become Fairtrade certified under the following conditions:
1. You agree to undergo an audit before re-entering the Fairtrade certification system if deemed
necessary by FLOCERT. In case of severe previous non-conformities, an audit will be conducted
in any case.
2. You have corrected all unresolved prior non-conformities.

Should you choose to re-enter the Fairtrade certification system within 12 months of the date of decertification,
you will not be required to pay the application fee. However, any outstanding certification fees from the period
prior to decertification would have to be paid as well as the initial certification fee.

Should you choose to re-enter the Fairtrade certification system after 12 months of the decertification date,
you will be required to complete the application process (please refer to the CERT Application SOP for more
information).

12. Scope Extension

As a certified customer you can extend the scope of certification at any point in the certification cycle. However,
before transacting Fairtrade business under the extended scope you would need to apply to FLOCERT and
seek approval in the following cases:
You are a producer and you want:
• to add a new product category to your Fairtrade activity.
• to add a new member organisation / estate to your Fairtrade activity. This only applies to 2nd or 3rd
grade small producer organisations or multi estate companies who have limited their Fairtrade
certification to a selected number of member organisations / affiliated estates.

3 In exceptional cases where no transaction date can be determined, the maximum financial sanction can be applied.

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• to add a new function to your Fairtrade activity. Certified producers can apply to have the trader
function added to their Certificate.
• to add a subcontractor or additional entity to your Fairtrade activity.
You are a trader and you want:
• to add a new product category to your Fairtrade activity.
• to add a subcontractor or additional entity to your Fairtrade activity.
• to add a new function to your Fairtrade activity.
You may conduct Fairtrade business under the new scope only once you have received confirmation from
FLOCERT and if applicable, an amended Fairtrade Certificate.

13. Trader Corporate Certification

If you are a certified trader and you want to change to the certification model Trader Corporate Certification,
please send your application request to the applications team and note that you will have to pay an
application fee. Further information on applications can be found in the FLOCERT application procedure
(CERT Application SOP).
Detailed information on Trader Corporate Certification can be found in the explanatory document on the
FLOCERT website: https://www.flocert.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Trader-Corporate-
Certification_en.pdf

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