Certification System

Social and fairtrade audits are done only by specifically trained and qualified auditors. During the annual on-site-audit the full applicable scope of the Fair for Life Social & Fairtrade Certification Programme is checked in detail. For each control point, the performance of the company is evaluated.
 

Rating for Each Control Point in the Fair for Life Social & FairFrade Certification Programme (Version 4, Feb 08):
0= very poor performance / not compliant at all
1= not yet sufficient, but already on the way towards the norm (good social performance)
2= defined as the "Norm" for good social performance
3= voluntary performance higher than norm, beyond minimum performance
4= exceptionally high performance; outstanding, far beyond minimum performance
M= indicates a "MUST", i.e. this requirement must always be fulfilled for certification
 

For certification, an operator

• must fulfill all MUST-criteria AND
• reach 90% (first year), 95% (second year), 100% (third year) of the Total Norm Points per chapter. Total Norm Points is the sum that would be reached if operator fulfils the norm (rating 2) in every control point.

The Fair for Life certification system always guarantees very high performance and compliance with important minimum social requirements, while also allowing certain flexibility for companies to formulate their individual plan for social improvement.
Flexibility may be needed to implement social improvements in aspects that need time for development. The rating system approach also allows companies to set within clear limits their own priorities to e.g. be really outstanding in some aspects while only doing rather the minimum in others, as most meaningful in their specific local situation. At the same time the system creates an incentive for companies to go beyond the norm and further improve their performance every year.