Policy on the Implementation of the Regenerative Agriculture Standard

This document is currently binding, as of March 1^st, 2026. It will remain binding until further notice.

Purpose

On September 8^th, 2025, Rainforest Alliance released the Regenerative Agriculture Standard (RAS). The Regenerative Agriculture Standard will first be available to farm CHs as an add-on to the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard (SAS). This policy sets out the additional certification and auditing rules for farm CHs for the implementation of the RAS as an add-on to SAS certification. These rules shall be implemented alongside the existing, binding Certification Rules for Farm v1.1 and Auditing Rules for Farms v1.1.

Where not specified, the rules and procedures from the Certification Rules for Farms v1.1 and Auditing Rules for Farms v1.1 apply.

Overview of changes in this version

Certification Rules for SAS

1. Certification Scope

   1. Certification for the Regenerative Agriculture Standard is possible as an additional certification for new or existing Certificate Holders (CHs) that are already certified for, or will be pursuing certification, for the Sustainable Agriculture Standard.

   2. The RAS may be added on to the certification scope for the entire farm CH. All farms and/or group members of the CH shall have the same certification scope.

   3. If not all farms and/or group members are ready to add the RAS onto their SAS certificate, the CH may split into two CHs to facilitate the different certification scopes.

      1. CHs that are splitting shall register in the RACP as two separate CHs and shall ensure that they have quality management systems reflecting the two different certification scopes.

      2. CHs that split to facilitate the RAS add-on shall keep certified volumes from their two CHs segregated.

         For example: A CH with 100 group members may have 50 members that would like to continue with SAS and 50 members that are ready for SAS and RAS. The CH would register the SAS and RAS group members as a separate CH in the RACP. The CH would then undergo two audits: one for the SAS-only members and another for the SAS and RAS members.

2. Certification Cycles

   1. Farm CHs shall add RAS into their certification scope in preparation for their next SAS audit. RAS may only be added on during the usual audit cycle. It is not possible for a CH to add RAS to their certification scope with an extension audit.

   2. The initial audit for RAS can be conducted at any stage of the harvest cycle.

   3. A CH may add RAS to their certification scope for their existing audit, regardless of the year in the certification cycle. The point in the certification cycle remains the same as their existing SAS certificate.

   4. When RAS is added to the certification scope, the CH must perform internal inspections for all producers in the scope. For indicators however, CHs collect indicator data for RAS based on the same sample of farms used for collecting SAS indicators.

   5. The scope for the first RAS audit will include all RAS specialized requirements, regardless of the point in the audit cycle for SAS.

   6. Until the CH’s next certification audit, the RAS audits are considered as transition audits and do not count toward the certification year. If the CH chooses to include RAS in their certification scope during their certification audit, that audit will serve as a certification audit for both the SAS and RAS standards at the same time.

   7. The CH will have a first certification audit for RAS at the same time as their certification audit for SAS. At the time of the next certification audit, SAS continues in its cycle while RAS begins its first certification cycle.

   8. If the CH is eligible for incentives as described in the Certification Rules for Farms, the incentives still apply for their SAS certification. The incentives do not apply for RAS certification during the transition period.

      1. If the CH is eligible for the incentive to skip a second surveillance audit for SAS, the CH may keep this incentive.

      2. When adding RAS to the scope, the incentive sample size applies for SAS, but not for RAS.

1. If the CH is eligible for the incentive to skip a second surveillance audit for SAS, the CH may keep this incentive.

2. When adding RAS to the scope, the incentive sample size applies for SAS, but not for RAS.

3. Certification Process

   1. CHs pursuing RAS certification shall follow the certification process as laid out in Table 1 of the Certification Rules for Farm v.1.1, with the following additions.

      1. In preparation for their next audit, CHs interested in being certified for the RAS shall add RAS to their certification scope in the RACP.

      2. Collect and submit RAS indicator data in addition to the SAS indicator data, in accordance with the Indicator Annex.

      3. In addition to the documents specified in the Certification Rules for Farm, the following documents shall be shared with the CB, either prior to the audit or during the audit. If the CH cannot provide all documents before the audit, the CB shall review them during the audit.  

1. Pesticide application records

2. Farm soil assessments

3. Farm fertilization plan

4. Integrated Weed Management (IWM) plan

5. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan

6. Other documents as requested by the CB

4. Nonconformities and possible consequences

   4. CHs shall ensure closure of nonconformities before the deadline of 10 weeks after the audit.

   5. Nonconformities for RAS add-on requirements may not be closed with a corrective action plan.

   6. Nonconformities on indicator data do not require a corrective action plan and may be closed simply with a correction.

   7. It is possible for a CH to have a positive certification decision for one standard and a non-certification/cancelation decision for the other. In this case, the CH shall wait the applicable waiting period before they can pursue certification for the relevant standard.

   8. In case an investigation audit is needed, the CB shall suspend the certificate covering both standards. After investigation, if the decision is positive, the CB may reinstate the certificate for one or both standards.

   9. The Rainforest Alliance will perform a quality review of each RAS certificate and may request additional materials from the CB or CH to approve certification.

   10. The Rainforest Alliance may perform additional quality checks at any point of the certification process, including after the certificate is issued. This quality monitoring may lead to nonconformities, non-certification, or sanctions for the CB or CH.

5. Incentives

   4. CHs eligible for incentives as outlined in 3.4 of the Certification Rules for Farms remain eligible for those incentives for the SAS portion of the audit.

   5. If the CH is eligible for a reduced sample size, only that portion of the farm sample needs to be verified against the SAS checklist.

   6. If the CH is eligible to skip their second surveillance audit for SAS, then only RAS add-on requirements need to be audited.

Auditing Rules for RAS

6. Audit Preparation and Sampling

   6. The CB shall follow the minimum audit duration as specified in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform.

   7. If the CH is undergoing an audit for both RAS and SAS, they remain eligible for the reduced farm sample size for the SAS. The CB shall still use the full audit size for RAS.

   8. The CB may increase the sample size of producers to verify the RAS requirements.

   9. Sampling for indicators;

      For farm groups: 50% of the producers visited shall be internally inspected and have indicator data. The CB shall verify the indicators for those producers, as well as those at the group management level.

   10. Sampling for specific RAS requirements

7. Auditing Specific Topics

   1. For farm groups: Where the standard specifies a specific percentage of group members that should be compliant, the CB shall focus on verifying the management system and records for those requirements at the group management level.

   2. Auditing Soil Fertility and Conservation (4.4.7)

      1. The CB shall verify at the management system level that there is a system in place for soil assessments.

      2. The CB shall verify that records reflect that at least 20% of group members have had a soil assessment.

Other information

Date of first publication of this document (v 1.0): December 2^nd, 2025

Policies are binding. Policies complement and/or supersede related rules or requirements for the parties they are applicable to.

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.

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