FAQ: 2020 Farm Requirements
A detailed FAQ about the Rainforest Alliance 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard Farm Requirements.
FAQs
The Rainforest Alliance is opening a new authorization process for Certification Bodies (CBs) in Japan. Certification bodies that are approved during this process will be authorized to conduct Rainforest Alliance Certification audits in their respective countries and will be able to request scope extensions for additional countries in the future.
Certification bodies must meet the following conditions to apply for authorization:
- The CB must have a physical office in the country for which they are applying.
- The CB must have local certifier and lead auditors (for Supply Chain and Farms) that will meet the requirements of Chapter 2 of the Rules for Certification Bodies version 1.2 by the end of the authorization process.
CBs interested in applying for authorization in Japan must express their interest to cbmanagement@ra.org no later than September 30th, 2023.
Interested CBs will receive further information about how the authorization process works and how to apply.
Quick Links
2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard: Farm Requirements
The Farm Requirements of our new Sustainable Agriculture Standard are designed to help farmers protect the landscapes where they live and work, while offering an enhanced framework to improve their livelihoods and advance the human rights of rural people.
2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard: Supply Chain Requirements
The Sustainable Agriculture Standard’s Supply Chain Requirements aim to foster transparency and responsible business practices among companies from farm to shelf.
2020 Rules for Certification Bodies
The audit and certification services rendered under the Assurance System maintain and ensure a general sense of purpose as well as a commitment to high quality.
2020 Certification and Auditing Rules
The Assurance System of the 2020 Certification Program introduces numerous innovations to ensure that certification is more context-specific, data-driven, and risk-based.
Must-read resources for certification bodies
FAQ: 2020 Assurance Program
Detailed information about the assurance system used in the Rainforest Alliance's 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard.
All resources for Certification Bodies & Auditors
Policy on the transition period to the 2020 certification system for banana certificate holders
Due to the unique market characteristics of the sector, banana growers will have an extended period until 31 December 2022 to complete their first audit to the 2020 Rainforest Alliance standard. The document elaborates on the Transition period rules for banana certificate holders and applicability of the requirements related to Sustainability Differential and Sustainability Investments.
Policy on Remote Audits
With the intent to facilitate an easy transition to the new certification program, the Rainforest Alliance Transition Rules allows all supply chain audits completed in the period from 1st July 2021 to 30th June 2022 to be conducted remotely. For farm certificate holders, onsite auditing in the farm context remains important. However, considering the continuous […]
Fee Catalogue for Certification Bodies
The Rainforest Fee Catalogue describes the fees applicable to Certification Bodies according to Section 1.6, Assurances Costs of the Rules for Certification Bodies.
Guidance and Methods for Child Labor and Forced Labor Sectoral Risk Maps
This document explains the method used to create the Rainforest Alliance’s risk maps on child labor and forced labor and provides an overview of how the indices per country and sector were calculated.
Sustainability Differential and Sustainability Investment, Coffee Sector Guidance document
This guidance explains how the Sustainability Differential and Sustainability Investment requirements are implemented in the Coffee sector.
Certification cost transparency tool
As outlined in the rules for Certification Bodies in the Cocoa Policy 2.0, Certification Bodies must comply with cost transparency requirements. The tool is a template which enables the Certification Body to break down the total certification cost and share it with Certificate Holders. It is mandatory for all certification offers made to farm Certificate […]