The Rainforest Alliance is proud of our assurance system – assurance is a fundamental strategy to maintain the rigour and credibility of any certification system. The conduct of regular third party audits is a key element of this system. For the Rainforest Alliance, the safety and security of our Certificate Holders and their communities and the auditors working for our partner Certification Bodies is our principle concern. From 7 March a policy is in place to govern exceptions arising from disruptions to audit activities due to corona virus or public health measures and travel restrictions related to it.
Currently, due to restrictions on travel and access to certain sites due to public health risks related to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), cases are arising in some localities where it is not possible to follow the planned schedule of audits in the annual audit cycle. The current Coronavirus pandemic is a situation of force majeure which affects the normal implementation of our certification program and we are implementing special measures to address this. The details of the policy can be found here: https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/resource-item/audit-exception-policy-for-covid-19/
The policy is valid until May 31, 2020. We will review the situation regularly and any further extension or modification of the policy will be communicated before the end of that period.
We request that all CHs and CBs respect the public health measures in place in each country. Travel advisories are available from the US and Dutch governments with links to country specific information. Advice on measures to combat corona virus are also available at World Health Organization and the CDC.
Questions and requests for further information should be sent to certification@ra.org.
