May 24th 2024

Key updates

All-staff webinar on the Staircase - keep information internal only

I hope that you are as excited as I am after hearing the all-staff webinar on our Staircase model. Many people across the organization are working hard to put all the pieces of the puzzle together so we launch according to the timelines presented. We look forward to onboarding previously unreached farmers with our Core Program (foundational), serving our existing certified partners with the improved certification proposition of our Advanced Program, and supporting sustainability front-runners with our Climate, Regenerative Agriculture and Living Wage offerings.

The Staircase Oversight and Advisory Roundtable (SOAR) is exploring the most efficient way to keep internal stakeholders and the organization at large updated. For now, as was shared during the All-staff on 15 May, we ask our staff not to communicate anything about the Staircase externally, unless given specific approval, and guidance on what needs to be in place by Staircase Steerco members: Santiago, Ria, Ruth, Paula, Mercedes, Franck, Karen.

Please note that this ban on external communication regarding the Staircase includes communicating anything about changing current program requirements, or requirements potentially not being mandatory anymore to Certificate Holders.  Communication on these topics will be managed centrally when we have a clear communication strategy signed off by our Leadership Team.

If you have missed the all-staff webinar or you would like to see it again, you can find the link here.

EUDR: Full auditing flow for EUDR now supported in the RACP!

From May 21st onwards CBs can submit license requests with audited EUDR requirements and we are able to store that data for upcoming SC reports. 

Important: As part of this release there is a change to the self- assessment template: a new column for CB auditing. For audits for which the checklist is uploaded on May 21st or later, CBs must use the latest version of the checklist available in the RACP from 21st May onwards. 

What is included in this release:  

• New data points from audit checklist for reporting: conformity instead of only non-conformity, closure status of NC. 
• Changes to the audit checklist will also be visible to farm CHs in the CH self-assessment file 
• Logic to verify checklist closure against RACP data of CH
• QoI can identify from license request screen if the CH has opted in to EUDR and if they passed requirements 

What’s is next in Q3 / Q4? 

• External list of farm CHs audited with EUDR requirements (based on active licenses with conformity to EUDR requirements) 
• EUDR due diligence SC report showing farm data for transactions in their supply chain 
• Continuous improvement of the EUDR progress & monitoring report 
• An internal process to allow a CH to opt-in for EUDR after the audit has happened

You can find our EUDR resources via this link.

If you have any feedback or questions about EUDR, please log them in our Q&A log!

Events

Webinar on Creating Credibility with Assurance

Have you ever wondered how our assurance program works alongside a variety of other activities to strengthen the credibility of our certification program? The Corporate Affairs and Assurance teams joined forces to answer this question in an all-staff webinar, hosted on 21 May 2024.

This article captures the webinar recording and the accompanying slide deck, which cover a variety of assurance-related topics, including insights from key teams like Frameworks, Assurance Systems, Quality of Implementation, and Knowledge Sharing. These teams provide valuable insights into what they do, how they work alongside one another, and highlight their key achievements from 2023 and plans for 2024. Webinar hosts bust some of our most commonly heard assurance-related myths, and discuss in greater detail our assurance approach to human rights and assurance data. The webinar and slide deck finish by equipping the audience with a handy list of resources, and tips for how to communicate with confidence about our certification program’s credibility.

For more information, please contact Robbie Hogervorst or the respective team managers - you can find them in the deck. 

CB training in NYC

In early May, the QoI North team hosted their first CB training in New York City. Three different CBs with scopes covering the US and Canada attended (Preferred by Nature, SCS Global and Control Union). The training was held over 3 days with a site visit to an RA certified coffee roaster, Joe Coffee. Topics covered in the training included traceability, origin matching mass balance, conversion rates, auditing gender and grievance requirements, an SCRA overview and how to properly identity and close non-conformities. A special thank you to the AP Training, QoI LATAM and Frameworks teams for supporting this kick-off training!