Rainforest Alliance Standards Development Procedure v2.0

This document is binding as of August 7^th, 2026 until further notice. To view the previous (now expired) version of this document, click here.

What is this document about?

This document is a revision of the Rainforest Alliance’s (RA) Standards Development Procedure. It sets out the rules of procedure for the developing, reviewing and revising all Rainforest Alliance Standards – including the Sustainable Agriculture Standards (SAS), Regenerative Agriculture Standards (RAS), Supply Chain Standards and any future standards as well as any other relevant standards-related documents.

It defines the actors involved, the stages of standard development and revision, public consultation requirements, urgent revision procedures and publication and record-keeping obligations, framed to align with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems v1.1.

When and how to use this document?

This document is the governing reference for any activity that involves creating, reviewing, revising, or formally updating a Rainforest Alliance Standard or standards-related document. It shall be consulted at the very start of any standard-setting initiative, when the Leadership Team is considering a demand assessment for a new standard, when a scheduled five-year review is approaching, when an urgent substantive change is being considered or when a non-substantive correction needs to be implemented. It is equally relevant at each subsequent stage, i.e. drafting Terms of Reference (ToR), convening Technical Working Groups (TWGs), organizing public consultations, preparing materials for Standards Committee deliberations, documenting Leadership Team approvals and publishing approved documents. Members of the Standard Design Teams, Standards Committee, Leadership Team, technical experts and external stakeholders should all use it to understand the roles and input channels.    

Changes in update from v1.0 to v2.0

1. Introduction

1.1 Scope of the Procedure

1. The Rainforest Alliance Standards Development Procedure (the Procedure) describes the rules of procedure for the development, review and revision of:

   1. RA standards (whether crop-specific, cross-cutting or thematic)

2. RA is a full member of the ISEAL Alliance and as such, the Procedure is designed to align with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems, specifically requirements on Standards Development and Maintenance.

 2. Actors

1. As a multi-stakeholder organization, RA ensures that participation in the development and revision of Standards and standards-related documents considers a balance of interests among parties involved in and affected by the certification program.

2. The table below outlines the actors involved in the Procedure, their functions and their composition.

3. RA Standards Committee(s)

3.1 Role and mandate

1. The RA Standards Committee (Standards Committee or Committee) is an advisory body.

2. It provides structured, multi-stakeholder advice to the RA Standards Design Team and the RA Leadership Team on the development, review and revision of RA Standards.

3. The Committee does not hold approval authority over the Standards or standards-related documents.

4. Approval authority rests with the Leadership Team.

5. The committee provides advice on, among other matters:

   1. Draft Terms of Reference and work program for new or revised standards and standards-related documents

   2. Draft and intermediate versions of the Standards and standards-related documents prior to and following public consultations

   3. The analysis of stakeholder feedback received during consultations, and the way in which material issues have been considered

   4. Feasibility, auditability and proportionality of proposed requirements, in particular for smallholder producer groups

   5. Coherence across the architecture of RA Standards and standards-related documents

   6. Strategic topics relevant to standard-setting, including alignment with ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems

3.2 Committee advice

1. The Committee advice is documented and includes, where relevant, the breakdown of views by the stakeholder category and any minority opinions.

2. The Leadership Team shall have a complete picture of the perspectives represented.

3.3 Comply/Explain Mechanism

1. Where the Leadership Team decides not to follow the advice of the Standards Committee on a material matter, it shall provide a written response to the Committee, setting out the reasons for the divergence.

2. The written response is recorded as part of the committee minutes and a non-confidential summary is published on the RA website.

3.4 Composition

1. The Standards Committee consists of a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 15 individuals, excluding non-voting members who share their knowledge and expertise.

2. The committee shall have recognized expertise in the following areas:

   1. standards and certification

   2. relevant aspects of the RA program

   3. specific RA-certified crops

   4. supply chain segments

3. Members of the Standards Committee shall be appointed by the Leadership Team on proposal by the Standards Design Team. This may be upon an open call for expression of interest published on the RA website or through any other means the Leadership Team deems fit.

4. The selection process and selection criteria are documented and made publicly available.

5. The composition of the Standards Committee shall consider balance according to the categories below:

3.5 Balance Criteria

1. The following additional criteria shall be considered when constituting the Committee to ensure balance:

3.6 Disclosure of balance

1. RA shall publish on its website, the names, affiliations, stakeholder category and country of residence of each Standards Committee member.

2. A balance statement shall be published detailing how the committee meets the balance criteria.

3. The balance statement shall be updated whenever the committee composition changes.

3.7 Sector-specific augmentation

1. In cases where a standard or standard-related document is crop/sector-specific or topic specific, a Technical Working Group (TWG) may be set up to provide additional depth relevant to the crop, geography or topic.

2. The report of the TWG shall be provided to the Standards committee as part of its deliberations.

3.8 Terms, commitments and conduct

1. Members of the Standards Committee shall be appointed for a term of three years.

2. A member shall serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, giving a maximum of six continuous years.

3. Members shall be appointed in a staggered manner to ensure continuity.

4. Committee members shall make the following commitments and meet requirements outlined below:

   1. Willingness to develop a working knowledge of the general operations of RA and the operating environment of the certification program specifically.

   2. Ability to dedicate adequate time to the work of the Committee, including preparatory reading.

   3. Attendance at committee meetings (in person and online) and adequate preparation. There could be up to two in-person meetings per year (each lasting 3-5 days).

   4. Ability to listen to other points of view and to seek positions that reflect the broad interests and feasibility of the certification program, rather than individual or organizational interests.

   5. Support for RA’s mission and standards architecture from the member’s organization.

   6. Disclosure of any participation in other activities that could give rise to a conflict of interest, in line with RA’s impartiality and conflict-of-interest policy.

   7. Must speak fluent English.

5. The committee and RA may agree to discontinue a member’s participation if any of these requirements are not met, or where a conflict of interest cannot be adequately managed.

3.9 Operating rules

1. The Standards Committee is kept informed by the Leadership Team and the Standards Design Team(s) about ongoing development and revision processes, including indicative timelines, work programs and emerging strategic topics relevant to standard-setting.

2. The Standards Committee meets at least twice per calendar year:

   1. At least one meeting per year is held in-person, where feasible, preferably in an RA origin country or region

   2. The remaining meeting in a particular calendar year may be held online.

   3. The Committee may request additional virtual meetings. Such meetings are accommodated by the Leadership Team based on available resources.

3. Committee advice shall be sought, where possible, by consensus; understood as the absence of sustained opposition and not requiring unanimity. Where a consensus is not possible, advice is recorded as a majority position together with any minority views, indicating the stakeholder categories from which they originate.

4. No formal votes are required to adopt the Committee’s advice as the committee is advisory; however, the breakdown of views must be recorded transparently.

5. Advisory deliberations may proceed where at least half plus one of the committee members are present in person, online or by written input, received in advance of the meeting and where no single stakeholder category constitutes a structural majority of those present.

6. The Standards Committee members shall keep confidential and not share with third parties any information they receive in their role as Committee members that is reasonably understood as confidential, unless the disclosing party has given written consent.

7. Information shall not be considered confidential:

   1. If it was known to the receiving party prior to disclosure

   2. If it is or becomes publicly available through no fault of the receiving party

   3. If it is rightfully received from a third party without a duty of confidentiality

8. Draft minutes of all Standards Committee meetings are prepared within one month of a Committee meeting and circulated to members. Final minutes are approved by email. Minutes record the following:

   1. The advice provided

   2. The breakdown of views by stakeholder category, where relevant

   3. Any minority opinions

   4. The Leadership Team’s response to the previous round of advice

9. Non-confidential summaries of minutes shall be published.

10. Membership of the Standards Committee is a voluntary, non-paid position. RA shall cover reasonable expenses associated with attendance at in-person meetings, including economy-class travel, visa costs and accommodation. RA may, where necessary, provide honoraria to enable balanced participation by producer representatives or other under-resourced stakeholders. Such honorarium shall be documented and disclosed.

11. Members who are RA staff appointed to the committee will be required to perform the following roles:

    1. Ensure that proposed advice is technically and operationally implementable within the certification program

    2. Support the Standards Design Team in coordinating the Committee’s work

4. Development of a new Standard or Standard-related document

This section applies to the development of a new RA Standard and to the development of new standards-related documents deemed to fall within the scope of this procedure. For non-substantive issuance and for routine updates of supporting documents, see section 5.3.

4.1 Proposal

1. Based on signals or requests from stakeholders, internal monitoring, regulatory developments or strategic priorities, the Leadership Team may decide to explore the development of a new standard or standard-related document.

2. The Leadership Team shall appoint a responsible person or team within the RA staff to conduct a demand assessment. The demand assessment includes:

   1. The overall goal of the proposed standard or document

   2. An analysis of who needs and will use the Standard or document (e.g. producers, supply chain actors, auditors, regulators, consumers etc.)

   3. A description of how the demand can be met by an RA offering

   4. A problem and risk analysis, including operational, reputational and financial risks

   5. An assessment of the extent to which existing standards fully or partially meet the same goals.

   6. An assessment

3. The Leadership Team will approve any proposal new Standard or document.

4. Upon Leadership Team approval of the proposal, the Standards Design Team is given the mandate to develop the standard. The composition and size of the Standard Design Team depends on the scope and complexity of the standard or document to be developed.

4.2 Preparation

1. The Standards Design Team prepares a time plan setting out intermediate goals and timelines.

2. The Standards Design Team collects information about sustainability and production issues relevant to the Standard or document, including:

   1. Research and policy documents from respected NGOs, research institutes and standards bodies active in the sector

   2. Academic and technical literature

   3. Relevant outputs of industry bodies, roundtable and public-private partnerships

   4. Media coverage and grievance mechanism outputs

   5. Applicable regulatory instruments

   6. RA’s own feedback, monitoring, evaluation and audit data, where available.

3. The Standards Design Team conducts or updates a stakeholder mapping to identify interested sectors, key issues for those sectors and key players within those sectors, including under-engaged or under-represented groups.

4. The Standards Design Team consults and informs relevant stakeholders about the plan to develop the Standard or document, including research institutes, local commodity boards, local NGOs, other voluntary standards initiatives working in the same commodity, industry experts and worker or community representative.

5. The Standards Design Team performs a cross-check with existing RA Standards, standards-related documents and external standards to identify synergies, differences and risks of inconsistency.

6. The Standards Design Team may conduct field visits to major production countries to engage local and international stakeholders

7. Where necessary a TWG is set up as a sounding board, comprised of external experts and must reflect the diversity of the relevant sector. The TWG may form sub-groups to work on specific aspects of the instrument (e.g. social, environmental, agronomic, traceability)

8. The Standards Design Team prepares the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Standard or document. The ToR include:

   1. The proposed scope and intended geographic application

   2. A justification of need, including:

      1. an assessment of the most important sustainability issue failing within scope

      2. an explanation of whether the proposal will meet an expressed need

      3. documentation of other standards or instruments that meet all or part of the expressed need

   3. the social, environmental and economic outcomes the Standard or document seeks to achieve and how these are linked to RA’s mission

   4. an assessment of risks in implementation, including factors that could negatively affect the ability of the Standard or document to achieve its outcomes, unintended consequences and possible corrective actions.

   5. A feasibility and auditability statement (consistent with section 6.8 of the ISEAL Code) including a preliminary view on practicability for smallholder producer groups.

   6. A Theory of Change (ToC) is also developed that outlines sustainability outcomes that the standard aims to address.

   7. The intended sustainability claims that the standard will substantiate.

9. The ToR is submitted to the Standards Committee for advice and then to the Leadership Team for approval. The Leadership Team shall respond to the Standards Committee’s advice in writing.

10. Upon the approval by the Leadership Team, the ToR and the time plan are published on the RA website.

4.3 Stakeholder Engagement

This section applies to the stakeholders involved in feedback related to RA Standards and of standards-related documents deemed to fall within the scope of this Procedure.

1. The Rainforest Alliance maintains contact information of stakeholders who have engaged with the scheme and consults with the communications team as well as any regional team to regularly update the contact list.

   1. Rainforest Alliance maintains a procedure outside of this document across various teams to manage this stakeholder contact list and provides a mechanism for new stakeholders to identify themselves

2. For each development or revision process, the stakeholders involved will be provided with clear instructions on how and where to provide feedback before and after the consultation process.

3. Rainforest Alliance conducts a review of potential under-represented stakeholders and ensures they have proper mechanisms to provide feedback and contributions. (ISEAL 3.4)

4.4 Drafting and consultation

1. The Standards Design team develops version 0.1 of the Standard or document based on the ToR, RA technical input, findings of research and any other relevant source of information, including TWG advice and local expertise.

2. The version 0.1 is submitted to the Standards Committee for advice and then to the Leadership Team for approval before release for public consultation. The Leadership Team’s decision and its written response to the Committee’s advice is recorded.

3. Upon Leadership Team approval, the Standards Design Team publishes version 0.1 on the RA website or Knowledge Hub for a first round of public consultation lasting a minimum of sixty days from the date of publication. The consultation is announced through the RA communication channels.

4. Stakeholders shall be provided with appropriate and balanced opportunities to contribute. An online feedback tool is made available on the RA website. The Standards Design Team may organize in-person meetings, workshops or webinars.

5. The Standards Design Team shall take steps to proactively address barriers faced by under-represented stakeholders, with particular attention to smallholder producers, workers and community representatives.

6. On the basis of the comments received, RA technical inputs and any additional research (e.g. field pilots or other testing initiatives) or specialist advice (e.g. TWG), the Standards Design Team prepares version 0.2.

7. Version 0.2 together with a summary of comments received during the first round of consultation and an explanation of how each topic was considered is submitted to the Standards Committee for advice and then to the Leadership Team for approval. This is followed by the release of version 0.2 for a second round of public consultation for at least thirty (30) days.

8. Version 0.3 is prepared based on the comments received from the second round and submitted to the Standards Committee for advice and then to the Leadership Team for approval. Where substantive unresolved issues persist or insufficient feedback has been received, the Standards Committee may recommend an additional round of public consultation. The Leadership Team decides on such additional consultation, providing a written response to the committee’s advice.

4.5 Approval  

1. The Leadership Team approves the final draft of the Standard or document submitted for approval. The Leadership Team’s approval is based on overall assessment of:

   1. adherence to this procedure

   2. alignment with RA strategy

   3. the Standards Committee’s advice

   4. Leadership Team’s responses to the advice of the Standards Committee

   5. Feasibility and auditability assessment(s)

2. The Leadership Team uses consensus decision-making to come to a final conclusion. If there is no consensus between members, the concerns raised by the Leadership Team are taken into consideration by the Standards Design Team and amendments are made.

3. Upon Leadership Team approval, the Standards Design Team publishes on the RA website or Knowledge Hub the following:

   1. The approved Standard or Document

   2. A summary of comments received during the second (and any subsequent) rounds of consultation

   3. Non-confidential summary of Standards Committee’s advice on the final draft

   4. Leadership Team’s written response to the Standards Committees advice on the final draft

5. Review and revision

This section applies to the review and revision of RA Standards, and of standard-related documents deemed to fall within the scope of this Procedure.

5.1 Proposal

1. RA reviews each Standard at least once every five (5) years to assess continued relevance and effectiveness in meeting its stated objectives.

2. Standards-related documents are reviewed in line with the Standard to which they are related, and additionally where feedback, regulatory or operational developments require an interim review.

3. The Standards Design Team may conduct a review based on inputs or upon the request of the Leadership Team.

4. The review shall take into account, among other inputs:

   1. Information gathered from stakeholder input, including feedback

   2. Auditing results and findings from oversight activities

   3. RA’s monitoring, evaluation and learning outputs including assessments of the effectiveness of the standard, client sustainability performance, and occurrence of unintended negative effects

   4. New knowledge, science or practice

   5. Changes in regulatory landscape

   6. Advice of the Standards Committee

   7. Any urgent or substantive revision implemented since the last revision of the standard

5. The review results in a proposal can lead to a full revision, partial revision or no revision.

   1. In the case that the review determines no revision is necessary, Rainforest Alliance reaffirms the standard, and communicates about this via the website along with rationale and establishes a date for the next revision.

6. The proposal is submitted to the Standards Committee for advice and then to the Leadership Team for approval.

5.2 Preparation and revision process

1. The preparation and revision process follows sections 4.2 and 4.3 and includes the following adjustments:

   1. The time plan and updated ToR reflect the review findings and the scope of the revision whether full or partial.

   2. At least one round of consultation of at least thirty days is held for a standards revision. Additional rounds may be held where the Leadership Team deems necessary having considered the advice of the Standard’s Committee.

   3. Standard requirements are mapped with the Certification and Auditing rules and can be a part of the consultation process if deemed necessary.

   4. For partial revisions, clear communications are sent outlining which parts of the Standard or document are open for consultation  

   5. Where substantive unresolved issues persist or where insufficient feedback was received, the Standards committee may recommend an additional round of public consultation.

   6. The Leadership Team decides on the Standards Committee recommendation for additional consultation in writing.

2. Approval follows section 4.4.

5.3 Non-substantive revisions

1. Where the proposed change to a Standard or standards-related document is non-substantive (e.g. the correction of clerical errors, formatting changes or minor language clarifications that do not alter the meaning or stringency of a requirement), no formal revision process is required.

2. Such changes shall be documented in a public change log and notified at the next review and revision cycle.

5.4 Urgent revisions

1. Where an urgent substantive change to a Standard or Standard-related document is required (e.g. in response to a serious risk identified through feedback, audit findings, significant regulatory developments, or reputational risk concerns), the Standards Design Team shall define an appropriate accelerated procedure. As a minimum, such procedure includes:

   1. Publication on the RA website or Knowledge Hub, the proposed change, reasoning and the urgency

   2. Identification and consultation of key stakeholders directly affected. Attention is given to producers and workers.

   3. Targeted advice from the Standards Committee is sought in an appropriate manner and within a short timeframe. This may be either in writing or in an extraordinary online meeting

   4. A written response from the Leadership Team to the advice of the Standards Committee

   5. Approval by the Leadership Team where the change is to the Standard.

   6. Consultation of the urgent revision into the next review cycle, including justification and documentation as required by the ISEAL code.

6. Rules and Policies

6.1 Rules

The development, review, revision, and approval of Rainforest Alliance Certification Rules, Auditing Rules, and Rules for Certification Bodies are managed through a separate internal procedure and do not fall within the scope of this Standards Development Procedure. Where revisions to these documents are necessary as a result of changes to a Rainforest Alliance Standard, the responsible document owners shall ensure alignment between the Standard and the relevant Rules through the applicable internal governance process.

6.2 Policies

Policies are managed on a case-by-case basis and are not automatically subject to the requirements of this Procedure. The governance, review, consultation, and approval process applied to a policy shall be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature, content, geographic scope, crop, risk, urgency, and intended use of the policy.

7. Publication and records

1. All approved Standards and standards-related documents are published on the RA website or Knowledge Hub, a minimum of three months prior to the binding date.

2. Upon publication, Rainforest Alliance ensures that the standard(s) are consistently interpreted and applied through supporting and/or guidance documents for different relevant stakeholders.

3. Drafts, final Standards and standards-related documents shall at all times be available in English (the official language of RA).

4. Where other languages are required, especially to support the use of the document by smallholders and producer organizations, RA shall ensure translations are made available in the relevant languages.

5. Each published Standard or standard-related document includes at least:

   1. The date of approval and the date of the next planned review

   2. The transition period by which a revised Standard or document comes into effect

   3. RA’s contact details

   4. An invitation to stakeholders to send feedback and proposals for future revisions

   5. Information on how to submit complaints about the Procedure, the Standard or document with reference to RA’s publicly available complaints and disputes mechanism

   6. A statement that electronic copies are available at no cost

   7. A statement that the English version is the guiding and only binding version

   8. The languages in which the Standard or document is available

   9. A copyright statement

   10. The intended scope of the standard

   11. The intended sustainability outcomes

   12. The justification and need of the standard

   13. The intended sustainability claims that the standard will substantiate

6. RA shall keep on file for at least five years the following records related to each standards development or revision process and make them available to stakeholders on request:

   1. The policies and procedures guiding the standards-setting activity

   2. List of stakeholders contacted

   3. Records of stakeholders involved at each stage of the process

   4. Comments received and a summary of how the comments were considered

   5. Standards Committee advice and Leadership Team written responses to the advice

   6. All draft and final versions of the Standard or document.  

7. RA recognizes the existing Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) Standard as fully equivalent to the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard.

Other information

Date of first publication of this document (v1.0): January 2018

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?

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