About Accreditation

The SAN and Rainforest Alliance have worked together to develop the SAN/RA Accreditation Program for certification bodies in order to expand global certification capacity for Rainforest Alliance certification and ensure highly credible certification processes centered on quality, integrity, and competitiveness.  The program is focused on preserving the spirit of the SAN´s mission while ensuring high quality certification management and continual development of a highly qualified pool of auditors.

The program was developed in collaboration with the International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS), well known for its pioneering work with organic certifiers.  Technical systems were developed and tested in the first phase of the program. In February 2012, this phase was completed with the accreditation of five certification bodies including Sustainable Farm Certification (SFC). SAN/RA accreditation includes ISO65 requirements and additional SAN criteria to ensure high quality audits.  SAN criteria include auditor compliance with the Auditor Competence Program, which requires auditors to meet criteria for exceptional skills, experience, training and continual development.

As of June 1, 2012 newly accredited certification bodies began to issue certificates for farms, farmer groups and chain of custody operations.  Certification bodies interested in accreditation can visit this page for more information on how to apply for accreditation.