Title: | Guidance to Define if an Organization is in Scope of Certification |
Code: | A-58-SRCL-N-CH |
Version: | 1.2 |
Applies to: | Farm and Supply Chain Certificate Holders |
Enforceability: | Non-binding content |
Effective by: | August 28th, 2026 |
Expires by: | Until further notice |
Published on: | August 28th, 2026 |
Linked to | A-15-SRCL-B-FA-V1.1 Rainforest Alliance Certification Rules for FarmA-17-SCRL-B-SC-V1.1 Rainforest Alliance Certification and Auditing Rules for Supply Chain |
Replaces: | SA-G-GA-43-V1.1 Guidance to define if an Organization is in Scope of Certification |
What is this document about?
Several factors influence whether an organization is in scope of certification for the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program. This guidance supports organizations to understand whether they need to register as a Farm or Supply Chain Actor in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform (RACP) and get certified under our program.
The Rainforest Alliance distinguishes between Farms and Supply Chain Actors in our certification platform. A farm that is purchasing product from another farm should register as a Farm Certificate Holder, even if they also perform supply chain activities. There is no dual certification option such as Farm + Supply Chain.
When and how to use this document?
Whether an organization needs to go through registration and get certified depends on the types of activities it is involved with. Certification is required up to the final product manufacturer (for most crops) but not further to the retail or brand owner. Please see the Traceability Guidance for more information on where traceability ends per crop.
For the purposes of this document, we define unfinished product as product that could not be sold onward to a retailer and requires further processing, packing and/or labelling.
In general, an entity is in scope of certification if any of the following apply:
It is a site or subcontractor and is involved in the processing of certified products.
It is a site that purchases and sells certified unfinished products.
It is a site that purchases and sells certified unfinished products and performs packing.
It is a site that purchases certified unfinished products but does not make a claim on them.
It is involved in farming activities.
It is a site or subcontractor who takes physical possession of unfinished product and is in a country that is medium or high risk for social topics according to the Rainforest Alliance Risk Maps.
In general, an entity is out of scope of certification if any of the following apply:
It is only a transportation or distribution entity that does not physically modify the product in any way.
It is a site or subcontractor who distributes a final consumer facing product and does not make any modifications to the product.
It is a Retail and/or Brand Owner who only purchases finished product and does not perform packing or processing activities.
It is a subcontractor and/or storage facility who is not processing and is not in a country that is medium or high risk for social topics according to the Rainforest Alliance Risk Maps.
It is an entity not responsible for making purchasing and sales decisions, but issues contracts on behalf of the legal entity responsible (ie; an intercompany finance entity).
NOTE: Organizations that are out of scope for certification do not need to go through the certification flow and obtain a certificate in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform.
Overview of changes in this version
Scoping | Who falls in an out of scope for certification under Supply Chain Standard v1.5, in accordance with the Certification and Auditing Rules for Supply Chain v1.1 |
Activity Examples | Clarity through new and different examples |
Examples Per Activity or Entity
Activity or Entity | Certification Required? |
Farms | |
Farming All farming activities used for agricultural production as well as processing activities of certified volumes on farm level. | |
Example 1: Coffee beans being grown on a coffee plantation. | Yes |
Example 2: Hazelnuts being grown on a farm and cracking also happens on the farm. | Yes |
Supply Chain Actors | |
Packing The process of putting products into a package, or repacking products in a different package. Packing takes place at different stages in the supply chain and includes final consumer-facing product packing. In the tea sector, bulking is considered packing for the purposes of Rainforest Alliance certification. | |
Example 1: A packer receives green coffee in jute bags. The jute bags are opened, and green coffee is re-bagged into bigger bags. Note: Coffee that is first sorted then packed is still considered a packing activity. | Yes |
Example 2: A packer taking legal ownership of the product receives an already packed chocolate and puts it in an outer box (or different pack) on which it applies the seal. | Yes |
Example 3: A packer receives avocado in boxes, removes them from the boxes and repackages them for sale to another entity. | Yes |
Example 4: A subcontracted packer in Germany (a non-social risk country) performing only coffee packing activities. | No |
Trading The process of purchasing and selling certified unfinished product (taking legal ownership) without modifying or physically handling the certified product. | |
Example 1: A cocoa exporter buying and selling cocoa powder. | Yes |
Example 2: An importer trading branded fresh fruit (who is not also a retailer). | Yes |
Example 3: An importer trading branded fresh fruit who is the retailer. | No |
Processing inc Manufacturing The process of physically altering certified product resulting in a different output (e.g. manufacturing, roasting, blending, milling, etc.) | |
Example 1: A cake manufacturer mixing cocoa powder with other ingredients to produce cakes. | Yes |
Example 2: A subcontractor who manufactures cookie dough on behalf of a brand. | Yes |
Example 3: A facility that processes cocoa liquor into cocoa butter. | Yes |
Example 4: A bakery who purchases finished, labelled chocolate chips from a Retailer to make cookies that they then sell directly to consumers. In this case the bakery is out of scope since they are purchasing a finished, labelled product and traceability has already ended. | No |
Warehousing The process of storing certified product without making any modifications to it. An entity buying and selling is not considered a warehouse and should refer to the Trading activities above. Warehousing can occur at various stages in the supply chain and thus involve unfinished or final consumer-facing products. | |
Example 1: A warehouse that also performs blending, roasting or other processing activities. This would be considered a processor but may be referred to as a warehouse in some regions. | Yes |
Example 2: A warehouse that only stores green coffee but is located in a country designated as medium or high risk for social topics. | Yes |
Example 3: A warehouse that stores finished labeled coffee products ready for consumption not located in a country designated as medium or high risk for social topics. | No |
Example 4: A warehouse/ripening facility that is only used to store bananas while they ripen. No other activity is performed. They are not located in a country designated as medium or high risk for social topics. | No |
Example 5: A warehouse that only stores green coffee until it is purchased by another organization (whether the buyer is already known or not). No other activity is performed at that location. They are not located in a country designated as medium or high risk for social topics. | No |
Retail and Brand Owner Brand Owners are the owners of the brand that the final manufactured product using RA certified ingredients is packed and sold under. Retailers are the entities selling a finished, labeled product. Organizations can be retailers AND brand owners, in the case where retailers sell products under their own private label brands | |
Example 1: An entity that is only selling finished, labelled certified product. | No* |
Example 2: An entity that is using a subcontractor who is not independently certified to process product on their behalf. They then sell this product under their own brand. | Yes |
Transportation only Any organization that only engages in transporting (e.g. by trucking, plane, boat, etc.) the certified product, without making any modifications to it. | |
Example: Logistics organization that drives green coffee bags from the farm to the wet processing facility. | No |
Final product distributor Any organization that purchases and sells already packaged and labeled final consumer-facing products ready for consumption. | |
Example: Organization receives already packaged and labeled products (e.g. chocolate bars) from the final manufacturer and transports them to a retailer. | No |
Subcontractor An organization contracted by another organization to perform activities such as packing or processing on their behalf. A subcontractor is never the legal owner of the certified product. | |
Example 1: A subcontractor who is using cocoa liquor to produce a chocolate bar. | Yes |
Example 2: A subcontractor who is packing product in a non-social risk country. | No |
Design Agency An organization contracted by another organization for the design of packages of final consumer-facing products using Rainforest Alliance’s certification seal. | No |
Intracompany Finance Entities An entity within the same legal structure as the actual certificate holder, and which is solely responsible for payment of the Rainforest Alliance Certified product. The payment entity does not make purchasing contracts and decisions with regards to the Rainforest Alliance Certified product. | |
Example: Organization X has multiple sites in one region. Site A handles all purchase and sale contracts and dictates volumes of Rainforest Alliance Certified product purchased. Site B facilitates the payment on behalf of site A to suppliers. In this case site B does not require certification. | No |
Banks/Financiers An entity providing funds to another entity for the purchase of certified volumes. | |
Example 1: A bank/financier is providing funds to organization X for them to be able to trade. Apart from providing the funds, the bank/financier does not legally own the certified volumes or perform any other activities with those volumes. | No |
Example 2: Similar to Example 1, but the bank/financier becomes legal owner of the certified volumes (even if just temporarily) and may sell the volume on to a different entity. | Yes |
*where Retail and Brand Owners fall out of scope for certification, they still are required to register in MyRA. Some may be responsible for online traceability; (for example, fresh fruit importers). Please see the Traceability Guidance for more information.
For any further questions on scoping, please contact customersuccess@ra.org.
Other information
Date of first publication of this document (v 1.0): January 31st, 2022
Documents indicated as “binding” must be complied with for certification. Documents indicated as “non-binding” provide non-mandatory information to help readers understand and implement requirements and other binding content.
Translation Disclaimer
For any question related to the precise meaning of the information in a translation, consult the official English version for clarification. Any errors or differences in meaning due to translation are not binding and have no effect for auditing or certification purposes.
Reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of this content is strictly forbidden without prior written consent from Rainforest Alliance.
More information?
For help in obtaining a Rainforest Alliance certificate reach out to our Customer Success team at customersuccess@ra.org
For more information about Rainforest Alliance, visit http://www.rainforest-alliance.org contact info@ra.org or the Rainforest Alliance Amsterdam Office, De Ruijterkade 6, 1013AA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.