New accreditation system and auditor training programme for the FairWild Standard

Switzerland, June 2017 – This year has seen a further development for the FairWild certification scheme, with the formal launch of the FairWild accreditation and auditor training programme.

Selected control bodies (CBs) have been invited to apply in 2016, and from beginning of 2017 the scheme has been open to all interested applicants in a Phase 1 of the accreditation programme.

The introduction of the accreditation programme marks a transition from the previous model, whereby audit and certification services have been solely provided by the Institute for Marketecology (IMOswissAG) and their partner control bodies. IMOswissAG is a Swiss-based CB which has substantially contributed to the certification scheme development in the early years of the FairWild initiative, and continues to offer FairWild audit and certification services for wild collection operations worldwide.

Since the launch of the new accreditation programme, auditor training has already taken place for two applicant CBs, CERES GmbH (Germany) and Control Union Inspections Pvt. Ltd. (Sri Lanka). Training is scheduled for a third, China Standard Conformity Assessment (CSCA) Co., Ltd. (China), later this year.

According to FairWild’s Accreditation Coordinator, Elisabeth Ruëgg, “The decision to accredit additional qualified certification bodies will allow the FairWild scheme to be offered worldwide, and give wild-collection operators more options over which certifier they work with.

At the same time FairWild will ensure the competence of auditors, their continuing development and global level calibration for keeping the high credibility of the FairWild standard and certification.”

The accreditation programme and auditor training is taking a particular focus on implementing FairWild as a combined certification system, integrating the requirements with those of organic regulations and other relevant standards.

Building on the experience of Phase I, a full accreditation programme is anticipated to be in place by the end of 2018.

For more information, please see Accreditation.