Rainforest Alliance new Claims platform & FAQ
  • 20 Feb 2024
  • 11 Okunan dakika
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Rainforest Alliance new Claims platform & FAQ

  • Pdf

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The Rainforest Alliance is excited to share that the new Claims platform is live as of 18 December 2023, hence replacing the previous labeling approval system Marketplace 2.0. 
All organizations that wish to receive approval for the use of our trademarks need to request approval in the new Claims platform. The new platform is accessible through logging in to the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform(RACP).


On this page, you will find general information about the Claims platform and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ).

Access to the new Claims platform

Please follow the instructions outlined below depending on the scenario that applies to you.

Your organization already has an account in the RACP

You are responsible for requesting artwork approval and have a login to the RACP account of your organization

If you already have a login to your organization’s account in the RACP (example: #RA_0000000), you have access to the new Claims platform by default. No further action is required. Simply log in to your account and navigate to the "Claims” tab.

You are responsible for requesting artwork approval and do not have access to your organization’s RACP account

To get access to the RACP and request approval for claims, contact your account administrator to be added as a new user. 

You can only add users to your RACP account if you are the account administrator and have been assigned the “Admin” role. To add users as an account administrator, click on “Users” under the Organization tab and select “Add New User.”   

Once you have been added as a user, simply log in to the RACP account and navigate to the “Claims” tab.

You had an account in Marketplace 2.0, but your organization does not have an account in the RACP

Please note the following information does not apply to design agencies and Forest Allies.

  1.  Register your organization account in the RACP by clicking this link and selecting the appropriate registration option. Note: Select the registration option “Other organization” only if you are not in scope for certification. 
  2. Once your account has been approved and you have logged in, upload or sign a License Agreement (2020 Version).
    • If you already have a valid License Agreement (2020 Version), please upload it to the RACP.
    •  If you have not signed a License Agreement (2020 Version) yet, please request and sign it in the RACP. You can sign it with DocuSign or print, sign, and upload the document. 
    • You can find more information on how to upload and/or sign in the “License Agreement (2020 Version)” chapter of the User Manual.
  3.  If you are required to obtain a certification license, consult this page to get started.  You will only be able to receive approval for your claims once you have obtained a certification license. 
  4. To access the Claims platform, simply navigate to the “Claims” tab of your RACP account.

You are a design agency

If you are a design agency and were registered in Marketplace 2.0., you are now required to register your organization in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform (RACP) by following this link to create an account and continue submitting approval requests. 

Once logged in, you will directly land on the Claims page from which you can access the platform, by clicking on “Go to your Claims account”. Note that you can only access your Claims account if at least one of your clients has added your organization as a delegate. For more information, consult the Delegation Process section of this article.

You are a part of the Forest Allies initiative

  1. Forest Allies are required to register their organization in the RACP and create an account to continue submitting claim requests.  Register as Forest Allies in the RACP.
  2. Once logged in, you will directly land on the Claims page from which you can access the platform, by clicking on “Go to your Claims account”.


Migration

Approved requests (within their validity period) from RA2020 accounts have been migrated to the new Claims platform. Please refer to the examples listed in the table below to identify which requests were eligible for migration.

Type of request

Migrated

Approved request from RA2020 account (example RA_000#########) expiring in January 2024

Yes

Approved within their validity period originally submitted from UTZ and/or RA2017 account and successfully consolidated with RA2020 account

Yes

Approved request from UTZ account or RA2017 account 

No

Expired request before December 2023 from RA2020 account

No

Pending License Agreement2020 request from RA2020 account. 

No

For any questions related to non-migrated requests, please reach out to our Customer Success team at customersuccess@ra.org.

Delegation Process:

Any organization (e.g., brand owners, retailers) that delegates the submission of approval requests to other organizations (such as private label manufacturers and design agencies) are responsible for setting up delegations in the RACP before they can start submitting claims on their behalf.

Once a delegation has been set by the brand owner/retailer, Claims submitted by other organizations (“delegates”) on behalf of them will appear in the brand owners’/retailers’ Claims overview. 

Brand owners/retailers for which organizations are submitting approval requests on their behalf must therefore:

  • Be registered in the RACP 
  • Have a valid Legal Agreement in the RACP (either by uploading an existing one or signing a new one in the RACP)
  • Have completed their certification information (e.g. which crop and traceability level they are handling) 
  • Have actively selected and authorized organizations in the new Claims platform to upload approval requests on their behalf by adding them as a delegate.

For more information, please refer to Chapter 2 of the Claims Platform User Manual.

FAQ

General

What is a claim?  

A claim is a story about your product or your ingredient that is assured, verified, and compliant with our standard and guidelines. Whether you want to use our certification seal on your products or add a general statement about your sustainability commitments related to your partnership with the Rainforest Alliance on your website, a claim helps you in raising consumer awareness. In all cases, use of claims must be submitted in the new platform for review and approval by the Rainforest Alliance.  

Why is Marketplace 2.0 no longer be used for claims? 


As part of our continuous improvement, a new platform was introduced which is more agile and has more efficient functionalities. Its use will enable the Rainforest Alliance to explore additional claims opportunities for you in the future. 

Access

Will the login details be the same as for Marketplace 2.0?


You will not need a separate login to access the new platform. Instead, you will need to log in to the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform (RACP), and you will be able to access the platform directly via the “Claims” tab in your account.

Please follow the instructions in this article to get access to the RACP.

Migration

What happened to my approved trademark requests and to my current trademark data in Marketplace 2.0? 

Approved requests (within their validity period) and their associated SKUs from RA2020 accounts have been migrated to the new Claims platform. 

Requests that have not been migrated because they were made from a legacy UTZ or RA2017 account must be resubmitted for approval in the new Claims platform if you wish to continue selling the associated SKUs with a claim. All other data from Marketplace 2.0 can be requested from our Customer Success team, who have access to historical information.

Will I have to resubmit requests that are in Approved status in Marketplace 2.0.? 

No, you will not be required to resubmit trademark requests approved in Marketplace 2.0 under the requirement that these were linked to your RA2020 account.

If you did not request consolidation of your Marketplace 2.0 legacy accounts (UTZ/RA2017 accounts with RA2020 account), approved requests were not migrated to the Claims platform. If you wish to continue selling your products after the expiration date specified in Marketplace, you must submit a new request in the Claims platform.

What will happen to all my valid requests that were not migrated?

Approved requests within their validity period but linked to an UTZ or RA2017 account have not been migrated to the Claims platform. This data has been moved to an archive accessible by Rainforest Alliance Staff, please consult customersuccess@ra.org for data collection. To request an extension for these requests you will need to submit a new approval request in the Claims platform.

Delegation

Is it possible to request a company to add my organization as a delegate through the platform?

No, it is not possible to request to be added as a delegate through the system. Only the organization(s) delegating the approval request activities can add organizations as delegates. We recommend you contact your Brand Owner or Retailer to ask them to initiate the delegation process in RACP. Please refer to Chapter 2 in the Claims Platform User Manual for further information on the exact process.

How can a Brand Owner delegate to a private label manufacturer? Can this be done via email?

The delegation process can only be done via our system, it is not possible to use another format. Please refer to Chapter 2 in the Claims Platform User Manual for further information on the exact process.

Is the delegation process mandatory, or optional?

Delegation is only mandatory for brand owners and/or retailers to do if they want other organizations to submit approval requests for them. The other option is for the brand owner/retailer to submit the request themselves.

If a brand owner does not have a RACP account, can they still delegate someone to submit approval requests on their behalf? 

No, that is not possible. In this case, the brand owner first needs to register in the RACP and sign the legal agreement. After that, they must set up a delegation in the RACP for the organization which is submitting approvals on their behalf.

Will the brand owner receive a notification when a delegate submits an approval request on their behalf?

No, the brand owner will not receive such notifications, unless the delegate has added an email address of the brand owner in the field “further recipients”.

I added a delegate by mistake. What can I do now?

Delegates can be removed by the organization that sets up the delegation. Please refer to Chapter 2 of the Claims manual to see how to proceed. The delegated organization has also the option to revoke the delegation in the “Organizations authorizations” page of the RACP.

Claims platform - operational questions:

What is the difference between the different Trademark types in the New Request form? 

The different Trademarks types to be selected in the new request form are:

Rainforest Alliance Certification Seal

Rainforest Alliance Corporate Logo

Rainforest Alliance Name (no seal)

For a further explanation of the different Trademark types, please review pages 5 and 6 in the Rainforest Alliance 2020 Labelling Policy.

I made a mistake in selecting the Trademark type in the Request form, how can I update it? 


It is not possible to update the selected TM type (seal) in the request form. You will need to cancel the request form and start a new request form. A new request needs to be submitted if changes need to be made to the type of seal selected. 

How can I upload a new product (SKU) in a request for approval, and how can I make changes to the uploaded products? 

To upload a product in an approval request you must indicate in the request form that the material relates to a specific product. You must then select the Brand and indicate if you are the manufacturer of the product. The request form will then allow you to upload the product(s) you would like to get approval for. 

You can use ‘Add’ and ‘Copy Product’ to upload multiple products (SKU’s) in the same request. 

To edit the information in the product(s) you have just added to your request, select the product, and click on the button “Edit”.

To delete a product from your approval request, select the product and click on the button “Delete”.

Note: You can request approval for multiple products (SKU’s) in the same request only if they have the same brand and the same manufacturer.

How can I download the approved artwork?

Go to the ‘All Requests’ overview, here you will find a full overview of all your requests and their different status. With the filter functionality, you can filter out the approved requests. To download the approval letter, select the request (in status approved or approved with exception) and click on “Download Approval Letter”. 

Please refer to Chapter 7.4 in the Claims Platform User Manual for further information. 

Will I receive email notifications? And when?  

You will receive emails if the request needs changes or if it is approved. You can choose if you want to receive notifications or not. Approval letters are to be downloaded from the Claims platform. For expiring claims, you will get an email notification 3 months before the end of the validation date, 1 month before the end of the validation date, and on the day of the validation ending itself.

Please see Chapter 10.1 in the Claims Platform User Manual for more information on email settings.

Can we as manufacturers create the products ourselves if we have been delegated by the brand owner?

As a manufacturer and if you have been added as a delegate by a brand owner, you can create both brands and products for the brand owner that you are delegated for.

When having multiple products in one request is there a way to add a reference number for each product for tracking purposes?

Yes, it is possible to add a comment/reference number when adding a product in your Brands and Products overview and/or in the request form itself.

Can I see Claims Templates from other users within my company?

Yes, you will find all claims approval request templates created by any user in your organization’s account in the “Claims Templates” tab of the Claims platform.

In a saved Claims Template, are the distribution countries also saved or do we have to select from scratch?

The distribution countries are saved in a Claims Template. The saved templates functionality has been introduced to submit requests in a faster way. Use this functionality when submitting a new approval request with similar characteristics, e.g., the same type of trademark, product, and brand.

More information can be found in Chapter 7.7 of the Claims Platform User Manual.

How do I extend a request that is almost expiring?

Approvals that will expire in 3 months or have expired in the last 3 months can be extended on the Claims platform. A prerequisite is that there are no further changes to the request (e.g., certified crop percentage, distribution countries, product, brand information, etc.) and the uploaded material.

To extend a request, navigate to “Home” and click on “Expiring Approvals.” Here you can only find requests that are eligible for an extension. 



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