Guide to Implementing Collective Certification in a Participatory Guarantee System

Purpose of the Guide The Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) is understood here as defined by IFOAM in 2008: “A locally rooted quality assurance system. It certifies producers based on the active participation of the stakeholders involved and is built on a foundation of trust, networks, and knowledge sharing. ” (Appendices 1 and 2, key elements and characteristics of PGSs according to IFOAM). Thus, this participatory certification is based on the evaluation of professionals by their peers (producers, artisans, etc.) and sometimes their community (buyers, users, distributors, local associations, etc.) to ensure compliance with the specifications. The evaluation is generally conducted on-site at the place of business, followed by a review by a local committee that collectively issues an opinion on the awarding of the label to each participant.

Awarding the label involves issuing a certificate granting the right to use the logo and its name for goods and services whose production practices have been verified and meet the corresponding specifications.

In many contexts, one may encounter producer collectives wishing to join a GSP. In such cases, the creation of collective rather than individual certification may be justified by several objectives. Collective certification can be meaningful both to highlight a collective approach (a differentiated logo may then be considered), to account for collective production and/or processing, and/or to sell collectively. In some cases, collective certification is driven by the desire to standardize production practices, thereby avoiding inconsistencies within a collective structure, or to disseminate best practices among a large number of producers

Finally, because the entry of a large number of producers can destabilize an existing SPG, it is not uncommon for collective certification to serve to organize the oversight of a group of producers—numerous and with homogeneous production (specializing in a particular product, for example)—within the same territory. The concept of a collective can then be more diffuse.

The purpose of this document is to help formulate a definition of collective certification specific to each GSP initiative and to subsequently guide the evaluation of each applicant collective. It is not intended to specify what is mandatory or not for creating collective certification regulations, but rather to identify the relevant issues necessary for formulating such regulations. 

Difficulty level: Easy Tools and supplies needed: Use of the guide The arrowed tree structure makes it easier to assess the organization by posing a set of questions relevant to organizational certifications. Please note that the guide is not organized hierarchically based on the order of the questions. It can be read in a different order. These questions are organized into two main sections (Structure Guide and Control and Participation Guide), which are themselves divided into themes