Claims of Certification may only be made in relation to those products included within the scope of AIC’s Sustainable Commodities Scheme Certificate of Conformity.
The Certification Body will assess a Participant’s conformance with each module. The Certification Body shall be given access to all relevant information needed to confirm conformance with the Scheme and the right to inspect third parties subcontracted to perform work covered by the relevant modules, at the Participant’s cost.
The Scheme sets out rules relating to the classification of non-conformances, the required responses to non-conformances and rules relating to Scheme suspension, withdrawal and reinstatement.
Compliance certificates will be valid for three years, and certification is maintained subject to the payment of all relevant fees to the Certification Body and ongoing compliance with Scheme requirements, including annual audits.
Compliance with AIC feed safety schemes
It is a prerequisite of ASCS that all raw materials/feeds are also certified under a feed safety Scheme that is either managed by AIC or recognised as equivalent by AIC.
This requirement will greatly simplify auditing as certain requirements under sections of the Sustainable Commodities Scheme listed below are also common to feed safety schemes recognised by AIC:
- Raw material supply
- Merchanting of sustainable products
- Suppliers of contracted services
- Management of bulk rail or water transport
- Transmission of relevant information
- Labelling and identification
- Operations – Intake, Storage, Processing and Despatch
Rules specific to Module 1: alignment with draft EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR)
The EUDR Aligned Module sets out to demonstrate that Participants handling products within the scope of EUDR have systems in place which are aligned with the requirements of EUDR. The EUDR Aligned Module cannot confirm that Participants are compliant with the requirements of EUDR, as compliance can only be assessed by the appointed competent authorities. However, being a certified Participant will help meet the regulatory requirements, as appropriate documented procedures and processes will be in place.
The definitions used in the module for forest and deforestation are common to those set out in the draft Regulation. The module requires that no legal or illegal deforestation has taken place since 31st December 2020.
The EUDR Aligned Module contains sections requiring Participants to demonstrate alignment with the major EUDR Articles:
- Article 4 – Obligations of operators
- Article 8 – Due diligence
- Article 9 – Information requirements
- Article 10 – Risk assessment
- Article 11 – Risk mitigation
ASCS and supply chain partners
Some GB supply chain partners have confirmed the requirement to demonstrate that commodities in scope of EUDR and used in feed, meet the requirements of the Regulation. This is to help ensure the maintenance of market access to the EU for other in-scope commodities such as UK beef supplied from beef and dairy producers.
Other supply chain partners, including the UK Soya Manifesto signatories, have indicated their intention to require their livestock farming suppliers to use ‘EUDR compliant’ soya in feed as a stepping stone towards the Manifesto commitment of using verified deforestation and conversion free soya in their supply chains. AIC’s EUDR Aligned Modules will be used by these supply chain partners as evidence to verify that the in-scope commodities in feed, supplied by certified Participants in the ASCS, are considered aligned with EUDR requirements.