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Soil Association-Ethical Trade Organic Standards
Summary

Soil Association is a UK certification (charity)organisation for organic food and farming. They set standards, carry out certifications and provide support to all stakeholders in the supply chain. They have developed standards for ethical trade of organic products. The aim is to identify and recognize fair and ethical trade practices through the whole organic food chain, from producer to retailer in both developing and developed countries.

Objective  Is the focus of the standard on economic, social, environmental, food safety or organic issues?
 Social-economic & environmental:
The objective of the standard is to ensure fair and equitable trading and employment relationships. Together with socially responsible practices, in the organic food chain.
Why?  Who is asking you to use this system? Is it a market requirement or a voluntary system?
 Voluntary component in addition to the organic certification of the operator. For the whole supply chain. This standards is only applicable for an (certified) organic supply chain.
Scope of the standard  What kind of processes within your organisation/company should be changed according to the standard’s criteria? Most systems look at the production process, and/or look at the processing of the produce. Some systems look at organisational processes as well, e.g. if democratic structures are in place, how support departments are organized (HRM/financial), if internal control systems are in place, if ILO labour conditions are implemented, etcetera. Additionally the processes of your suppliers or service provider can be part of the standards’ scope as well. This means that you are responsible for the sustainability of their (or part of their) actions as well.
organisational processes Y: transparency/traceability, labour conditions, community contributions, empowerment.
(on-farm) production Y
processing Y
supplier/service provider Y
Who can apply?  Not every code or standard can be used by every actor within the supply chain. Some are just targeted to a specific group within the chain, others focus on the complete chain. You can think of the following parties: producers/producer group, processor, exporter/trader, importer, retailer.  
producers/producer groups Y: for licensed operators additional to their organic certification
processor Y: for licensed operators additional to their organic certification.
exporter/trader Y: for licensed operators additional to their organic certification
importer Y: for licensed operators additional to their organic certification
retail Y: for licensed operators additional to their organic certification. The end company is the one to apply in the first place for the product to become certified and labelled in accordance with SA ethical trade standard
Products  Most systems focus on specific products, product groups or sectors. Please look carefully if you produce falls under the scope of the standard.
 organic market: mainly food but also cosmetics
Markets  Although most systems are used worldwide, they often have their origin or focus in a specific country or region. Some countries/regions prefer a certain code or standard.
 Worldwide, but focus on Uk market
Benefits  A very legitimate question is what this specific certification means to you. Does it provide you access to markets, or even to niche markets? Does it guarantee a better price, or maybe even a premium on top of a minimum price? Does it create better access to support services?  
market access Y
access to niche market Y
premium Y
other N
Support services  To be able to comply with the requirements of such systems, you may need some support. Various experts in the field of certification are available and can give this (paid/free) support. Yes commercially available
Adaptations/investments   - Hold organic certification
- Organisational structure requirements for producers
- High labour requirements
- High traceability requirements
- Democratic structure for in place for cooperatives
- Community support/participation
- Traceability system
Costs & Time  Working with these certification systems and implementing the necessary steps is often not an easy task. You have to be aware of the many implications and adaptations you may have to make. This section gives some examples of the kind of investments you to have to think of. - Annual license fee per supply chain party
- Additional costs of certification; annual inspection
- Costs for certification should be paid by the end company
System characteristics  In this section you will find a link to the standard itself and some main points of attention.
 Ethical trade standards are developed to improve social and economic climate in which organic producers/processors operate. This label can only be provided if you are already organic certified by SA.
Standards have been agreed and approved by council.
For the Ethical Trade Organic standards click here
Verification    
internal inspection Preparation for the audit
external inspection - Direct inspection & certification by SA certification body or on site evaluation by certification body or review of individual inspection reports of other certification body.
- To be demonstrated that ethical SA standards are respected.
Type of label  One of ways to show that a product complies with a specific standard is to label it. Some codes or standards do not use a label at all. Nevertheless, most choose to carry a Business to Business (B2B) or a Consumer label.
 Ethical Trade Organic (consumer label)
Who's behind it?  What is the origin of the standard, and who has initiated the idea? Who is the owner of the certification system?
 Soil Association is a UK registred charity organisation, which sets standards for organic food an farming. Soil Association Certification is a not for profit subsidiairy company owned by the charity. They are the certification body and carries out the actual certification.
Trends  The trend section is mainly based on future perspectives of the standard. Are they going to expand to other products, other markets? Is there increasing interest from markets for this specific certification? What can you expect in the coming period?
 The Soil Association can also offers a Soil Association Assurance Scheme, as most of the major supermarkets require organic farmers to be farm assured in addition to meeting organic standards.
Contact Business Development Team
  website Soil Association
   
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