Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Farm Certification process

Kickstart your certification journey by following the steps below. Have a question? Reach out to us directly. Our experts will guide you through the certification scope that aligns best with your company setup and needs.

Step 1: Certificate application 
Complete registration on the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform (RACP), To ensure sufficient time for audit preparation and scheduling, we kindly request that you complete the registration at least four months prior to the audit. 

Step 2: Certification preparation
Ensure full alignment with the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard and the Certification Rules and Policies and relevant local laws. This involves setting up an integrated farm planning and management system covering procedures, plans, and records, assigning responsibilities and training relevant staff.

Step 3: On-site evaluation
Audits are typically onsite, including a thorough review of documents, interviews with key personnel, traceability analysis, and visits to your organisation's fields and facilities.

Step 4: Audit report
Post-audit, we provide a report detailing results and any identified non-conformities. Correcting these issues is necessary before certificate issuance.

Step 5: Obtaining certificate
The report undergoes internal quality review, and upon a favorable decision, the certificate is issued.

Complaints and resolutions

If a complaint is raised about our certification services or one of our clients, we handle this in accordance with our Dispute Resolution Policy. We may call on our Impartiality Committee if Preferred by Nature’s impartiality is under question.

2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard: Farm Requirements

The Farm Requirements provides a practical framework for sustainable agriculture, with a targeted set of innovations to help farmers produce better crops, adapt to climate change, increase productivity, set goals to achieve sustainability performance, and target investments to address their greatest risks.

This Standard is designed to support certificate holders in maximising the positive social, environmental and economic impact of agriculture, while offering farmers an enhanced framework to improve their livelihoods and protect the landscapes where they live and work.

>> Access the Farm Requirements

Supporting policies

While the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard forms the foundation of Rainforest Alliance certification, it is complemented by supportive policies. For certain countries and topics, additional policies have been developed as needed.

The Sustainable Agriculture Standard is rooted in the following sustainability principles: Management, Traceability, Natural Resource Conservation, Income and Shared Responsibility, Farming, Social, and Environment.

>> Visit the Rainforest Alliance Resource Library