Social Annex

What is this document about?

This annex includes additional binding content related to the implementation of the Requirements in the Social Chapter and related requirements of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard.

This document includes:

• Remediation Protocol related to Farm requirements 1.5.1, 1.6.2, 5.1.4, and Supply Chain requirements 1.4.1 and 4.1.4.

• Living Wage benchmarks per country related to Farm requirement 5.4.1.

• Additional details on child labor and forced labor related to continuous improvement Farm requirements 5.1.5, 5.1.6, 5.1.7, and 5.1.8.  

• Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes related to Farm requirements 5.8.1. and 5.8.2.

When and how to use this document?

This document provides Certificate Holders with additional information on the referenced requirements of the Rainforest Alliance Standard and how to implement them. Certificate Bodies shall also refer to this document for better understanding of what is required for implementation.  

Changes in update from v1.1 to v1.2

1. Rainforest Alliance Remediation Protocol

This section is applicable to Farm and Supply Chain Certificate Holders

The Remediation Protocol outlines the steps Certificate Holders must follow to effectively remediate cases of child labor, forced labor, discrimination, workplace violence and harassment.

The Certificate Holder’s management must ensure that the Remediation Protocol is immediately implemented once a case is identified, investigated and confirmed.

This section contains the mandatory steps of the Remediation Protocol linked to Farm requirements 1.5.1, 1.6.2, 5.1.4, as well as Supply Chain requirements 1.4.1 and 4.1.4 of the Rainforest Alliance Standard.

Further optional steps and guidance on how to implement remediation activities in accordance with the Protocol are found in the Rainforest Alliance Guidance S: Remediation Protocol.  

1.1 Setting up a Remediation System

The following steps are to prepare for effective remedy by first setting up a remediation system.  

1.1.1 Appointing responsible parties

For Farm Certificate Holders management appoints one or several committee(s) responsible for Grievance Mechanism, Assess-and-Address, and gender equality.  For group certification a responsible person representing management and with decision-making power can be appointed instead of committee(s) for Assess-and-Address, and gender equality.

For Supply Chain Certificate Holders management appoints committee(s) responsible for Grievance Mechanism and Assess-and-Address.

1.1.2 Preparation of a Remediation Plan

The Rainforest Alliance requires Certificate Holders to include a Remediation Plan in their management plan, this ensures quick response when cases are identified. The steps to develop a remediation plan are outlined below.

i. Map Stakeholders

The committee/responsible person for Assess-and-Address must identify internal and external stakeholders who could play a role in remediation such as community leaders, women’s organizations, youth clubs, governmental institutions, NGO’s and human rights organizations.  

See Rainforest Alliance Guidance S: Remediation Protocol for an example of how to map relevant external stakeholders.

ii. Develop a Remediation Plan

The Remediation Plan is developed by the Assess-and-Address committee/ responsible person with support from the Gender Committee/responsible person for Farm Certificate Holders, and on the case of Supply Chain Certificate Holders by the Assess-and-Address Committee/management representative.

The Plan outlines the actions that need to be implemented to remediate a confirmed case and identifies the stakeholders that will be involved. For each action, the plan must clearly specify where and when it will be conducted, the start and end dates, and the responsible persons. The implementation of the plan must be monitored, and progress must be documented.

See Rainforest Alliance Guidance S: Remediation Protocol for an example template for the Remediation Plan.

iii. Training and Awareness raising  

Once the remediation plan is developed, committee(s) members, including the management representative shall be trained on their respective roles when a potential case is discovered or reported.

Group members/workers or employees shall be made aware of the Grievance Mechanism and Remediation Protocol; what their rights are, and how they can access remediation.

1.2 When a Case Happens: Response and Remediation Process

The table below outlines the required grievance and remediation steps, stages, timeframes, and responsible parties for response and remediation for cases of child labor, forced labor, discrimination, workplace violence and harassment.

In certain cases, deviations from the established timeline may be authorized by the Rainforest Alliance, if adequately justified.

Further optional steps and guidance on how to implement the mandatory steps are found in the Rainforest Alliance Guidance S: Remediation Protocol.

2. Child Labor and Forced Labor Risk Maps

This section is applicable to Farm Certificate Holders

The continuous improvement requirements 5.1.5, 5.1.6, 5.1.7, and 5.1.8 of the Rainforest Alliance Standard are applicable when there is a medium or high risk of child labor and/or forced labor, as indicated by the Rainforest Alliance child labor and forced labor risk maps. These risk maps determine the risk for a particular country and sector and can be found here:

https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/resource-item/data-sheet-for-child-labor-and-forced-labor-risk-maps/

More explanations are given on this web page:

https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/in-the-field/manage-risk-with-the-rainforest-alliance-child-labor-and-forced-labor-sectoral-risk-maps/

 3. Living Wage Benchmarks per Country

This section is applicable to Farm Certificate Holders

The recommended Living Wage benchmarks, (including reference values), mentioned in requirement 5.4.1 of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard are available through the Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC). Certificate Holders may also use any other internationally recognized benchmark.

In all cases management needs to make sure to use the updated benchmark. This is usually the available benchmark from the previous calendar year.

For countries without a Living Wage benchmark, the applicable wage should be used for the assessment until a Living Wage benchmark becomes available. In this case, the applicable wage is either the minimum wage or the wage negotiated in a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), whichever is higher and in line with requirement 5.3.3.

Note: The Living Wage assessment does not apply to small farms in group certification.

4. Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Processes

This section is applicable to Farm Certificate Holders

Requirement 5.8.1 of the Rainforest Alliance Standard stipulates that management of large, and individual certified farms respects legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. Activities that affect the land or resource use rights or collective interests of indigenous peoples and local communities, including areas with High Conservation Values (HCV) 5 and 6, are conducted only after obtaining free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).

According to requirement 5.8.2, if indigenous peoples and/or local communities dispute land use rights with the producer, large farms and individually certified farms must follow and FPIC process, as part of the activities to demonstrate legitimate right to use the land.

This section contains the mandatory steps of the FPIC process. Guidance and examples on how to implement the FPIC process are found in Rainforest Alliance Guidance T: Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Processes.  

4.1 Applicability

4.1.1 Projects or Activities for Which an FPIC Process is Required

FPIC is required if any of the following activities are proposed and could have detrimental effects on the rights, land, resources, territories, livelihoods, or food security of indigenous peoples or local communities. FPIC is required if the project or activity will:

1. Convert non-agricultural land into crop production.

2. Convert smallholder cropland used primarily for subsistence or local consumption into land growing crops for trade and consumption outside the local area.

3. Convert traditional grazing lands into other agricultural land uses that exclude or diminish the former grazing activities.

4. Increase water withdrawal in a location to a degree that may significantly reduce the availability of water for other nearby or downstream human users.

5. Eliminate or diminish access of local peoples or communities to natural ecosystems or other areas currently used for hunting, fishing, or extraction of plants or their parts for food, fiber, fuel, medicines, or other products.

6. Take place on or near areas used by local peoples for traditional cultural or religious activities or is classified as High Conservation Value (HCV) areas under the following definitions:

HCV5: Sites and resources fundamental for satisfying the basic necessities of local communities or indigenous peoples (for livelihoods, health, nutrition, water, etc.), identified through engagement with these communities or indigenous peoples.

HCV6: Sites, resources, habitats, and landscapes of global or national cultural, archaeological, or historical significance, as well as those of critical cultural, ecological, economic, or religious/sacred importance to the traditional cultures of local communities or indigenous peoples. These are identified through consultation with these local communities or indigenous peoples.  

The steps below outline how an FPIC process must be conducted. Step 1 (scoping) is required in all FPIC processes. Based on the outcomes of step 1:

1. If the proposed projects or activities do not diminish the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, the applicant is considered compliant with requirement 5.8.1.

2. If the proposed projects or activities diminish the land or resource use rights or collective interests of indigenous peoples or local communities (including HCVs 5 or 6), the applicant is considered compliant only if steps 2 - 6 of Section 4.2 (Conducting the FPIC Process) have been implemented.

4.1.2 Operations Which Do Not Require an FPIC Process

Certified operations that held a valid Rainforest Alliance certificate as of June 1^st, 2020, and are not planning to initiate any projects or activities for which an FPIC process is required (as defined in the section above), or scope expansions after June 1^st, 2020, are considered to have complied with requirement 5.8.1 by virtue of having complied with core criterion 4.20 of the 2017 Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard.

Requirement 5.8.1 is not applicable for operations newly seeking certification from June 1^st, 2020, onward, and which are not planning to initiate any projects or activities for which an FPIC process is required (as defined in the section above).

4.2 Conducting an FPIC Process

A Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process must follow the six steps summarized below.

_{Figure 1: Steps for the Free, Prior and Informed Consent Process}

Step 1 – Scoping

1. Identify indigenous peoples and local communities with potential interests in the land or resources that the farm proposes to develop, appropriate, utilize, or who may be impacted by the proposed activity, project, or expansion.

2. Identify the rights, claims, or interests of these communities to land or resources (e.g., water rights, water access points, or rights to hunt or extract forest products) in or near the site(s) or area(s) of the proposed activity, project, or expansion.

3. Identify any sites, resources, habitats, and landscapes of global or national cultural, archaeological, historical significance, or critical importance for the traditional cultures of local communities or indigenous peoples that may be impacted by the proposed activity, project, or expansion. This identification should be done through engagement with these local communities or indigenous peoples.

4. Identify whether the proposed activity, project, or expansion may diminish the rights, claims, or interests identified in Step 1 – b and c. This is the case in circumstances including, but not limited to, the following:

   1. Land currently used by communities, or members of a community, for primary subsistence activities.

   2. Communities, or members of a community, would cease to have access, or would have diminished access, to natural resources used for local consumption or subsistence.

Step 2 – Planning, research, and assessment

1. Conduct participatory mapping of land and natural resource use.

2. Assess potential impacts (positive and negative) of the project.

3. Involve independent parties to support the mapping and assessment process. Communities have the right to choose an independent party that can support them in the FPIC process. These independent parties could include local NGOs. Independent parties should also be involved in the FPIC process in order to act as an impartial verifier of compliance with the steps and agreements of the FPIC process.

4. Re-define and revise the project, if necessary, to address potential impacts relative to the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Step 3 – Consultation

1. Provide community representatives with a description of project activities, benefits, and impacts, presented in a manner that is accessible and appropriate to community representatives’ education levels and to the cultural context.

2. Allow time for the community to consult internally regarding the acceptability of the proposed project.

3. Consult the community to determine if they will agree to the project (STOP / GO decision), and under what conditions.

4. Re-define and revise the project, if necessary, to address the concerns raised by the community during the consultation.

Step 4 – Negotiation

1. If the community agrees to the project, negotiate terms of agreement for proceeding. These terms should include continued access to the affected lands and resources, fair compensation for loss of use of land and resources proportional to the loss, and/or an equitable share in the project benefits.

2. Facilitate access to legal advice for communities to support them in the negotiation process if necessary. Legal advice and access to independent parties should be available to communities throughout the FPIC process, but especially in the negotiation phase.

3. Develop a plan for participatory monitoring and conflict resolution, which includes an agreed mechanism for the community and its members to raise grievances and have these grievances duly considered and resolved.

Other information

Date of first publication of this document (v 1.0): July 1^st, 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.

Footnotes

1. Timeframe starts from the moment the complaint is received.  ↑

2. The Gender Committee/responsible person is required only for Farm CHs and must be involved in the remediation process in cases of gender-based violence and gender-based discrimination.  ↑

3. If a case is identified by an auditor during an audit, evidence that corrections are undertaken, a root cause analysis took place and corrective actions are planned, is submitted to the CB 10 weeks after the last day of the audit (instead of the 12 weeks). For more information, see Rainforest Alliance’s certification and auditing rules. ↑

4. If a case is identified by an auditor during an audit, the full remediation of a case (stage 4) shall be completed before the next audit and with a maximum of 50 weeks from the last day of the previous audit (instead of the 52 weeks). Evidence of implementation of the corrective action plan shall be sent to the CB at least 2 weeks prior to the next audit. For more information, see Rainforest Alliance’s certification and auditing rules. ↑