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Introduction

Introduction The 4C Unit Implementation Manual answers the question How to best establish a 4C Unit, prepare for verification and set off on the continuous improvement journey. It also explains the 4C requirements to successfully set up and run a licensed 4C Unit.

Chapter I introduces basic concepts such as the Plan-Do-Check-Adapt management ap-proach or the 4C Code of Conduct and its traffic light system. Chapter II takes you through a virtual life cycle of a 4C Unit with guidance and examples on the different administrative, organizational and, partly, managerial tasks; from the very start of setting up a management plan up to the verification audit and beyond.

Chapter III shows different options for expanding your 4C Unit and renewing your 4C Li-cense. It is followed by Chapter IV illustrating major non-conformities and respective sanc-tion mechanisms. The final Chapter V comprises Questions & Answers on different aspects of 4C system implementation.

Ultimately, the manual supports the development and/or further definition of an Internal Management System by providing forms and templates and shall ease the implementation process of the 4C Code of Conduct.

All documents mentioned in this manual are available on the 4C Website: http://www.4c-coffeeassociation.org/document-library/documents.html All templates can be provided by the 4C Secretariat on request.

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Table of contentsIntroduction ........................................................................................................... 2Legend of symbols ................................................................................................. 4List of abbreviations .............................................................................................. 41. Concepts to plan & manage your 4C Unit .......................................................... 5

1.1 4C Unit concept ....................................................................................................... 5

1.1.1 Prerequisites for establishing a 4C Unit ....................................................... 5

1.1.2 Who participates & with which responsibilities? .......................................... 6

1.1.3 Criteria to choose the Managing Entity ....................................................... 71.2 Management approach: Plan-Do-Check-Adapt/Act ................................................. 9

1.2.1 Risk based approach (part of PLAN .......................................................... 10

1.2.2 4C Unit’s Internal Management System – What is it about?...................... 141.3 List of binding and supporting documents & tools ................................................. 171.4 4C Code of Conduct .............................................................................................. 20

1.4.1 Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Varieties ...................................... 20

1.4.2 4C Code of Conduct: 10 UAPs and 28 principles ...................................... 20

1.4.3 The traffic light system & Continuous Improvement (CI) .......................... 221.5 Verification: Types, costs & timelines...................................................................... 23

1.5.1 Types of verification .................................................................................. 23

1.5.2 Costs of verification visit ........................................................................... 24

1.5.3 Timeline of initial verification .................................................................... 24

1.5.4 Timeline of verification cycle .................................................................... 262. Virtual life cycle of a 4C Unit ........................................................................... 28

Before establishing a 4C Unit (Plan) ............................................................................. 28

Step 1: Check prerequisites to establishing a 4C Unit ......................................... 28

Step 2: Check delivery targets ............................................................................ 28

Step 3: Develop a management plan .................................................................. 29Get ready for initial verification (Do) ............................................................................ 30

Step 4: Set up your 4C Unit ................................................................................ 30

Step 5: Implement the 4C Code & inform about IMS .......................................... 34

Step 6: Arrange verification audit ....................................................................... 44

Step 7: Get 4C License to sell 4C Compliant Coffee ............................................ 48AFTER initial verification: Continuous improvement (Adapt) ......................................... 50

Step 8: … 6 weeks after initial verification: Improvement Plan ........................... 50

Step 9: Continuous Improvement: Eliminate red practices .................................. 51

Step 10: Continuous Improvement: From yellow to green/to other standards/to advanced IMS ......................................................... 51

Step 11: … every 12 months: Annual Update docs & forms ................................ 52

Step 12: … every year in October: Commercial reporting ................................... 53

Step 13: Re-verification ...................................................................................... 533. Renew 4C License or expand your 4C Unit ...................................................... 544. Non-Conformities & Sanctions ......................................................................... 555. Questions & Answers ....................................................................................... 586. Glossary ........................................................................................................... 66

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Legend of symbols

Legend of symbols

MUST-requirement (no. of requirement according to Verification Regulations)

Example or Guidance for implementation

Where do I find further information and/or topic related documents?

Binding 4C monitoring tools and/or documents/records to be created for 4C Internal Management System (IMS)

List of abbreviations

BP Business Partner

ME Managing Entity

BPM Business Partner Mapping

SA Self Assessment

ORG CHART Organizational Chart

IP Improvement Plan

AU Annual Update Form

GMO Genetically Modified Organism

UAP Unacceptable Practice

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1. Concepts to plan & manage your 4C Unit

1.1 4C Unit concept

A 4C Unit is the operational entity that implements the 4C Code and 4C requirements. It receives verification to crosscheck compliance, allowing it to become part of the 4C Supply chain and trade 4C Compliant Coffee.

A 4C Unit can be established at any level of the coffee supply chain in a coffee producing country. Its setup is very flexible: a 4C Unit can be a loose group of small-scale farmers, an organized cooperative, an estate or it can be established by an exporter, a roaster or pro-cessing facility.

PRODUCER TRANSPORTER COLLECTOR / WAREHOUSE

MILL / PROCESSOR

TRADER/ EXPORTER ROASTER RETAILER

4C Unit

1.1.1 Prerequisites for establishing a 4C Unit

There are four prerequisites to establishing a 4C Unit:

• Be a 4C member

• Be in a producing country

• Supply one container (20 tons) of green coffee per year

• Management capacity to implement the 4C System

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1.1.2 Who participates & with which responsibilities?

A 4C Unit consists of a Managing Entity (ME) and so-called Business Partners (BP). It unites all actors who are in physical contact with the 4C Compliant Coffee the ME sells under its 4C License.

MANAGING ENTITY OF THE 4C UNIT

Business Partner

Business Partner

Business Partner

Basic Internal Management System

The Managing Entity (ME) is an individual or group, which has the crucial role of taking on the responsibility for managing and monitoring a 4C Unit’s performance and trading of 4C Compliant Coffee. The ME acts as 4C License holder.

The Managing Entity’s responsibilities are:

• Exchanging any information with the 4C Secretariat and 4C Verifiers

• Registering the 4C Unit with the 4C Secretariat

• Organizing the implementation of the basic sustainability practices and improvement activities within the 4C Unit

• Organizing/providing access to capacity building to its Business Partners

• Completing documents and forms such as Self-Assessment or Business Partner Map-ping

• Preparing the verification ensuring that Business Partners fulfil the requirements de-fined in the 4C Code and Verification Regulations

• Monitoring the performance of the 4C Unit’s Business Partners on a regular basis to make sure that the improvements are implemented over time

• Act as licence holder and trade 4C Compliant Coffee according to 4C’s traceability requirements

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Example: The function of a ME is often undertaken by a buying station, an exporter or a trader. It is possible to appoint one or more responsible person(s).

A Business Partner is any actor within the 4C Unit up to the Managing Entity level who has physical contact with coffee cherries or beans.

Those actors are typically

• Coffee farmers

• Collectors

• Buying stations

• Warehouses

• Mills/processing facilities

• Service providers like chemical sprayers or labour service providers (organizing the work with contractors etc.)

• A contracted transport company or any other.

Example: In case the Managing Entity is an exporter and wants to include some of its sup-pliers (producers, cooperatives, collectors, others) in the unit, then these suppliers are all Business Partners and need to be listed.

1.1.3 Criteria to choose the Managing Entity

Criteria to decide whom to appoint as Managing Entity (ME):

• Sufficient management capacity to set up and run a 4C Unit, see responsibilities

• Capacity to act as license holder and trade 4C Compliant Coffee

• Overview of geographical area of 4C Unit to allow for good communication and ca-pacity building of Business Partners

• Financial and human resources to monitor activities & provide technical support

Advantages and Pre-requisites to set up the Unit and its ME on different levels of the supply chain:

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ADVANTAGES PRE-CONDITIONS

ME on level of cooperative

• Direct and close (geographical-ly) contact to farmers. Therefore easy access to farmers in terms of monitoring, training activities and provision of services (e.g. fertilizer or credit scheme)

• Being the ME strengthens ca-pacity to manage relationships and administrative procedures with buyers, verifiers and the 4C Secretariat

• 4C membership is required, which allows the direct benefit of services and participation in the 4C Association e.g. access to tool library, participation in General Assembly or gover-nance organs

• A license holder is allowed to trade 4C Compliant Coffee to 4C Members

• Management capacity and financial means to take on the responsibility of setting up and running a 4C Unit, see ME responsibilities

• Capacity to act as license holder and trade 4C Compliant Coffee. This requires knowledge and experience in quality control, trading and marketing e.g. to explore new or better marketing channels

• Financial and human resourc-es to implement the 4C Code, set up and run a monitoring system, provide training and technical support

• Financial resources for mem-bership fee, which is however moderate for cooperatives

• Production of one container of coffee per year (see the four pre-requisites to establish a 4C Unit)

ME on level of buying station

• Expansion of 4C Unit easier due to more neutral position (vs. cooperative with access to their farmers only)

• More direct supervision of and insight in available quantities and qualities of 4C Compliant Coffee

• No Membership fee in case buy-ing station belongs to existing 4C Member

• See above, plus:

• Strong connection and relation-ship to farmers and coopera-tives as well as other Business Partners to allow for informa-tion exchange and effective training and monitoring activ-ities

ME on level of purchasing department

See above See above

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1.2 Management approach: Plan-Do-Check-Adapt/Act

The Plan-Do-Check-Adapt (or Act) cycle is a four-step model for carrying out change based on problem solving and solution implementation. Just as a circle has no end, the PDCA cycle is repeated again and again in order to continuously improve and reach the next level of performance.

Create Road Map: where do you want

to reach? What are your targets, timeline

& available recourses?

Set up your 4C Unit

& implement 4C Code

and IMS

Check your targets of PLAN: Internal

check: use assessment tool e.g. SA, or BPM

External check: Verification audit

Develop Improvement

Plan (IP) & adjust your

Road Map

PLAN

DO

CHECK

ADAPT

PLAN Identify your problem and establish the objectives necessary to solve the prob-lem and deliver results in accordance with the expected output (the target or goals).

4C Unit Life Cycle: Create a Road Map: What are your delivery targets and dates in terms of quantity and quality of 4C Compliant Coffee, how do you reach there with your available resources? Also take into account your risks [see chapter 1.2.1]!

DO Implement the plan, “make the product” and test your solution. Collect data to create charts and make analyses in the next steps, CHECK and ACT.

4C Unit Life Cycle: Set up your 4C Unit and implement the 4C Code and IMS.

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CHECK Evaluate your outcome by comparing the actual results (measured and collected in DO above) against the expected results as set in PLAN. Look for deviations in PLAN and DO. You can create charts of data to make it easier to see trends over several PDCA cycles as well as convert the collected data into information. Infor-mation is what you need for the next step, ADAPT (or ACT).

4C Unit Life Cycle: Check the targets you set in PLAN. First internally: Does your 4C Unit comply with the 4C requirements? You can make use of Self-Assessment and Business Partner Mapping! Then external check through verification visit to confirm/disconfirm compliance with 4C requirements. Internal check again: Can you meet your delivery targets?

ADAPT Polish your solution: Request corrective actions on significant differences be-tween actual and planned results. Analyze the differences to determine their root causes. Determine where to apply changes that will include improvement of the process or product.

4C Unit Life Cycle: Develop an Improvement Plan (IP) and adjust your Road Map or management plan.

1.2.1 Risk based approach (part of PLAN)

“The chain is only as strong as the weakest link”. This implies you focus your resources on those links and areas in your supply chain (or 4C Unit), which are the weakest in terms of compliance with the 4C Code and 4C requirements. In other words you direct resources to those areas with high risks of non-conformities and weak performance. There are a multi-tude of risk factors on different levels of your 4C Unit, such as inexperienced staff mon-itoring the 4C Unit performance at management level or farmers’ limited experience with standards.

RiskThe likelihood that non-conformity will actually occur and to what extent. A risk is derived using the risk assessment matrix (see p. 12/13).

Risk factorA situation or condition that poses a threat to 4C Units’ conformance to 4C requirements

Assessing your risk factors is part of the planning phase of your 4C Unit and gives you orientation on where to focus and invest your limited resources in terms of time, efforts and financial means.

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Once you address those risks factors of highest severity and probability, you increase the likelihood of successfully passing verification, which in return saves you costs and efforts to follow up and re-engage with verifiers.

REDUCE RISK of failing verification

ASSESS your risk factors

SELECT RISKS with highest severity and probability & find solutions to address them

INCORPORATESOLUTIONS in management plan & implement them

! NOTE: Verifiers also apply the risk-based approach to select Business Partners and farmers they visit during the on-site verification. This means they visit those ones with the highest risk. BUT: their risk approach might be different than yours! The same approach might lead to different results when implemented by different people.

Examples for Risk factors [see full list of risk factors in Verification Regulations, page 32]

• General risk factors at the 4C Unit level

• Heterogeneity among Business Partners (e.g. farm size, production methods, access to technology, etc.)

• Poor infrastructure within the 4C Unit’s catchment area

• No experience with other sustainability schemes

• Risk factors at the Managing Entity (ME) level

• Inexperienced personnel

• Inadequate Internal Management System

• No direct communication with farmers (e.g. only through collectors)

• Risk factors at the farmer level

• Located at long distance from ME (difficult communication)

• No training provided on 4C Code implementation

• Not having any other sustainability scheme experience

• Large/ small farm sizes

• Proximity to natural conservation areas (watershed, forest, parks, etc.)

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• Not being assessed by the ME during the Self-Assessment

• Low Self-Assessment result

• Not being verified/ audited during previous verification

• Contracting of labour

• Application of chemical inputs e.g. pesticides on red list

• Risk factors at collector / warehouse level

• Buying/ storing coffee from different sources (4C vs. non-4C farmers)

• Distance to 4C farmers and to the ME (the further away the collector from farm-ers and the ME, the more likely that communication with them and traceability of the coffee is difficult)

Risk factor assessment matrix

Severity: If it occurs, how great will its effect be on the 4C Unit’s overall performance?

Probability: How likely is the occurrence of this risk factor?

Almost certain (Occurs often or happens with most of BPs)

Significant (The Managing Entity is unable to control the situation, verification fails.)

Moderate (The Managing Entity can handle the situation with difficulty but minimum requirements to be licensed are met.)

Minor (The Managing Entity can manage the situation with ease. Minimum requirements to be licensed are met.)

Insignificant (The situation has nearly zero effect on the overall performance of 4C Units. Requirements are met.)

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• Risk factors at processor level (wet mill, dry mill)

• Potential water pollution (for wet mills)

• Distance to ME and to the authorities supervising implementation of local labour and environmental laws

• Processing different types of coffee (4C Compliant and others)

• High energy usage for processing

Risk factor assessment matrix: [see Verification Regulations, page 33]

Severity: If it occurs, how great will its effect be on the 4C Unit’s overall performance?



Significant (The Managing Entity is unable to control the situation, verification fails.)

Moderate (The Managing Entity can handle the situation with difficulty but minimum requirements to be licensed are met.)

Minor (The Managing Entity can manage the situation with ease. Minimum requirements to be licensed are met.)

Insignificant (The situation has nearly zero effect on the overall performance of 4C Units. Requirements are met.)



Likely (Occurs several times or happens with several BPs

Occasional (Occurs sporadi-cally or with not so many BPs)

Seldom (Could occur with very few BPs)

Unlikely (Hardly ever or never occurs.)

High High High Medium Medium

High High Medium Medium Low

High Medium Medium Low Low

Medium Low Low Low Low

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1.2.2 4C Unit’s Internal Management System – What is it about?

4C Verification Regulations define the Internal Management System (IMS) as “a set of doc-uments created and implemented by the 4C Unit’s Managing Entity to manage both its own and its Business Partners’ activities in conforming to the 4C Requirements and in con-tinuously improving performance. An IMS used for 4C Implementation may be part of an IMS the Managing Entity also uses for managing activities under other schemes.”

The IMS is set up by the Managing Entity during the planning phase of a 4C Unit. In case an IMS is already in place, the existing IMS is complemented by 4C-related documentation.

Table showing IMS levels

Assessment of the Internal Management System

4C Unit Managing Entity (ME)

List of Business Partners (BPs) and

their data

4C Unit structure and key functions

of BPsSelf Assessment

Improvement Plan

IMS documentation

and communication

Implementation plan

Sanction measures

Name of the Managing Entity, physical address, major role and responsibility within the 4C Unit

An aggregate Self Assessment

Evidence of communicating the IMS and its requirements to BPs

Appointed person(s) taking care of the IMS and 4C Code implementation

Self Assessments of individual BPs at the ME office

Mutual committment by the ME and BPs in implementing the 4C System

Defined qualification for the above position

Short description of each function in the organisational chart and their roles and responsibilities

Training is provided to those who conduct Self Assessment within the 4C Unit

An Improvement Plan based on Self Assessment (before verification) and verification and risk assessment result

A plan prepared by the ME on implementing the 4C Code, including verification, within the 4C Unit over a defined time

A document describing the 4C Unit’s IMS

Written contracts between the ME and BPs committing to implementing the 4C System and CI

Completed and up-to-date Business Partner Mapping (BPM) listing all BPs and their basic data, or equivalent document(s)

Ad

vance

d

Inte

rmed

iate

Bas

ic

A clear product flow within the 4C Unit

Self Assessment is conducted for ALL individual BPs

Evidence of implementing activities outlined in the Improvement Plan

Clear and enforced rules on approval/ removal of BPs from the 4C Unit

In this step you determine the level of the 4C Unit's Internal Management System. To do so, please tick ('x') the respective field in column M if you are a 4C Unit ('Self-Assessment by 4C Unit') or in column N if you are a 4C verifier ('Verification result by 4C Verifier').

To identify the IMS level please consider the following legend:Basic IMS = all indicators in yellow are met, intermediate IMS = all indicators in yellow and grey are met, advanced IMS = all indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met and integrated IMS = all

indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met and one out of the two indicators in the green section).

Levels

Elements of an IMS Self Assessment by 4C Unit

To be completed by 4C Unit

Verification result by 4C

VerifierTo be

completed by verifier

Inte

gra

ted

Advanced level + other elementsOROther scheme's ICS requirements encompassing ISEAL P035_ Common requirements for producer group certification (SAN, UTZ Certified, Fairtrade, GlobalG.A.P, organic, etc)

An organisational chart with key functions of BPs within the 4C Unit

An Improvement Plan is developed after verification ( does not apply for initial verification )

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4C distinguishes four levels of an IMS:

I. Basic

II. Intermediate

III. Advanced

IV. Integrated

Table showing IMS levels: [see Verification Regulations, page 24]:

For initial verification, a 4C Unit should be at the basic IMS level. This includes:

• Definition of ME’s major role

• Appointed IMS person

• Business Partner Mapping

• Aggregated Self-Assessment

• Individual Self- Assessments at office

• Evidence of communication to BPs on IMS

• Mutual commitment by ME & BPs Assessment of the Internal Management System



their data

4C Unit structure and key functions

of BPsSelf Assessment

Improvement Plan

IMS documentation

and communication

Implementation plan

Sanction measures












A document describing the 4C Unit’s IMS

Written contracts between the ME and BPs committing to implementing the 4C System and CI


Ad

vance

d

Inte

rmed

iate

Bas

ic






To identify the IMS level please consider the following legend:Basic IMS = all indicators in yellow are met, intermediate IMS = all indicators in yellow and grey are met, advanced IMS = all indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met and integrated IMS = all

indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met and one out of the two indicators in the green section).

Levels



Verification result by 4C

VerifierTo be

completed by verifier

Inte

gra

ted



An Improvement Plan is developed after verification ( does not apply for initial verification )

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NOTE! Good documentation and monitoring of your activities is a key success factor to improve your business as well as social and environmental conditions. Thus, it supports your progress in the PDCA cycle. Moreover it serves as evidence of your activities to external verifiers.

NOTE! 4C-related documentation refers to:

• Records required by the 4C IMS, as listed above.

• Binding 4C Monitoring Tools: Self-Assessment, Business Partner Mapping, Org Chart, Annual Update Form, Improvement Plan(overlaps with IMS)

• Records and documents relevant to 4C Code implementation e.g. pay slips or maps. You will find more information on the kind of documents required by the 4C Code in the indicators of the 28 principles.

Look out for this symbol in Chapter II. It shows you ALL records required for the 4C basic IMS and all binding 4C Monitoring Tools to be created along the life cycle of a 4C Unit.

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1.3 List of binding and supporting documents & tools

The binding documents are a must for 4C Units and the implementation of the 4C System, so are the binding monitoring tools. They cannot be replaced by any other document or tool and need to be submitted to external verifiers and the 4C Secretariat. The list of sup-porting documents includes brochures and guidance books for farmers involved in your 4C Unit as well as forms and information relevant to the verification visit and the Rainforest Alliance benchmarking.

BINDING DOCS DEFINITIONUSER GROUP

LANGUAGES

4C Code of Conduct

The 4C Code of Conduct describes the 10 Unacceptable Practices and 28 principles of continuous improvement, implemented by 4C Units which are checked against it for compliance by verifiers. The document includes the green/yellow/ green indicators for each of the 28 principles which describe the measureable status of compliance.

ME, BPs, verifiers

EN, SP, PT, VN, FR, IN

Indicators Unaccept-able Practices (UAP)

The indicators describe the measureable status of the 10 UAPs for use of 4C Units and verifiers.

ME, BPs, verifiers

EN, SP, PT, VN, FR, IN

4C Pesticide List: PIC & POP, Red & Yellow

It includes three lists of active ingredients relevant to compliance with the 4C Code. The 3 lists are: PIC and POPs for Unacceptable Practice No 9 Red list pesticides for principle 2a, environ-mental dimension Yellow list pesticides for principle 2a, envi-ronmental dimension

ME, BPs, verifiers

EN

4C Verification Regulations

They describe the 4C Verification System, its rules, requirements and related concepts. The regulations are aimed at informing every-one involved in the 4C Verification Process about each party’s roles and responsibilities.

ME, verifiers

EN, SP, PT, VN

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BINDING 4C MONITORING TOOLS

DEFINITIONUSER GROUP

LANGUAGES

Self-Assessment (template provided)

A 4C Tool used by 4C Units to evaluate their 4C performance, according to the 4C Code of Conduct and Verification Regulations; to be submitted for verification.

ME, BPEN, SP, PT, VN, FR, IN

Business Partner Mapping (template provided)

A simple internal monitoring 4C Tool (as part of an IMS) that helps 4C Units to manage their Business Partners’ basic data and performance; to be submitted for verification.

ME EN, SP, PT, VN

Organizational chart (no template)

The org chart visualizes the different func-tions/ actors within your 4C Supply chain. It shows the structure of your 4C Unit and explains how it works.

ME -

Improvement Plan (template provided)

A plan developed by 4C Units to be submit-ted 6 weeks after verification. It addresses findings/ risks/ observations reported during verification and outlines the activities 4C Units intend to implement in order to im-prove the current performance.

ME EN

Annual update (template provided)

A set of documents updated by 4C Units on an annual basis after being licensed. These documents include: Annual update form, updated Self-Assessment, updated Business Partner Mapping and an updated Improvement Plan

ME EN

Legend:

ME – Managing Entity

BP – Business Partner

EN – English

SP – Spanish

PT – Portuguese

FR – French

VN – Vietnamese

IN – Bahasa Indonesia

CN -Chinese

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SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

DEFINITIONUSER GROUP

LANGUAGES

List of verifiersThis list shows all 4C approved verifiers, it is found on the 4C website

ME EN

Request for Proposal (template provided)

A form used by 4C Units to request approved 4C Verifiers to submit a proposal (offer) for verification

ME/ Verifier

EN

Illustrated Guide to the 4C Code of Conduct

This guide explains the 10 UAP and 28 prin-ciples with pictures and user-friendly text. It gives ideas for solutions and describes the benefits of implementing the 28 principles

BPs, esp. farmers

EN, SP, PT, VN, IN, CN, Amharic, Kiswahili, Luganda

Step by Step

This guidance brochure summarizes the dif-ferent steps from the very start of becoming a 4C Member up to selling 4C Compliant Coffee.

MEEN, SP, PT, VN, IN

Application procedure under RA benchmarking

A form to apply for the 4C License, in case of valid RA certificate.

MEEN, SP, PT, VN, FR

Procedure for complaints for verification

This document outlines the process for complaints made by 4C Units, 4C Members or verifiers in the context of verification activities.

ME, verifiers

EN

Position on Endosulfan

This positioning paper refers to the ban of Endosulfan by Oct 2012 and in particular cases, provision for its temporary use (dero-gation) until Oct 27th, 2013.

ME EN, SP

Request for Endosul-fan derogation

Application form to extend use of Endosulfan to Oct 2013

ME EN

Monitoring list for Endosulfan

Mandatory excel file to be filled in by 4C Units, in case of application for derogation

ME EN

Documents, posters, tools, handbooks on sustainable practices

To be found on the 4C Website/ Member section/ Tool library

ME, BPsDifferent languages

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1.4 4C Code of Conduct

1.4.1 Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Varieties

Compliance with the 4C Code of Conduct and the Verification Regulations exclude the growth of any genetically modified coffee cultivar.

If coffee trees have been growing for less than 5 years at the time of the initial verification, the 4C Unit must provide the 4C Verifier with proof that no GMO variety is being cultivated.

1.4.2 4C Code of Conduct: 10 UAPs and 28 principles

The 4C Code of Conduct consists of 10 Unacceptable Practices and 28 principles, jointly developed by coffee producers, traders, roasters as well as NGOs. Both, the 10 UAP and 28 principles aim at social, environmental and economic sustainability in the production, post-harvest and trading of green coffee.

UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES10PRINCIPLES OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT28

Exclusion as pre-requisite for entering 4C Verification

GREEN: Desirable practice e.g. least toxic pesticides

YELLOW: Practice to be improved e.g. use of pesticides with low acute toxicity (FAQ recommendations 4C yellow list)

RED: Pratice to be discontinued e.g. use of hazardous pesticides (4C red list)

IMPR

OV

EMEN

T PA

TH

tow

ards

mor

e su

stai

nabi

lity

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10 UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES (UAPS):

The 10 UAPs reflect the worst forms of social, environmental and economic practices. In no case should these practices be evident in a 4C Unit.

1. Worst forms of child labour

2. Bonded and forced labour

3. Trafficking of persons

4. Prohibiting membership of or representation by a trade union

5. Forced eviction without adequate compensation

6. Failure to provide adequate housing where required by workers

7. Failure to provide potable water to all workers

8. Cutting of primary forest or destruction of other forms of natural resources (designated as protected areas)

9. Use of pesticides banned under the Stockholm convention and listed in the Rotterdam Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

10. Immoral transactions in business relations according to international covenants, national law and practices

The 10 UAPs need to be eliminated before applying for verification. There is no ex-emption for this requirement and it applies to every single farmer or Business Partner who is involved in your 4C Unit.

For more information, please see Table of indicators for 4C Unacceptable Practices.

28 PRINCIPLES: THE 4C CODE MATRIX

4C ASSOCIATION | | 4CDoc_001a_Code of Conduct_v1.3_en.doc | April 2012 4/ 25

Social Dimension Criteria Level of

Monitoring Category No. Principle Green Yellow Red

Freedom of association

1 Workers and producers have the right to found, to belong to and to be represented by an independent organisation of their choice.

Resources, information and institutional structures are available to improve representation of workers and farmers by their organisation

Right to found, belong to and to be represented by an independent organisation of free choice is accepted and easy access to it exists

Organisations exist but are not accepted as valid counterparts / interlocutors.

Managing Entity and Business Partne rs

Indicators

Workers and producers declare that they are free to form and join independent organizations for the purpose of protecting their interests (such as trade unions, federations, associations, farmer groups, labour organizations).

and

Repre sentatives of independent organizations are guaranteed access to the information and resources, necessary to carry out their functions.

and

No cases of discrimination, adverse action against or exclusion of members of independent organizations by

A process has been started to enable workers, producers and representatives of independent organizations to freely join independent organizations for the purpose of protecting their interests.

and

Representatives of independent organizations have access to the information and resources, necessary to carry out their functions.

and

No cases of discrimination, adverse action against or exclusion of members of

Organisations exist, but no indications of any process or programme to enable workers and producers to freely join independent organisations are evident.

and

Representatives of independent organizations have no guaranteed access to the inf ormation and resources necessary to carry out their functions.

and

Cases of discrimination or adverse actions against members of independent organizations (other than

The Code Matrix includes the 28 principles, which are based on good agricultural and good management practices as well as international conventions. They are grouped in three

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dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. For each principle a green, yellow and red criteria and respective indicators are defined.

• Principle: Describes the desired performance

• Green/yellow/red criteria: Specify the level of compliance with the principle

• Green/yellow/red indicators: Describe the measureable status of criteria for use by 4C Units and verifiers

NOTE! The most crucial part of the 4C Code of Conduct is the indicators. They determine the compliance/non-compliance with the 10 Unacceptable Practices and with the green, yellow or red criteria of each principle. However, you will notice, the 4C Code and its in-dicators do NOT always give exact instructions on how to do certain things. Instead, you are provided with a framework towards more sustainable practices with some flexibility in its interpretation. It is important that you transfer the 4C Code into your country-specific circumstances on the basis of the indicators. Please note that verifiers also make use of the indicators to crosscheck your performance.

The 4C Unit needs to reach a status of average yellow per principle in order to be licensed. [See Chapter 5.7 for more details]

1.4.3 The traffic light system & Continuous Improvement (CI)

The traffic light system of green, yellow and red criteria per principle illustrates the con-cept of continuous improvement.

Green criteria indicate desirable practices,

Yellow means “practice to be improved” and

Red stands for “practice to be discontinued”.

By assessing the performance of your 4C Units according to green, yellow or red practices, you know where you stand and what your improvement areas are. The traffic light sys-tem can guide you and your farmers on the journey towards more sustainable practices and long term development of your operation.

The 4C Concept of Continuous Improvement embraces several aspects:

• Create awareness of sustainability among more farmers, especially small holders, and motivate them to take first (small) steps

• Eliminate red practices

• Improve the internal management system

• Move from yellow to green practices and to other standards

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As a minimum requirement of continuous improvement, the 4C Unit must eradi-cate ALL red practices within three years AFTER initial verification in order to main-tain the 4C License.

1.5 Verification: Types, costs & timelines

1.5.1 Types of verification

TYPE TIMELINE

(Initial) verification

Whenever ready

Verification is a series of activities carried out by approved 4C Verifiers to confirm the result of a 4C Unit’s aggregated Self-Assessment.

A successful verification will result in the 4C Unit being awarded a 4C License which allows it to sell its coffee as 4C Compliant.

Follow up visitEither up to 180 days after verification, or one year (different conditions)

A short verification visit taking place within 180 days/one year from the last day of an unsuccessful verification. If a 4C Unit fails this follow-up visit, a full verification will take place, provided the 4C Unit still wishes to be verified.

Addendum verification

At any time within a verification cycle

Verification carried out within a three-year verifica-tion cycle to recognize the expansion of a 4C Unit when it wishes to include new Business Partners in addition to those who were part of the unit during the previous verification.

Re-verificationMaximum three years after initial verification

Verification to confirm the result of a 4C Unit’s aggregated Self-Assessment taking into account the implementation of the improvement plan and requirements of Continuous Improvement.

Unannounced/ surprise visit

Any time

A visit to 4C Verifiers and 4C Units by representatives of an external third party organisation and the 4C Secretariat as part of the periodic system review. This visit is not announced in advance until 48 hours before the actual visit. The purpose of the visit is to make sure that the system is implemented competently, consistently and transparently.

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1.5.2 Costs of verification visitThe costs of verification depend on the set up and location of your Unit as well as factors like the daily rate of verifiers. Thus, the price for verification is different for each Unit. Below you find a list of cost components as well as factors influencing the price for verification.

Verification costs compose of:

• Verification preparation: Document review, Verification sampling, Preparation of verification plan, Logistical arrangements

• Time spent in the field ( in days/ man-days): Management interview, facility inspec-tion & worker interviews, Field visits & Business Partner interviews

• Time spent travelling (hours/ days/ man-days): from the Verifier to the 4C Unit’s Managing Entity (ME), From the ME to Business Partners, from one Business Partner to the other, From the 4C Unit back to the Verifier

Verifier has max. 5 days to react

1. Send Request for Proposal

2. Select verifier Time and costs depend on completeness of verification docs

4. Receive verification plan & list of docs

5. Receive list of names of Business Partners visited by verifier

Time and costs depend on completeness of verification docs

Get ready for verification & prepare verification docs (SA, BPM, Org Chart)

3. Send Veri. docs (SA, BPM, Org Chart)

Depending on completeness of the verification docu-ments, the process between sending the Request for Proposal until actual audit takes about …

To prepare for verification can take up to several years or just a few months, depending on the perfor-mance of your 4C Unit

2 days

1.5.3 Timeline of initial verification

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• Transportation costs: from the Verifier to the 4C Unit e.g. airfare/ car rental/ mile-age/fuel, From the ME to business partners and between Business Partners, whereby the 4C Unit can provide if possible, Accommodation for the verifier team during verifi-cation, Overheads, Per diem for the verifier team, Translation services, Reporting time

Factors affecting verification costs:

• Completeness of the 4C Unit’s documents > the more complete, the less time needed for preparation

• Number of Business Partners > a larger sample size means more time to be spent in the field

• Distance between Business Partners > the more dispersed the Business Partners, the more travelling time needed

• Availability of the requested documents/ records > the better prepared, the less time needed [see list of documents Chapter 1.3, Chapter 2: Step 6.5]


6. Verification

7. Receive verification report

15 working days (3 weeks)

10 working days in case of agreement with verification result (2 weeks)

5 days (1 week)

8. Agree/disagree on result

9. 4C Secretariat issues 4C License

~ 2 – 10 days

It takes about 30 working days (6 weeks) from the moment the verification audit is finished until the 4C License is issued, in case the 4C Unit agrees to the verification result.

2 days

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1.5.4 Timeline of verification cycle

––––––––––––––– Year 1 ––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––– Year 2 –––––––––––––––

Initial verification by external verifier


Annual Update: Send updated SA, BPM, Org Chart, IP and Annual update form to 4C Sec.

Get ready for verification & prepare verification docs: SA, BPM, Org Chart

Commercial reporting Report on sold 4C Compliant Coffee, each year in October

After successful verification by an external verifier, your 4C Unit receives a License to see 4C Compliant Coffee, which is valid for three years. A standard verification cycle therefore lasts for three years: This is the time between initial and re-verification. Within those three years, the

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––––––––––––––– Year 2 ––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––– Year 3 –––––––––––––––


Commercial reporting Commercial reporting

Annual Update Re-verification by external verifier

4C Unit provides updates on changes, improvements and commercial data. Some units receive a verification visit within the three years, in case they expand their unit and apply for addendum verification or the need for a follow up visit.

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2. Virtual life cycle of a 4C Unit


Before establishing a 4C Unit (Plan)

Step 1: Check prerequisites to establishing a 4C Unit

Before you start any activities, check the four pre-requisites to establishing a 4C Unit

• Be a 4C member (or part of a 4C Member)

• Be in a producing country

• Supply one container (20 tons) of green coffee per year

• Management capacity to implement the 4C System

Step 2: Check delivery targetsAs part of the planning phase, check the delivery targets of 4C Compliant Coffee for your country, region or 4C Unit. It is important to know exactly what is expected from you in terms of available volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee (quantities and qualities) and the respective date of delivery.

Example for a management plan

Example Management Plan for 4C Unit, date: 00/00/2012, licence no.: …

Major goal: xxx bags of 4C Compliant Coffee … by 00/00/2000

Activities Responsible Person Time frame Docs/ records to be created (part of 4C IMS) Available 4C

templatesRequirement of

Veri Reg Resources How to address risk factor

1.1 Get acquainted with 4C docs, pre-requisites to establish a Unit

1.2 Check delivery targets and verification cycle

1.3 Carry out risk assessment

2.1 Set up a 4C Unit: Define ME/ assign a person

2.2 Develop a description of role & tasks of this person(s)/MEs job Describtion of ME's role 20.11.12 7.11

2.3 Define criteria to select farmers

2.4 Prepare agreement of mutual committement to be accepted by farmers Agreement of mutual committment 7.11

2,5 Create first draft of org chart (part of veri docs) Org chart

2,6 Create first draft Business Partner Mapping (part of veri docs) Business Partner Mapping X 7.4, 7.11

3.1 Get familiar with the 4C Code: Min. aim: No Unacceptable Practises, Genetically Modified Organisms, Average yellow) 7.2, 7.3, 7.6

3.2 Visit farmers to assess risks/ select them for initial verification/sign agreement

3.3 Set up training plan with focus on high risk areas/farmers/BPs

3.4 Recruit and train agronomists/field staff

3.5 Train farmers/ BPs, esp. those of high risk

3.6 Monitor progress & readiness for verification

3.7 Create aggregated Self-Assessment (part of veri docs) Self-Assessment (SA) X 7.5, 7.11

4.1 …

4.2 …

5.1 ..

5.2 ..

Objective 1: Get clarity on delivery targets and how to get there (Plan)

Objective 2: Set up 4C Unit structure and monitoring system (Do)

Objective 3: Implement 4C Code/ Set up support activities for farmers (Do)

Objective 4: Arrange verification (Check)

Objective 5: Continuously improve: Adjust your targets and activities (Adapt)

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Step 3: Develop a management plan

• As a first step, check your verification cycle: Based on your delivery targets, when should the first verification visit take place? You must take into account sufficient time for your unit to prepare for verification and consider that at least one verifi-cation within a three years verification cycle must take place during harvest time. If the initial verification takes place in the off-season, 4C Units must schedule the re-verification or addendum verification during the harvest period. [See more information on the verification cycle in chapter 1.5].

• Secondly, get an overview of your available resources and your current supply chain: Who is currently involved, what are the major challenges, how much more resources can be invested in etc.?

• Third, undertake a risk assessment of the risk factors of your 4C Unit [see chapter 1.2.1]. This will help you to know how to best allocate your resources in order to achieve your target.

• Fourth, set a management plan, taking into account the delivery target, available resources, risk factors, activities to prepare for verification such as setting up your 4C Unit, implementing the 4C System, arranging the verification visit or continuously improving after initial verification.

Example Management Plan for 4C Unit, date: 00/00/2012, licence no.: …

Major goal: xxx bags of 4C Compliant Coffee … by 00/00/2000

Activities Responsible Person Time frame Docs/ records to be created (part of 4C IMS) Available 4C

templatesRequirement of

Veri Reg Resources How to address risk factor

1.1 Get acquainted with 4C docs, pre-requisites to establish a Unit

1.2 Check delivery targets and verification cycle

1.3 Carry out risk assessment

2.1 Set up a 4C Unit: Define ME/ assign a person

2.2 Develop a description of role & tasks of this person(s)/MEs job Describtion of ME's role 20.11.12 7.11

2.3 Define criteria to select farmers

2.4 Prepare agreement of mutual committement to be accepted by farmers Agreement of mutual committment 7.11

2,5 Create first draft of org chart (part of veri docs) Org chart

2,6 Create first draft Business Partner Mapping (part of veri docs) Business Partner Mapping X 7.4, 7.11

3.1 Get familiar with the 4C Code: Min. aim: No Unacceptable Practises, Genetically Modified Organisms, Average yellow) 7.2, 7.3, 7.6

3.2 Visit farmers to assess risks/ select them for initial verification/sign agreement

3.3 Set up training plan with focus on high risk areas/farmers/BPs

3.4 Recruit and train agronomists/field staff

3.5 Train farmers/ BPs, esp. those of high risk

3.6 Monitor progress & readiness for verification

3.7 Create aggregated Self-Assessment (part of veri docs) Self-Assessment (SA) X 7.5, 7.11

4.1 …

4.2 …

5.1 ..

5.2 ..

Objective 1: Get clarity on delivery targets and how to get there (Plan)

Objective 2: Set up 4C Unit structure and monitoring system (Do)

Objective 3: Implement 4C Code/ Set up support activities for farmers (Do)

Objective 4: Arrange verification (Check)

Objective 5: Continuously improve: Adjust your targets and activities (Adapt)

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NOTE! Every unit is different! The time needed to prepare for verification can only be estimated by the unit itself. It depends on factors which are unique to each unit such as existing infrastructure, code performance or the probability and severity of risks! Therefore, no external party can provide a time estimate for preparation.

Elements of a management plan:

• Overall target (e.g. delivery target of 4C Compliant Coffee)

• Resources needed – how many people, infrastructure (e.g. laptop, printing machine, etc.)

• Clear responsibility for all involved

• What activities are entailed (how many farmers and other Business Partners to be included, at which locations, when to do BPs assessment, which level of performance should they have, what kind of training will be needed when and where, which tech-nical assistance needed, etc.)

• which documents are needed for which activity and which records to be generated from each activity

• When is an activity to be accomplished

• Financial resources

Get ready for initial verification (Do)

Step 4: Set up your 4C Unit

Step 4.1 Define the Managing Entity: one person or a group

See more information on responsibilities and criteria for choosing the Managing Entity in Chapter 1.1.2

Step 4.2 Develop a Managing Entity’s job description

Develop a description of the role & tasks of the Managing Entity of your unit. This is part of the basic level of the 4C IMS.

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Step 4.3 Assign a person for the IMS and Code implementation

Besides the Managing Entity, or as part of it, assign a person or a group of people who is responsible for the Internal Management System and code implementation. This is part of the basic level of the 4C IMS.

Step 4.4 Agree on criteria for farmers/ BPs to join the 4C Unit

When seeking out Business Partners for your 4C Unit you should have your delivery target in mind. You can either arrange information meetings with potential partners, offering them to join and/or make a risk or geographical based selection.

Example: You start to inform and assist 500 farmers. When it comes to the time of initial verification you may include only 300 of them e.g. those who have the best code perfor-mance. At a later stage, when the other 200 have improved their performance and are ready for verification, you include them in your 4C Unit through addendum verification.

Step 4.5 Prepare agreement to be accepted by farmers/ BPs

Ideally, the agreement includes roles and responsibilities as well as rules and sanction mea-sures to participate in the 4C Unit. It can be one document signed by many farmers or you may make a copy for each farmer to sign. This is part of the basic level of the 4C IMS.

Step 4.6 Create org chart and first draft of Business Partner Mapping

The organizational chart visualizes the different functions/actors within your 4C Unit. It shows the structure of your 4C Unit and explains how it works. The org chart is one of the verification documents to be provided to verifiers prior to the verification visit.

Examples for org charts

Collector

Producer ProducerProducer ProducerProducer Producer

Collector

Internal Monitoring System

BUYING STATION

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PURCHASING DEPARTMENT

Managing Entity

IMS TeamPart of ME

CooperativeBP

FarmerBP

Key FarmerBP

Key FarmerBP

WarehouseBP

FarmerBP

MillBP

FarmerBP

TransportBP

FarmerBP

Examples for org charts

Guidance on filling in the Business Partner Mapping

Pr. Y YTD Pr. Y YTD Pr. Y YTD

0 Village coffee Co. xx - ward- yy village - zz province x Marketing function 50 15 Red Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow Green Y 5d, 6a 3a

1 Henry Store xx - ward- yy village - zz province Warehouse/storage 3 20 Red Yellow Green Green Green Green Y 3, 4

2 Erick Ngnaa xx - ward- yy village - zz province wet Chemical sprayer 5 7 Red Yellow Red Yellow Yellow Green Y 5b, 5c 4a, 4b

3 Happy Pickers Co. xx - ward- yy village - zz province Labour service provider 11 0 Yellow Yellow Green Green Green Green Y 7b

4 Alene Sotario xx - ward- yy village - zz province Transporter 2 0 Green Green Green Green Green Green Y

5 Green production farmer group xx - ward- yy village - zz province x Collector Y

6 Juan A. Lopez xx - ward- yy village - zz province x Dry 2 0 75 25 3 Yellow Green Red Yellow Red Yellow Y 4 1a, 1b

Social Envi EconSocial Envi.

Coffee production Average Rating

Average yield

(bags/ha)Size (ha)

Econ.Others

Perman

ent

Tempo

rary Total

production potential

(bag à 60kg)

Managing Entity (ME)

Coffee producers

Coop. / farmer group /

association

Miling facilities (wet

/ dry)

IMPROVEMENT AREAS

No Name Address

Type of services/products Number of employees

BUSINESS PARTNERS and MANAGING ENTITY BUSINESS DATA Business partners' self-assessment

Ass

esse

d (Y

/ N

)

DATE, PLACE OF COMPLETION:

NAME OF THE RESPONSIBLE PERSON: SIGNATURE

4C UNIT REGISTRATION NR.

NAME OF 4C UNIT:

NAME OF MANAGING ENTITY:

Each Business Partner (BP) receives a number (start-ing from 1), this helps you and the verifier to know exactly how many business partners you have in total. The Managing Enity (ME) receives number 0.

You indicate Name and residential address of the ME and of each BP. Note: A BP is any one in your 4C coffee supply chain, who has physical contact with coffee cherries and green coffee

You indicate the Coffee production for each farmer only, not for any other Business Partner!

Note: This information gives you an idea about the potential 4C Compliant Coffee your 4C Unit can deliver.

This person is the main contact person who is in touch with verifiers & 4C Secretariat

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The Business Partner Mapping (BPM) includes basic data of the Managing Entity and the Business Partners and is used as a tool to monitor their performance. It is one of the verifi-cation documents provided to verifiers prior to the verification visit.

Example of cooperatives/associations: If you work with farmer groups, first you list the coop‘s/association’s name & address, tick respective type of service/products provided by the coop/association and insert the number of employees. Secondly you list further Business Partners like collectors or mills, in case they are not at the same location as the coop. Third-ly, you list each individual farmer with address, you tick „coffee producer“ and indicate the number of employees as well as rate of coffee production.











Average yield

(bags/ha)Size (ha)

Econ.Others

Perman

ent

Tempo

rary Total


(bag à 60kg)


Coffee producers


association


/ dry)

IMPROVEMENT AREAS

No Name Address



Ass

esse

d (Y

/ N

)




NAME OF 4C UNIT:


Type of service/ products:

If you as ME own facilities or take care of certain processes like milling or warehousing etc. please:

• tick the relevant column(s) on the same row IF they are in the same place (address) with the ME. In this case all the relevant data like number of employees and average rating in Self Assessment should be counted for the entire ME; or

• list them as any other business partners IF they are located in other than ME’s place.

For each BP you indicate the type of service or prodcut they supply to you as the ME of the 4C Unit.

Please also use the drop-down menu in the cells of colum „others“:

Labour service providers: those from whom you hire temporary workers like pickers during the harvest time.

Collectors/intermediaries/middle men: if there are collectors in the coffee supply chain of your 4C Unit, please list all relevant data.

Transport: Only indicate in case trans-portation of coffee cherries is done by your coffee producers or other business partners themselves, there is no need to indicate it in this ‘Transport’ column.

Chemical spayers: in case profesionaly are hired for spaying, those spraying companies are to be listed here under the ‘Chemical sprayers’ column.

The average yield gives you a hint to understand the productivity and to analyse improvements for the farmers in your 4C Unit.

Coffee growing area (ha) is a good indicator for you to estimate the production costs (for inputs like chemicals, fertilizers, water used, labour, etc.) of each of your farmers.

This number is provided by the 4C Secretariat, in case you have not yet received it, just leave it blank

You indicate Number of employees of the ME and for each BP

BP‘s assessement and Improvement areas, you fill in, after you conducted the Self-Assessment.

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Step 5: Implement the 4C Code & inform about IMS

Step 5.1 Get familiar with the 4C Code of Conduct & Self-Assessment

Before you visit the farmers and Business Partners, become familiar with the 4C Code of Conduct and check respective requirements:

• no use of GMOs

• Elimination of UAPs

• Average Yellow Performance

The 4C Code of Conduct is reflected in the Self-Assessment, one of the most important 4C Monitoring Tools. The Self-Assessment is a excel file of six pages.

Guidance for the Self-Assessment: Page 0 – Instruction

4C SELF-ASSESSMENT - INTRODUCTION and INSTRUCTION(This template must be used as of 01.07.2012. Until then, its use is encouraged.)

ContentPage 0 - Introduction & instructionPage 1 - UnacceptablesPage 2 - Code PerformancePage 3 - Assessment of Internal Management System (IMS) Page 4 - Verification RegulationsPage 5 - Aggregating results

Purpose This Self-Assessment template is a tool that shall be used primarily by 4C Units to assess their performance against the 4C code of conduct and other applicable requirements. During the verification process in the field, 4C verifiers use the same form, which has been completed by 4C Units before verification, to verify the correctness of the Self-Assessment. This Self-Assessment template is used as one of the main tools in the entire verification process of 4C Units, including:A) Initial/ addendum verification/re-verification - 4C Units use this template to assess internally their performance before any verificationB) Verification in the field - 4C verifiers use this Self-Assessment template during verification in the fieldC) Annual Self-Assessment - 4C Units carry out the Self-Assessment on an annual basis, using this template GuidanceThe following section will quickly guide you through this tool. For more information please refer to the 4C Verification Regulations (http://www.4c-coffeeassociation.org/index.php?id=190) or contact the 4C secretariat at [email protected]. Further descriptions are also given in the different steps/ worksheets.

The first step on page 1 is to provide basic data about the 4C Unit and to evaluate performance against the 10 unacceptable practices. Please enter the relevant data and evaluate performance against the 10 unacceptable practices by ticking the respective answer.

The second step on page 2 is to evaluate the 4C Unit's performance against the 4C Code's principles in the social, economic and environmental dimensions. The evaluation is conducted along the traffic light principle: the green, yellow and red status. Please tick the respective status of your 4C Units by using the indicators as provided in the Matrix.

The third step on page 3 is to help 4C Units and 4C verifiers to determine the level of the Internal Management System (IMS). The table lists the possible levels of an IMS and its indicators. The indicators help you identifying which level of the IMS the 4C Unit fulfills. Possible levels are: basic (=all indicators in yellow are met), intermediate (=all indicators in yellow and grey are met), advanced (=all indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met) and integrated IMS (=all indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met and one out of the two indicators in the green section). This step is also needed for the evaluation on page 4.

The fourth step on page 4 is to explicitely check crucial 4C requirements. The table provides 11 requirements. Please insert the respective evaluation. All 11 requirements need to be checked by the 4C Units. But only some of the requirements need to be checked by 4C verifiers in the field.

The fifth step on page 5 is to aggregate the verification or self assessment results of the Managing Entity (ME) and the sample of the 4C Unit's business partners (BP) against the 4C Code. For each principle in all three dimensions, please evaluate the performance of the Managing Entity and the sampled business partners on a scale from 1-3. The scale corresponds to the traffic light system: 1=green, 2=yellow, 3=red. The average results per Code principle and dimension will be shown automatically in the respective columns. When there is any principle that is not applicable to any of the assessed Business Partner or the Managing Entity, please leave the corresponding cells blank.

Page 0 – Instruction

The very first page of the file explains the purpose of the Self-Assessment and provides guidance to complete pages 1-5.

Guidance for the Self-Assessment: Page 1 – Basic data & 10 Unacceptable Practices

TICK HERE

PLEASE SEND COMPLETED SELF ASSESSMENT, BUSINESS PARTNER MAPPING AND ORGANIZATION CHART TO THE 4C SECRETARIAT AT THE FOLLOWING POSTAL / EMAIL ADDRESS:

BY MAIL:BY FAX:BY EMAIL:

OFFICE BONN – ADENAUERALLEE 108 – 53113 BONN – GERMANY+49 228 850 [email protected]

PRIMARY DATA OF THE 4C UNIT

Name of 4C Unit / Managing Entity:

Address:

4C Unit Registration number:

Type of 4C Unit:

Amount of potential coffee production of the entire 4C Unit (bags à 60kg):

Ratio between Arabica/ Robusta (%):

Amount of certified coffee under other standards (bags à 60kg):

DATE, PLACE:

NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON:

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: All principles are applicable as well at Business partner levels. It is the responsibility of the Managing Entity to ensure that all Business partners reach at least the average yellow performance in all the principles.

UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES

PRACTICES RESULTS

1CHILD LABOUR

Within my 4C Unit, worst forms of child labour are still practiced.PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, the worst form of child labour are banned and excluded.

2

FORCED AND BONDED LABOUR

Within my 4C Unit, practices of forced and bonded labour exist. PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, practices of forced and bonded labour are banned and excluded.

3

TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS

Within my 4C Unit, trafficking of persons is practiced.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, no trafficking of persons is allowed or practiced.

4

MEMBERSHIP OF AND REPRESENTATION BY TRADE UNION

Within my 4C Unit, there is no free choice of membership of or representation by a trade union for all workers.PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, there is free choice of membership of or representation by a trade union for all workers.

5

FORCED EVICTION WITHOUT ADEQUATE COMPENSATION

Within my 4C Unit exist cases of forced eviction without adequate compensation.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit do not exist any cases of forced eviction without adequate compensation.

6

ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR WORKERS

Within my 4C Unit, housing on the farm / plantation (with at least 10 permanent workers) is required by workers, but not provided.ORWithin my 4C Unit, housing on the farm / plantation (with at least 10 permantent workers is required and provided, but this is not adequate for the workers. PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, adequate housing is made available to workers on the farm/plantation. ORWithin my 4C Unit, there is no housing, because it is not required by workers.OR There is no farm / plantation with at least 10 permanent workers.

7POTABLE WATER

Within my 4C Unit, potable water (drinking water) is not made available for workers during working practise.PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, potable water (drinking water) is made available to all workers during working practise. OR:Within my 4C Unit, water is made available, but it is not potable.

8

NATURAL RESOURCES

Within my 4C Unit, designated protected areas (designated by national and / or international legislation) like primary forests or other natural ressources are cut down or destroyed by any Business Partner within the last five years.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, no primary forest or other protected areas exist. OR: Within my 4C Unit, there are protected areas like primary forest or other natural resources, but they are conserved and not cut down or destoyed by any Business Partner within the last 5 years.

9

USE OF INTERNATIONALLY BANNED PESTICIDES

Within my 4C Unit, pesticides banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)and listed in the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) are applied on the coffee plot.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, it is prohibited to use pesticides banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and listed in the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and they are not applied on the coffee plot.

10

BUSINESS RELATIONS

Within my 4C Unit, there is evidence of fraud, corruption, bribery or extortion.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, there is no evidence of fraud, corruption, bribery or extortion.

SELF ASSESSMENTRESULTS UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS !

0

Page 1 – Unacceptables

This page contains basic data of your 4C Unit and the 10 Unaccepable Practises (UAP). In case an UAP is not applicable to your 4C Unit, please leave it blank.

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Guidance for the Self-Assessment: Page 2 – Code performance

CATEGORY NO. PRINCIPLE GREEN CRITERIA YELLOW CRITERIA RED CRITERIA

Resources, information and institutional structures are available to improve representation of workers and farmers by their organisation.

Right to found, belong to and to be represented by an independent organisation of free choice is accepted and easy access to it exists.


0 0

INDICATORS




and and and

Representatives of independent organizations are guaranteed access to the information and resources, necessary to carry out their functions.


Representatives of independent organizations have no guaranteed access to the information and resources necessary to carry out their functions.

and and and

No cases of discrimination, adverse action against or exclusion of members of independent organizations by Managing Entity, employer or other workers.

No cases of discrimination, adverse action against or exclusion of members of independent organizations by Managing Entity, employers or other workers.

Cases of discrimination or adverse actions against members of independent organizations (other than trade unions) still occur.

Collective bargaining results are applied to all workers.

Trade Unions and / or worker’s organisations can bargain collectively. Bargaining results are applied to some workers.

The right to and the outcomes of collective bargaining are ignored.

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INDICATORS

Regular consultations between employers and authorised worker's representatives concerning working conditions, remuneration, dispute resolution, internal relations and matters of mutual concern relating to all workers are taking place.

Consultations between employers and authorised worker's representatives are taking place.

Consultations are not accepted by employer.

and and or

Results of collective bargaining are applied to all workers. Results of collective bargaining are partially applied. Results of collective bargaining are being ignored.

Positive action programmes to secure equal rights are implemented.

Awareness to secure equal rights is raised and concrete steps to develop positive action programmes are evident.

No positive action to either raise awareness of or secure equal rights is evident.

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INDICATORS

Policy and procedures for equal rights with respect to gender, maternity, religion, ethnicity, physical conditions and political views incl. grievance mechanisms exist.

Policy and procedures incl. grievance mechanisms for equal rights are being developed.

No policy or procedures for equal rights exist.

and

The policy and procedures are implemented.

and

There is no evidence that equal rights are violated or that harassment or abusive treatment occurs.

Children’s rights to childhood and education are implemented.

Deliberate efforts to remove children from work and get them into education are evident.

There are no measures to encourage the education of children.

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INDICATORS

All children of legal school age are attending school. Some of the children of legal school age are not attending school.

The majority of the children of legal school age are not attending school.

and and and

Efforts by the Managing Entity led to an improvement of the educational situation.

Child labour is only accepted as part of light family work and outside school hours.

No awareness on educational needs of children within the 4C Unit is evident.

and and

The Managing Entity is undertaking measures to improve the educational situation.

No efforts to facilitate access to education are evident.

All workers receive written labour contracts. Contractual agreements are adhered to.

Informal but transparent contractual agreements are used and implemented.

Contractual agreements with workers are not implemented or adhered to.

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INDICATORS

Written and registered labour contracts and agreements for all workers are available.

At least verbal contractual agreements for all workers exist.

There are complaints from workers or from their legal representatives or organizations that contractual agreements are not respected.

and and

All workers have a copy of their labour contracts.

and

No complaints from workers or from their legal representatives or organizations that the contractual agreements are not implemented.

No complaints from workers or from their legal representatives or organizations that the contractual agreements are not adhered to.

Working hours comply with national laws / international conventions and/or collective bargaining and overtime is fully remunerated.

Working hours comply with national laws/international conventions and working hours are recorded individually.

Working hours do not comply with national laws / international conventions and overtime is not remunerated.

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INDICATORS

SOCIAL DIMENSION

Soci

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Freedom of association 1 Workers and producers have the right to found, to belong to and to be represented by an independent organisation of their choice.

Soci

al d

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sion

Freedom of bargaining 2 Workers have the right to bargain collectively

Soci

al d

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Discrimination 3 Equal rights with respect to gender, maternity, religion, ethnicity, physical conditions and political views are secured.

Soci

al d

imen

sion

Right to childhood and education 4 Children have the right

to childhood and education.

Soci

al d

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sion

Working Conditions 5a Workers receive a labour contract.

Soci

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sion

Working Conditions 5b Working hours comply with national laws / international conventions and/or collective bargaining and overtime work is remunerated.

Page 2 – Code performance

This page shows the 28 priniples per dimension. You can tick red, yellow or green criteria according to the preformance of the 4C Unit and its Business Partners. In case a princi-ple is not applicable you leave it blank.

NOTE! The most crucial part of the 4C Code of Conduct is the indicators. They deter-mine the compliance/non-compliance with the 10 Unacceptable Practices and compli-ance with the green, yellow or red criteria of each principle. However, you will notice, the 4C Code and its indicators do NOT always give exact instructions on how to do certain things. Instead, you are provided with a framework towards more sustainable practices with some flexibility in its interpretation. It is important that you transfer the 4C Code into your country-specific circumstances on the basis of the indicators. Please note that verifiers also make use of the indicators to crosscheck performance as speci-fied in the Self-Assessment.

Step 5.2 Visit farms/BPs or arrange farmer meetings to …

… inform them of the benefits of Code implementation

… get a picture of their code performance and their risks and needs by using the Self-Assessment

… select farmers/BPs for your unit, based on the selection criteria, see step 3.3

… get acceptance to the agreement/ rules as prepared in step 3.4.

… get missing data for the Business Partner Mapping

After you have visited the farmers and you have done a first needs assessment, you may review the management plan to see if it is necessary to adjust it.

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Step 5.3 Create a training plan with a focus on high risk farmers/BPs

Based on the assessed risks and needs in step 4.2, set up a training plan for farmers, workers and possibly other Business Partners of your 4C Unit. It is recommended to focus training activities on those areas and farmers with the highest risks.

Step 5.4 Recruit and train agronomists/field staff

According to your training plan priorities, recruit or train respective staff. You may need to strengthen your Internal Management System Team to set up a data and monitoring sys-tem or engage trainers/field staff to run farmer information sessions on Good Agricultural Practices.

Step 5.5 Train farmers/ BPs, esp. those of high risk

A common approach for units with many farmers is the Training of Trainers approach. This means you set up a major training team which trains lead farmers (trainers) who in turn train farmers in their surrounding area. You may also provide additional technical support on an individual basis, if needed.

Example of a Training Plan

Example Training Plan for 4C Unit, date: 00/00/2012, licence no.: …

Activities High risk factors Training content Responsible

Person Time frame Docs provided during training

Training material (flip chart etc.) Resources

1.1 Train the trainers, special attention to high risk factors … Benefits of joining a 4C Unit, 4C Code: 10 UAP, 28 principles, IMS … … 4C Code of Conduct,

Self-AssessmentFlip chart, markers, … …

1.2 Individual follow-up, if needed … … …

2.1 xxx trainings of xxx key farmers in all areas of 4C Unit Benefits of joining a 4C Unit, 4C Code, simple book keeping

4C Code leaflet, book kepping booklet

2.2 xxx trainings of xxx key farmers in area xxx with high risk farmers2.3 Monitor progress & and provide additional support, if needed

3.1 …

3.2 …3.3 …

4.1 …4.2 …4.3 …

Objective 1: Set up trainer team of xxx trainers

Objective 2: Trainers train Key Farmers, special focus on high risk factors

Objective 3: Key farmers train 10 farmers each

Objective 4: Monitoring & Adjustment of training plan

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NOTE! There is no blue print for a training plan. A training plan ideally addresses the risks and needs of the Business Partners and Managing Entity of your particular 4C Unit and relates it to the available budget.

Step 5.6 Monitor progress, assess readiness for verification, create individual Self-Assessments

After a certain period of time, visit the farms again or arrange follow- up meetings in order to check if training activities have been taken up and there is observable progress in the implementation of 4C practices. Assess if farmers and Business Partners of your 4C Unit are ready for verification:

• Exclusion of GMOs?

• Exclusion of the 10 Unacceptable Practices (mind the pesticide list!)?

• Average yellow performance?

• Basic IMS in place?

Create or adjust the Self-Assessments of the individual Business Partners and the Manag-ing Entity.

Example Training Plan for 4C Unit, date: 00/00/2012, licence no.: …

Activities High risk factors Training content Responsible

Person Time frame Docs provided during training

Training material (flip chart etc.) Resources

1.1 Train the trainers, special attention to high risk factors … Benefits of joining a 4C Unit, 4C Code: 10 UAP, 28 principles, IMS … … 4C Code of Conduct,

Self-AssessmentFlip chart, markers, … …

1.2 Individual follow-up, if needed … … …

2.1 xxx trainings of xxx key farmers in all areas of 4C Unit Benefits of joining a 4C Unit, 4C Code, simple book keeping

4C Code leaflet, book kepping booklet

2.2 xxx trainings of xxx key farmers in area xxx with high risk farmers2.3 Monitor progress & and provide additional support, if needed

3.1 …

3.2 …3.3 …

4.1 …4.2 …4.3 …

Objective 1: Set up trainer team of xxx trainers

Objective 2: Trainers train Key Farmers, special focus on high risk factors

Objective 3: Key farmers train 10 farmers each

Objective 4: Monitoring & Adjustment of training plan

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Guidance to conduct individual Self-Assessments:

You can either hand out Self-Assessment forms (page 2: UAP and page 3: Code Matrix: 28 principles) to be filled in by the Business Partners and farmers themselves. In case you work with small holders, you may assess them in group meetings (if they are homogeneous) together with the group’s leader or someone from your training or IMS team e.g. after a training session.

You can also make use of Self-Assessments made for particular Business Partners.

Example for a simplified Self-Assessment

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Guidance on number and kind of Business Partners to be assessed

There is no fixed number of Business Partners you should assess. The more Business Partners and farmers you assess, the more secure you will be about the overall result and perfor-mance of the entire 4C Unit. Once you know your Unit better, you can judge its readiness for verification more easily.

In any case, it is recommendable to include those Business Partners with the highest risk and lowest performance in your assessment.

In case of a homogenous group, you can apply the sample size used by verifiers (50% of the square root of all Business Partners + Managing Entity) to determine the number of Business Partners to assess.

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Step 5.7 Create aggregated Self-Assessment

The aggregated Self-Assessment reflects the performance at 4C Unit level, meaning the av-erage performance of ALL Business Partners (famers, collectors, mill, etc.) and the Managing Entity is shown.


Business Partner

Self Assessment or Interview

Business Partner


Business Partner


Self Assessment

TICK HERE

PLEASE SEND COMPLETED SELF ASSESSMENT, BUSINESS PARTNER MAPPING AND ORGANIZATION CHART TO THE 4C SECRETARIAT AT THE FOLLOWING POSTAL / EMAIL ADDRESS:

BY MAIL:BY FAX:BY EMAIL:

OFFICE BONN – ADENAUERALLEE 108 – 53113 BONN – GERMANY+49 228 850 [email protected]

PRIMARY DATA OF THE 4C UNIT

Name of 4C Unit / Managing Entity:

Address:

4C Unit Registration number:

Type of 4C Unit:

Amount of potential coffee production of the entire 4C Unit (bags à 60kg):

Ratio between Arabica/ Robusta (%):

Amount of certified coffee under other standards (bags à 60kg):

DATE, PLACE:

NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON:

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: All principles are applicable as well at Business partner levels. It is the responsibility of the Managing Entity to ensure that all Business partners reach at least the average yellow performance in all the principles.

UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES

PRACTICES RESULTS

1CHILD LABOUR

Within my 4C Unit, worst forms of child labour are still practiced.PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, the worst form of child labour are banned and excluded.

2

FORCED AND BONDED LABOUR

Within my 4C Unit, practices of forced and bonded labour exist. PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, practices of forced and bonded labour are banned and excluded.

3

TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS

Within my 4C Unit, trafficking of persons is practiced.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, no trafficking of persons is allowed or practiced.

4

MEMBERSHIP OF AND REPRESENTATION BY TRADE UNION

Within my 4C Unit, there is no free choice of membership of or representation by a trade union for all workers.PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, there is free choice of membership of or representation by a trade union for all workers.

5

FORCED EVICTION WITHOUT ADEQUATE COMPENSATION

Within my 4C Unit exist cases of forced eviction without adequate compensation.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit do not exist any cases of forced eviction without adequate compensation.

6

ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR WORKERS

Within my 4C Unit, housing on the farm / plantation (with at least 10 permanent workers) is required by workers, but not provided.ORWithin my 4C Unit, housing on the farm / plantation (with at least 10 permantent workers is required and provided, but this is not adequate for the workers. PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, adequate housing is made available to workers on the farm/plantation. ORWithin my 4C Unit, there is no housing, because it is not required by workers.OR There is no farm / plantation with at least 10 permanent workers.

7POTABLE WATER

Within my 4C Unit, potable water (drinking water) is not made available for workers during working practise.PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!

Within my 4C Unit, potable water (drinking water) is made available to all workers during working practise. OR:Within my 4C Unit, water is made available, but it is not potable.

8

NATURAL RESOURCES

Within my 4C Unit, designated protected areas (designated by national and / or international legislation) like primary forests or other natural ressources are cut down or destroyed by any Business Partner within the last five years.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, no primary forest or other protected areas exist. OR: Within my 4C Unit, there are protected areas like primary forest or other natural resources, but they are conserved and not cut down or destoyed by any Business Partner within the last 5 years.

9

USE OF INTERNATIONALLY BANNED PESTICIDES

Within my 4C Unit, pesticides banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)and listed in the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) are applied on the coffee plot.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, it is prohibited to use pesticides banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and listed in the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and they are not applied on the coffee plot.

10

BUSINESS RELATIONS

Within my 4C Unit, there is evidence of fraud, corruption, bribery or extortion.

PLEASE TICK FOR ASSESSMENT!Within my 4C Unit, there is no evidence of fraud, corruption, bribery or extortion.

SELF ASSESSMENTRESULTS UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS !

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One aggregated Self Assessment

Guidance on aggregating results of the Self-Assessment

Step 1: All sampled Business Partners and the Managing Entity are evaluated against each principle of the 4C Code and rated according to the indicators of the respective prin-ciple. Values are assigned to different levels of performance: Value 1 = green rating, value 2 = yellow, Value 3= red rating.

Step 2: Create the sum of all rating values for each principle for the Business Partners of the sample and the Managing Entity. Divide this sum by the sample size, including the Managing Entity. This is your average value per principle of the sample.

Example: The sample size is 6 (BPs) +1 (ME) = 7 in total. The sum of the rating values of all sampled Business Partners and the Managing Entity of one particular principle is divided by 7 to find the average value per principle for the sample.

The average value of each principle of the sample is between 1 and 3.

Step 3: The preliminary average value per dimension for the sample is calculated by dividing the sum of all of the average values per principle by the total number of principles within the dimension.

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Example: In the Social dimension of the 4C Code of Conduct, there are 11 principles in total. The sum of all of the average values per principle in the Table below is 21.1. This sum is divided by 11 (the number of social principles) to find the preliminary average value per dimension for the sample, which is 21.1/ 11 = 1.92.

The average value of each dimension of the sample is between 1 and 3.

Step 4: However, the preliminary average value per dimension (1.92) is not yet final. The 4C System recognises levels of advancement within the 4C Unit’s Internal Management System (IMS). Therefore, the average rating per dimension of the sample is weighted in relation to the defined level of the 4C Unit’s IMS.

With an integrated IMS in place, the 4C Unit’s average performance could still be rated yellow even if its Code performance is poor (example above 2.251 – the aver-age value in only one Code dimension). The assumption is that if the Managing En-tity has a good IMS, it has the means and mechanisms to help its Business Partners improve their performance.

In this case, the 4C Unit will be granted a 1-year license as an incentive measure which recognizes its efforts in having a functional IMS.

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Guidance for the Self-Assessment: Page 5 – Aggregating results

Social dimension Please evaluate on a scale from 1 to 3 (1=green, 2=yellow, 3=red) using the drop-down menu when click the respective cells.

1 #DIV/0!2 #DIV/0!3 #DIV/0!4 #DIV/0!5a #DIV/0!5b #DIV/0!5c #DIV/0!5d #DIV/0!5e #DIV/0!6 #DIV/0!7 #DIV/0!

#DIV/0! #DIV/0!Environmental dimension Please evaluate on a scale from 1 to 3 (1=green, 2=yellow, 3=red) using the drop-down menu when click the respective cells.

1 #DIV/0!2a #DIV/0!2b #DIV/0!3 #DIV/0!4a #DIV/0!4b #DIV/0!5a #DIV/0!5b #DIV/0!6 #DIV/0!7a #DIV/0!7b #DIV/0!

#DIV/0! #DIV/0!Economic dimension Please evaluate on a scale from 1 to 3 (1=green, 2=yellow, 3=red) using the drop-down menu when click the respective cells.

1 #DIV/0!2 #DIV/0!3 #DIV/0!4 #DIV/0!5 #DIV/0!6 #DIV/0!

#DIV/0! #DIV/0!

BP 5

BP nHere you can add BPs by inserting

additional columns to the left of this one

Average value and rating per principle

of the sample

Average value per dimension of the

sample

Self assessment average value and rating per principle

Please insert the 4C Unit's SA result for comparison

Self assessment average value and

rating per dimensionPlease insert the 4C Unit's average value

Aggregating ResultsThis sheet needs to be completed by verifiers. For each principle in all three dimensions, please evaluate the performance of the Managing Entity and its

business partners in the sample using the drop-down menu.When there is any principle that is not applicable to any of the assessed Business Partner or the Managing Entity, please leave corresponding cells blank.

4C Units are encouraged to also use this sheet during self-assessment to assess and monitor performance.

ME BP 1 BP 2 BP 3 BP 4Sample

4C Code principles

Page 5 – Aggregating results

This page helps you to aggregate the individual Self-Assessments results of the Business Partners of the sample. Just type in the values: 1 for green, 2 for yellow and 3 for red performance for each principle and Business Partner of the sample and you will be provided with the average rating per dimension of the code.

Guidance for the Self-Assessment: page 3 – Assessment of IMS

Assessment of the Internal Management System



their data

4C Unit structure and key functions of

BPsSelf Assessment Improvement

PlanIMS documentation and communication

Implementation plan

Sanction measures












A document describing the 4C Unit’s IMSWritten contracts between the ME and BPs committing to implementing the 4C System and CI


To identify the IMS level please consider the following legend:Basic IMS = all indicators in yellow are met, intermediate IMS = all indicators in yellow and grey are met, advanced IMS = all indicators in yellow, grey and blue are met and integrated IMS = all indicators in yellow,

grey and blue are met and one out of the two indicators in the green section).

Levels



Inte

grat

ed



An Improvement Plan is developed after verification (does not apply for initial verification)






Adva

nced

Inte

rmed

iate

Basic

Page 3 – Assessment of IMS

On this page, you tick the respective field for the level of your Internal Management System.

Guidance for the Self-Assessment: page 4 – Verification Requirements

4C Verification Requirements_en

Verification Requirements4CDoc_031_4C Verification Regulations v. 1.0

Brief description of the non-conforming situation

4C Unit 4C Verifier

As a verifier please briefly describe the non-conformity

7,2 No use of GMO varieties x x7,3 Exclusion of 10 UAPs x x7,4 BPM and orgchart available x x

7,5

Self Assessment by 4C Units conducted based on the 4C Code of Conduct and applicable requirements

x x

7,6 Average yellow performance reached x x

7,7 Continuous improvement x x7,8 Periodic monitoring x

7,9 Trading of 4C Compliant Coffee x x

7,10 Granting verifiers access to information x

7,11Internal Management System (IMS)Please delete the level that does not apply.

x x Basic Inter. Adv. Integ. Basic Inter. Adv. Integ.

8,2 Verifier selection and engagement x

Here you are asked to evaluate compliance with the requirements listed in the table below. All requirements need to be checked by the 4C unit. Not all of the requirements need to be checked by 4C verifiers in the field. You will find the corresponding indication in column D and E ('To be

assessed by'). For the evaluation itself please tick ('x') if the 4C Unit is compliant with this requirement or not.

Requirement

To be assessed by

Self Assessment by 4C UnitTo be completed by 4C Unit

Verification result by 4C Verifier

To be completed by verifier

Conforming

(✘)Non-

conforming (✘)

Conforming (✘)

Non-conforming (✘)

Page 4 – Verification Regulations

This page shows 11 re-quirements, based on the Verificafiton Regulations, please tick the repective fields.

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Step 5.8 Finalize Business Partner Mapping (Check)

Guidance to complete the Business Partner Mapping











Average yield

(bags/ha)Size (ha)

Econ.Others

Perman

ent

Tempo

rary Total


(bag à 60kg)


Coffee producers


association


/ dry)

IMPROVEMENT AREAS

No Name Address



Ass

esse

d (Y

/ N

)




NAME OF 4C UNIT:


BP‘s assessment

Here you use the Self-As-sessment as a basis for your judegement. The rat-ing of red, yellow or green perforamce you need to provide for each BP and per dimension.

The rating helps the exter-nal verifier to analyse your Business Partner perfor-mance and to decide which Business Partners may be visited during the 4C verification.

Pr. Y = previous year

YTD = year to date = cur-rent year

In case this is your first time to fill out this form, meaning that you will be receiving the first verifica-tion, just leave the column ‘Pr. Y’ blank.

Improvement areas

For each BP you list those principles of the 4C Code you think need to be improved, otherwise they may affect the overall performance of your entire 4C Unit.

Please list the principles in the respective column of so-cial, environmental, and economic dimension.

Guidance:

If you are not sure, which principles you should mention, you orient yourself on the traffic light system:

• Are there any red principles, which affect the over-all performance of your unit?

• Are there any yellow ones, which are close to red?

Even in case all principles are rated as green, there are always areas of improvement!

For example: 5d in the Social column in the first row of Managing Entity here means that Working conditions in terms of occupational health and safety conditions of workers at the Managing Entity place need to be im-proved.

Ready for verification?

• No Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)?

• 10 Unacceptable Practices eliminated?

• Basic IMS in place?

• Aggregated rating of yellow reached?

• Verification documents ( Self-Assessment, org chart,

Business Partner Mapping) prepared?

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Step 6: Arrange verification audit Process and timelines for initial verification:

Step 6.1 Prepare verification documents for verifier:

• Aggregated Self-Assessment (SA)

• Business Partner Mapping (BPM)

• Org chart


Business Partner

Business Partner

Business Partner

1. Aggregated Self Assessment

2. Business Partner Mapping

3. Organisational chart of 4C Unit











Average yield

(bags/ha)Size (ha)

Econ.Others

Perman

ent

Tempo

rary Total


(bag à 60kg)


Coffee producers


association


/ dry)

IMPROVEMENT AREAS

No Name Address



Ass

esse

d (Y

/ N

)




NAME OF 4C UNIT:






0 0

INDICATORS




and and and




and and and







0

INDICATORS




and and or





0

INDICATORS




and


and





0

INDICATORS



and and and




and and






0

INDICATORS




and and


and






0

INDICATORS

SOCIAL DIMENSION

Soci

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sion


Soci

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sion


Soci

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sion


Soci

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imen

sion



Soci

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imen

sion


Soci

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Step 6.2 Send Request for Proposal to 4C approved verifiers

It is a MUST to request a proposal of ALL 4C approved verifiers in your country and to choose the most appropriate one. Both, the Request for proposal template and the list of approved verifiers, are available on the 4C website.

Guidance on Request for proposal: Please state clearly, if you will make the logistical arrangements (transport, accommodation) or if the verifier has to organize them and include respective costs in his or her offer. Also indicate where your major Business Partners are mainly located to allow for realistic travel estimates.






6. Verification





5 days (1 week)





~ 2 – 10 days

2 days

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Step 6.3 Select verifier & submit verification documents

The selection of the verifier is done by the Managing Entity. It is important that the selec-tion process is transparent and the most appropriate verifier is chosen from the list of 4C approved verifiers.

Moreover, it is crucial to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.

Conflict-of-interest-free means:

• Engaged verifier has not done any training (one-to-one) or consultancy for you within the last three years

• Engaged verifier has no interests in the Unit’s business

• Not more than two consecutive verifications by the same verifier

Criteria for objective and conflict-of-interest-free verifier selection: see Verification Regulations page 27

Once you have selected a verifier you submit the verification documents:

• Self-Assessment (SA)


• Org chart

Step 6: Arrange verification audit Process and timelines for initial verification:

Step 6.1 Prepare verification documents for verifier:

• Aggregated Self-Assessment (SA)


• Org chart


Business Partner

Business Partner

Business Partner

1. Aggregated Self Assessment

2. Business Partner Mapping

3. Organisational chart of 4C Unit











Average yield

(bags/ha)Size (ha)

Econ.Others

Perman

ent

Tempo

rary Total


(bag à 60kg)


Coffee producers


association


/ dry)

IMPROVEMENT AREAS

No Name Address



Ass

esse

d (Y

/ N

)




NAME OF 4C UNIT:






0 0

INDICATORS




and and and




and and and







0

INDICATORS




and and or





0

INDICATORS




and


and





0

INDICATORS



and and and




and and






0

INDICATORS




and and


and






0

INDICATORS

SOCIAL DIMENSION

Soci

al d

imen

sion


Soci

al d

imen

sion


Soci

al d

imen

sion


Soci

al d

imen

sion



Soci

al d

imen

sion


Soci

al d

imen

sion


Step 6.2 Send Request for Proposal to 4C approved verifiers

It is a MUST to request a proposal of ALL 4C approved verifiers in your country and to choose the most appropriate one. Both, the Request for proposal template and the list of approved verifiers, are available on the 4C website.

Guidance on Request for proposal: Please state clearly, if you will make the logistical arrangements (transport, accommodation) or if the verifier has to organize them and include respective costs in his or her offer. Also indicate where your major Business Partners are mainly located to allow for realistic travel estimates.






6. Verification





5 days (1 week)





~ 2 – 10 days

2 days

46


NOTE! The verifier assesses the verification documents for completeness. He or she might request further or missing information of you and your Business Partners. The time needed to check the documents and engage with you in case of missing information might influence the costs of verification. It also determines the time frame for the next step of sending the verification plan and arranging the verification visit.

Step 6.4 Receive verification plan and names of BP to be visited

The verification plan provided by the verifier helps the 4C Unit to allocate resources for the verification visit. It contains at least the following information:

• When and where verification starts

• Time allocation for each activity during verification

• Who is going to attend which part of verification and where

The sampling size for initial verification is 50% of the Square Root of total Business Partners + Managing Entity. The selection of BPs to be visited is based on risks.

Names of Business Partners are only announced at a maximum of two days prior to the verification visit.

Step 6.5 Prepare relevant documents for verifier team

The verification audit is based on interviews with the Managing Entity and the Business Partners, inspection or observation as well as documents and records check. The more relevant documents and records you can provide the better! It is excellent evidence of your efforts to implement sustainable practices.

Guidance on document preparation for verification visit:

Besides the verification documents of Self-Assessment, Business Partner Mapping and org chart as well as further IMS related documentation, you are recommended to prepare the following documents and records for the verification visit:

• Working contracts with employees / workers

• Training program for employees and Business partners

• Pay slips

• Log book of input application

• Traceability records

• Soil analysis

• Farm maps

• Biodiversity conservation plan

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Step 6.6 Be verified (Check)

During the verification visit, the verifier checks documents and procedures, carries out inter-views and collects other evidence, as well as making random checks of 50% of the square root of all individual farmers and other partners involved in the business. The verifier uses the Business Partner Mapping to come up with the sample of the visited Business Partners.

The verifier’s main task is to verify the 4C Unit’s Self-Assessment against the findings made during the verification visit. By doing so, the verifier also helps to identify areas for improve-ment.

Providing the verifier team with access to information during the verification visit is a MUST. Non-compliance will result in non-conformity and you may not be granted a 4C License to sell 4C Compliant Coffee.

Process of the verification visit

Opening Meeting15-20 min

Who: Managing Entity, people in charge

What: Get to know each other

Management interview


What: Verifier gets overview of 4C Unit and IMS

Check of docs & records, Interviews with employees

Who: Managing Entity, employees

What: Verifier gets further insights

Closing Meeting


What: Clarify open issues

Agreement on pre-liminary result

Who: Managing Entity + Verifier team

Field Checks 2-10 days depending on size of Unit

Who: Business Partners, workers

Where: At homes, offices, farms, factories

What: Verifier gets further insights, based on > interviews, inspection (observation), review of documents & records

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY X

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Step 6.7 Review & accept or reject verification report

The verifier is given 15 working days to draft the verification report. Once the ME receives the verification report, it has five working days (1 week) to review, sign and send back the report to the verifiers and the 4C Secretariat

Guidance for rejection of verification report

Should the ME disagree with the result of the verification report, the following process can start:

1. The ME may be requested to provide the Secretariat and verifier with additional evidence to back up its claims

2. In case there is still no agreement between the 4C Unit and the verifier, the 4C Unit can contact the 4C Secretariat to initiate the complaint procedure within 30 days (see doc on website)

3. In case the issue cannot be resolved at the Secretariat level, further steps will be taken in accordance with the procedure and/ or the Mediation Board by-laws.

Step 7: Get 4C License to sell 4C Compliant Coffee

If the verification result is positive, 4C Units receive a license to sell 4C Compliant Coffee. The 4C License is issued by the 4C Secretariat within 2 weeks after successful verification and provided the 4C Unit agrees with the result of the verification report.

The Managing Entity of the 4C Unit can now sell coffee from its listed Business Partners as 4C Compliant to other 4C Units and 4C Members. If sold to non-4C Members, the coffee is not considered as 4C Compliant.

Guidance on traceabilty

Whenever 4C Compliant Coffee is traded, the 4C License number or a copy of the license needs to be passed on to the respective buyer. This is done by including the license number or a copy of the license in the relevant documents (bill of lading, other shipping documents or contract).

The 4C License is valid for three years.

The 4C License can also be issued to 4C Units under the benchmarking scheme between the Rainforest Alliance and the 4C Association.

Benchmarking procedure and application: see 4C website

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LICENSE TO SELL 4C COMPLIANT COFFEE

Registration No.

Geneva, Switzerland Date

Melanie Rutten-SülzExecutive Director

4C Secretariat | Adenauerallee 108 | 53113 Bonn | Germany

PHONE +49 (0)228 850 50 0 | FAX +49 (0)228 850 50 20 EMAIL [email protected] | WEB www.4c-coffeeassociation.org

The 4C Association is registered with the Register of Commerce in Geneva, CH-660-2928006-4, c/o CR Gestion & Fiduciaire SA, Route des Jeunes 9, 1227 Carouge-Geneva, Switzerland

The 4C Association hereby confirms that the registered and verified 4C Unit:

This license to sell 4C Compliant Coffee is valid from to

License No. XXXXX-XX-X-XXXX

ABC Corporation GmbH

Unit Address

XXXXX-XX-X

has reached “average yellow” performance in implementing the 4C Code of Conduct and started its continuous improvement process towards sustainability. This 4C Unit is now licensed to sell coffee within the 4C supply chain from its X listed 4C farmer business partners in accordance with the Communication Guidelines as well as the the Rules of Participation of the 4C Association.

DD-MM-YYYY DD-MM-YYYY

12, Januar 2012

1

2 3

1 License number – 12 digits:

• The 4C Membership No. and the country (5+2 digits)

• The number of each 4C Unit (1 digit, per 4C Member and per country)

• the expiry date of the license (last 4 digits)

2 Date of issue of the license

3 Expiry date of the license

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AFTER initial verification: Continuous improvement (Adapt)

Step 8: … 6 weeks after initial verification: Improvement Plan

The Improvement Plan is a management tool to be elaborated by 4C Units based on a tem-plate provided by 4C. In the first place it addresses findings/risks/observations reported during verification and outlines the activities 4C Units intend to implement in order to improve the current performance.

After verification, regardless of the verification result, 4C Units must develop an Improve-ment Plan. The Improvement Plan states the intention of the 4C Unit as to where it wants to be in its continuous improvement journey, when and how.

If the verifier’s average rating (red/ yellow/ green) of a principle differs from the 4C Unit’s Self-Assessment, the verifier issues a finding. The difference may be an up-rating (from red to yellow or from yellow to green), or a down-rating (from green to yellow or from yellow to red). 4C Units must address all down-ratings in an Improvement Plan.

6 week after verification, the 4C Unit sends the Improvement Plan to the 4C Secretariat and the verifier. Failure to send the improvement plan is regarded as non-conformity and leads to the suspension of a Unit’s 4C License.

4C Verification 3/6

unacceptable

4C Unit's Improvement Plan redSelf assessment/ICS yellow

4C Unit name: 4C Verification Responsible: risk

4C Unit registration no.: Other scheme audit Approved by: observationLast verification dates: Other sources Approval date: non-conformity

Review date Status

Source of identified

improvements

Improvement areas# Implementation status updateDeadlineImplementing

person(s)Expected resultsProposed action(s)Performance level

4C Unit’s Improvement Plan

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Step 9: Continuous Improvement: Eliminate red practices

Any red practice identified during initial verification MUST be eliminated within three years before re-verification can be undertaken.

NOTE! Exceptions to this rule (e.g. due to 4C Units located in conflict and disaster zones, force majeure), will be made by the 4C Secretariat on a case–by-case basis in consultation with the 4C Verifier.

Step 10: Continuous Improvement: From yellow to green / to other standards / to advanced IMS

Among others, Continuous improvement involves moving from yellow to green practices. It is however NOT required to replace ALL yellow practices by green ones within three years nor is there any time limitation for this.

Furthermore, implementation of other standards such as the SAN Standard is part of the continuous improvement journey and is considered as positive development by the 4C Unit. The same applies for progress in the Internal Management System (IMS). 4C Units are ex-pected to incorporate additonal elements of a more effective IMS over time, but again, it is optional to do so.

4C Verification 3/6

unacceptable

4C Unit's Improvement Plan redSelf assessment/ICS yellow

4C Unit name: 4C Verification Responsible: risk

4C Unit registration no.: Other scheme audit Approved by: observationLast verification dates: Other sources Approval date: non-conformity

Review date Status

Source of identified

improvements

Improvement areas# Implementation status updateDeadlineImplementing

person(s)Expected resultsProposed action(s)Performance level

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Step 11: … every 12 months: Annual Update docs & forms

Step 11.1 Visit farmers/BP to assess progress and status

The Managing Entity (ME) is responsible for ensuring continuous improvement and the im-plementation of the Improvement Plan. Furthermore, the ME has to assess its performance and that of its Business Partners on an annual basis.

The first step is to assess the current level of performance against the previous Self-As-sessment and the improvement plan. Consequently, all other Internal Management Sys-tem documents are updated accordingly.

In order to monitor progress, the Managing Entity and its IMS team visit the Business Part-ners, assess their performance and fill in the respective documents.

Step 11.2 Send Annual Update to 4C Secretariat

The annual update is a set of documents to be handed in to the 4C Secretariat with informa-tion on progress and changes in your 4C Unit.

The Annual update includes:

• Annual update form

• Updated Aggregated Self-Assessment

• Updated Business Partner Mapping

• Updated Org Chart

• IP with progress!

• Updated/revised Internal Management System (optional)

Failure to send the annual update is regarded as non-conformity after which you receive two reminders. Should these be unsuccessful, the 4C License is suspended. The suspension is only lifted once the required information has been provided.

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Step 12: … every year in October: Commercial reporting

Every year in October, 4C Units and final buyers do online reporting on shipped and received volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee per coffee year (Oct – Sep). To prepare for the commercial reporting, units register every shipment of 4C Compliant Coffee.

The electronic commercial reporting-form is accessible via the 4C Online Platform. To ac-cess the 4C Online Platform you need a login and password provided by the 4C Secretariat. Please make sure to have your login data and all records of shipped / received volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee at hand for the Commercial Reporting.

For detailed instructions on the 4C Commercial Reporting please refer to the Commercial Reporting Procedure document.

Step 13: Re-verification

Guidance on minimum Continuous Improvement requirement for re-verification

Failure to show signs of Continuous Improvement (as a minimum: elimination of all red practices and/ or moving from yellow practices to green ones) during re-verification results in non-conformity.

See next chapter for more information.

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3. Renew 4C License or expand your 4C Unit

3. Renew 4C License or expand your 4C Unit

ADDENDUM VERIFICATION

RE-VERIFICATION CREATE NEW UNIT

In which situation?

• You want to expand your 4C Unit based on your valid license e.g. to supply more 4C Compli-ant Coffee

• New Business Partners are located in the same area as the old ones

• You want to renew your 4C License for another three years

• You want to expand your 4C Unit

• You want to expand your 4C Unit by a sig-nificant amount of new Business Partners

• Different supply chain• Long geographical

distance to first unit• New Business Partners

have a significantly different level of per-formance / different SA results

At what point in time do you apply?

• Any time within 3-year verification cycle

• Earliest possible time: 25 months after initial verification

• Latest application: at least 3 months before expiry of license in order to ensure 4C coffee can be traded without interruption

• Any time

Docs to be sent to verifier

• Latest aggr. SA • BPM update• Org Chart update• IP update• Previous verification

report • In case addendum

verification takes place one year after previous verification:

• All past aggr. SAs• All past annual

update forms

• Latest aggr. SA • BPM update• Org Chart update• All Improvement Plans• All past aggr. SAs• All past annual update

forms

• SA• BPM• Org chart

Verifier selection

• Recommendation:• Same verifier as for

initial verification

• Recommendation: Different verifier than for initial verification

Sample size

• 50% √ new Business Partners + 1-3 Business Partners from initial ver-ification sample + ME

• 50% √ Business Partners + ME

• 50% √ Business Partners + ME

Validity of license

• Existing license remains valid

• Three years • Three years

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4. Non-Conformities & Sanctions

The graphs below show non-conformities with 4C requirements and related sanction mech-anisms such as the suspension of the 4C License. The non-conformities are

Non-conformities occurring during any type of verification

Not granting verifiers access to information

No License

Licensing decision

re-considered by Secretariat

No license

Submission of information

No further action

• Verifier are in conflict of interest or

• Non-trans-parent selection of verifier

No License/ Suspension of

License

Follow up visit by verifier appointed by Secretariat

3 year License /

Suspension uplifted

No license

Confirmation of

conformance by

verifier

Confirmation of non-conformity

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4. Non-Conformities & Sanctions

Non-conformities during initial verification

• UAP exist

• GMO found

• No evidence of improve-ment

No LicenseFollow up visit

within 180 days

3 year License

No license

Clearance of

non-conformity

No improvement

Non-conformities for periodic monitoring (after initial verification)

Improvement Plan not

submitted

Suspension of License [after two reminders within 4 weeks after deadline

Suspension uplifted

Suspension remains

• Updated IP

• Evidence of progress

No improvement

No commercial reporting each year in October

Suspension of License [after

two reminders]

Suspension uplifted

Suspension remains

Commercial data and

documents /records provided

No information provided

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No Annual Up-date (AU) sent to Secretariat

Suspension of License [after

two reminders]

Suspension uplifted

Suspension remains

• Information provided

• Documents/ records provided

No AU

Non-conformities during re-verification

Red practises

1 year license, based on Im-

provement Plan and case by case

assessment

No renewal of license

No renewal of license

2 year License

No license

Clearance of

red practise

• Red practises still remain• No follow up visit• No new BP or New BPs > 30%• No evidence of improvement

Special case for Initial verification

Average red in one dimension &

advanced IMS

1 year license, depending on

magnitude of red practise and local

context

Follow up visit within 1 year

2 year License

No license

Clearance of

red practise

No improvement

Improvement Plan & evidence of progress after 3 months of last verification day

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5. Questions & Answers


General questions on unit structureQ 1.1: Can one Managing Entity (ME) have several 4C Units?

A: A ME can have several 4C Units but must be able to clearly justify why it is establishing new units instead of expanding the existing one. Reasons for establishing several units un-der one ME could include having Business Partners in different locations or a different supply chain. In practice, one ME normally coordinates one 4C Unit in one geographical area in or-der to ensure the implementation of the 4C System. In some cases, the number of Business Partners under one ME increases over time to up to a few thousand farmers. In the end, it is up to the ME to decide whether it can fulfill all the responsibilities of either running an expanding unit or several units at the same time and if it has sufficient resources, especially in terms of human capacity for monitoring and providing technical support.

Q 1.2: Can farmers join two different Units?

A: No, in the current system, farmers can only be registered under ONE Unit and can deliver 4C Compliant Coffee only to the Unit they are registered with. A farmer can however drop out of a 4C Unit and join another; this needs to be a transparent process and should be reflected in the respective documents such as the BPM or Annual Update.

Q 1.3: Can Business partners other than farmers (e.g. mills or service providers) be part of several 4C Units?

A: Yes, in case they are part of the supply chain of different Units, they must be listed in the Business Partner Mappings of the different 4C Units.

Benefits and incentives of 4C implementation/ Continuous ImprovementQ 2.1: What are the benefits of continuously improving?

A: Improving performance towards green practices means better quality, higher efficiency and productivity as well as better social standards and protection of natural resources. It also means easier access to and compliance with other standards.

Q 2.2: What is the main incentive for farmers to join a 4C Unit?

A: Besides increased quality and productivity, alongside improved social and environmental practices as a result of standard implementation, farmers often perceive trainings and ser-vices provided by the 4C Unit as the main benefit of joining a Unit. Services provided by the Unit include access to know-how, updates on coffee prices, selling or providing fertilizers, credits and sometimes an add-on price.

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Q 2.3: Does the 4C Association offer minimum/fixed prices to farmers?

A: No. The 4C system adheres to the regular market mechanisms of supply and demand. There is no fixed premium or fixed price for coffee supplied by verified 4C Units.

However, 4C Compliant Coffee is not just “any coffee;” it has an added value that derives from the fact that it has been produced, processed and traded by applying baseline sustain-ability criteria. Buyers recognize this additional value and suppliers are in a better position to negotiate the price for their 4C Compliant Coffee.

Moreover, the 4C Association sustainability approach helps farmers to apply better agri-cultural, processing and management practices. This results in increased yields, improved quality and reduced costs for farmers, helping them to improve their incomes.

4C Monitoring Tools: Self-Assessment/ Business Partner Mapping Q 3.1: Can a 4C Unit be verified without previously carrying out a self-assessment and filling in the Business Partner Mapping?

A: No. To conduct the verification visit, the selected verifier must receive an aggregated Self-Assessment, a filled out Business Partner Mapping as well as the org chart for the whole Unit. To assess and monitor individual farmers, 4C Units can also use other tools or forms more suited to their monitoring system as long as the information required for the tools provided by the Association is readily available.

Q 3.2: Can a 4C Unit send Self-Assessment, Business Partner Mapping and Org chart to the verifier and arrange for verification even though the Unit has not yet eliminated the 10 UAP?

A: No. If the 4C Unit is aware of any existing UAP within the 4C Unit, it must NOT apply for verification. Instead it must further work on improving the current performance until it is certain that there is no UAP still in practice. The 4C Association does not accept any 4C Unit with UAP in its system. See more details in the section on non-conformities and sanction mechanisms.

Traceability & Trading 4C Compliant CoffeeQ 4.1: Who can trade 4C Compliant Coffee?

A: In line with the membership concept of the 4C Association, only members can trade 4C Compliant Coffee. All actors along the supply chain of 4C Compliant Coffee have to be members of the 4C Association, from the 4C Unit up to the final 4C buyer. This is to preserve the identity of 4C Compliant Coffee and to enable final buyers to claim that their purchased coffee is 4C Compliant.

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According to the Rules of Participation, 1.5, the following entities qualify as participants in the 4C Supply Chain:

• Producers and groups/ organizations of producers supplying green coffee in excess of one full container load;

• Post-harvest processing facilities (such as mills e.g.);

• Intermediate Buyers including traders, exporters, importers and processors;

• Final Buyers including roasters, soluble manufacturers, private label companies and retail companies with private labels and coffee bar chains;

• Coffee agents and brokers.

4C Compliant Coffee can be sold to non-4C members at any time, but in that case it loses its status of 4C Compliant Coffee. Hence, if final buyers intend to claim and report the use of 4C Compliant Coffee, all actors in the respective supply chain have to be members of the 4C Association. Membership is evidenced by the membership certificate.

Q 4.2: What are the traceability requirements for trading 4C Compliant Coffee?

A: Every actor along the 4C supply chain, starting from the 4C Unit up to the final buyer needs to pass on the license number of the 4C Unit along the supply chain when trading 4C Compliant Coffee. This is done by including the license number or a copy of the license in the relevant documents (bill of lading, other shipping documents or contract). The license ensures traceability to the 4C Unit level. At the end of each coffee year, 4C Units and final buyers report the shipped and received volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee in what is known as Commercial Reporting.

Buyers should ALWAYS request a copy of the 4C License from their suppliers in order to make sure that it is still valid and corresponds to the 4C Unit from which they buy the 4C Compliant Coffee. In case of doubts, they should always refer to the latest verification up-date or contact the 4C Secretariat.

Beyond the traceability requirements of the 4C Code of Conduct (Economic Dimension, prin-ciple 6), the 4C System does not require any segregation of 4C Compliant Coffee after the 4C Unit level, i.e. for shipment, storage and industrial processing in a consumer country.

Q 4.3: Who can sell 4C Compliant Coffee?

A: The first actor in the supply chain selling 4C Compliant Coffee is the Managing Entity of the 4C Unit. The Managing Entity is responsible for implementing the 4C Code of Conduct, the internal control system and the traceability requirements at 4C Unit level.

Individual farmers are registered as Business Partners of the 4C Unit, while the Managing Entity is the license holder. The license does not belong to individual Business Partners and they may notsell 4C Compliant Coffee to any other buyer than the Managing Entity of their 4C Unit.

A Managing Entity, can sell 4C Compliant Coffee to any other actor of the 4C supply chain provided this actor is a member of the 4C Association (see question 1). It is entirely possible

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that Managing Entities buy and sell coffee from other 4C Units / Managing Entities. But 4C Compliant coffee sold to non-members loses its status as 4C Compliant.

Q 4.4: Why is passing on the license number indispensable?

A: Passing on the license number or a copy of the license is indispensable because of the commercial reporting requirements that 4C Members must comply with and for the sake of traceability.

Final buyers, i.e. roasters, soluble coffee manufacturers and retailers need to report annu-ally the volume of 4C Compliant Coffee they received, i.e. at the end of each coffee year. Since the volumes have to be reported per license number, a sound internal tracking system should be in place recording all purchases of 4C Compliant Coffee over the year per license number.

Remember: the license number is NOT identical to the membership no. or any other num-bers mentioned in the contract.

You can only claim all your volumes of received 4C Compliant Coffee if you have the license numbers at hand. So, please make sure that the license number, or a copy of the license, is delivered by your supplier with every shipment of 4C Compliant Coffee.

Q 4.5: Which coffee can be sold as 4C Compliant by a 4C Unit?

A: A 4C Unit with a valid license can sell coffee obtained from farmers registered as Business Partners within that unit as 4C Compliant Coffee. This also applies to Rainforest Alliance cer-tified farmers or producer groups which obtained the 4C License under the benchmarking scheme with the Rainforest Alliance.

As long as a 4C Unit possesses a valid License to sell 4C Compliant Coffee, it can also sell carry-over stocks from the last harvest coming from farmers registered as Business Partners. In other words: a 4C Unit can only sell carry-over stocks as 4C Compliant Coffee if it has a traceability system in place, ensuring that this coffee comes from registered Business Part-ners only.

Remember: 4C Verification relates to the production and processing practices used to pro-duce 4C Compliant Coffee. It does not relate to the coffee itself or the volume that is pro-duced.

Selling coffee from non-4C farmers, i.e. not listed as Business Partners, as 4C Compliant Coffee is an Unacceptable Practice (Immoral transactions), and if so identified by a verifier, that Unit’s license will be suspended.

Q 4.6: Can any other supply chain actor trade 4C Compliant Coffee without being a member?

A: Similar to the requirements for 4C Units, any other supply chain actors such as exporters, traders or final buyers must have valid membership at the shipment/delivery date and at the time of concluding a contract for 4C Compliant Coffee. Membership can be proven by the membership certificate.

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As explained in question 1, 4C Compliant Coffee can of course be bought by non-members, but in that case it loses its status as 4C Compliant Coffee.

Q 4.7: Can a 4C Unit sell more 4C Compliant Coffee than registered as production potential?

A: The production potential of a 4C Unit is based on indications by the Managing Entity and is verified during the field audit by independent verifiers. However, volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee vary from harvest to harvest so that the actual production of a 4C Unit can be lower or higher than the indicated production potential. In addition, a 4C Unit can sell carry-over stocks from the last harvest as 4C Compliant Coffee, if it comes from listed Business Partners and complies with specific traceability requirements (see question 5).

In fact, a 4C Unit can sell more 4C Compliant Coffee than was registered as its production potential. However, if during the commercial reporting the reported volumes surpass signifi-cantly the original production potential, the 4C Secretariat will cross-check the volumes in order to make sure that only 4C Compliant Coffee was sold as such.

Q 4.8: Can the Managing Entity sell 4C Compliant Coffee to non-4C members?

A: Yes, but the coffee loses its 4C Compliant status.

Q 4.9: Can the Managing Entity buy 4C Compliant Coffee from other 4C Units?

A: Yes, this is possible, provided that the 4C Compliant Coffee is bought from the Managing Entity of the other 4C Unit and the traceability requirements are fulfilled (passing on of li-cense number or copy of license). It is important to note, that 4C Compliant Coffee can ONLY be purchased directly from the license holder and NOT from individual Business Partners/farmers registered under other 4C Units.

Q 4.10: Can the Managing Entity buy 4C Compliant Coffee from farmers, who are not registered or registered with other Units?

A: No, 4C Compliant Coffee can only be sourced from Business Partners and farmers, who are registered in their Unit. Alternatively 4C Compliant Coffee can be sourced from other Units (from the ME as the license holder) or 4C Members, operating under a different license number.

Q 4.11: Can 4C Units which belong to the same 4C Member trade 4C Compliant Coffee between different countries in the world?

A: Yes, this is possible, provided that the 4C Compliant Coffee is traded according to traceability requirements (passing on of license number or copy of license) to be able to identify where the coffee originates from and allow for proper commercial reporting (once a year in October).

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Q 4.12: Does a 4C Unit need a valid license to be able to sell 4C Compliant Coffee?

A: Yes, the Managing Entity needs a valid 4C License at the time of selling and shipping the 4C Compliant Coffee; there are no exemptions.

Reporting of traded volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee

Q 5.1: What is the Commercial Reporting?

A: The commercial reporting is a key commitment of 4C Members. Every year in October, 4C Units and final buyers report shipped and received volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee per coffee year (Oct – Sep). Intermediaries do not need to fill-in the commercial reporting form.

To prepare for the commercial reporting, Units need to register every shipment of 4C Com-pliant Coffee, and final buyers need to consistently track their received amounts of 4C Com-pliant Coffee over the year.

The electronic commercial reporting form is accessible via the 4C Online Platform. To access the 4C Online Platform you need a login and password, provided by the 4C Secretariat. Please make sure to have your login data and all records of shipped / received volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee at hand for the Commercial Reporting. For detailed instructions on how to do 4C Commercial Reporting please refer to the Commercial Reporting Procedure document.

Renewal of License or expansion of your 4C Unit

Q 6.1: Can farmers be included in an existing Unit?

A: Yes, an expansion of the 4C Unit is possible at any time within a three year verification cycle by applying for addendum verification. It is recommended to make a cost-benefit analysis, taking into account the costs for addendum verification, code implementation and monitoring of new farmers on one hand and the benefit of trading higher volumes of 4C Compliant Coffee on the other.

Verification

Q 7.1: What is the sampling size for the verification visit?

A: Initial verification: 50% of the Square Root of total BPs + ME. Addendum verification: 0.5 Square Root of NEW BPs + 1 to 3 BPs of the sample of initial verification+ ME. Re-verifica-tion: 0.5 Square Root of total BPs + ME. The selection of BPs to be visited is based on risks.

Q 7.2: What happens if a selected farmer is not available?

A: The Managing Entity is responsible for making sure that the selected Business Partners

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are available for the verification visit; unless there is a “force majeur”. In this case, verifiers must use the same risk-based approach to find a replacement. 4C Units may NOT influence the verifiers’ decision on verification samples and/ or replacements in any way. If verifiers are found to be influenced by 4C Units in sampling, necessary sanction measures will be applied. In case replacements require additional travel time and transportation, the Managing Entity covers the related costs.

Q 7.3: Can a high level of the Internal Management System compensate for red practices?

A: In cases where an average red rating of any dimension of the 4C Code is confirmed during initial verification but where 4C Units have an advanced IMS, licensing decisions may vary depending on the magnitude of the red practices and the local context. This concerns situations when (a) requirements of the 4C System are stricter than the local laws (e.g. Social principle 1 – Freedom of association), or there is no ban in the country on the use of red ingredients in the 4C Pesticide Lists Red & Yellow); (b) the red practices require extensive resources (both time and finances) as in the case of improving the waste water treatment facilities of individual Business Partners.

A decision can be made in one of the following directions:

• The case may be considered as a critical non-conformity and respective sanctions in initial verification will apply; or

• A one-year provisional license will be issued upon submission of a realistic Improve-ment Plan with evidence of progress made to eliminate red practices. The Improve-ment Plan must be submitted within three months from the last day of the verifica-tion. After one year, a follow-up visit will take place. Further decisions will depend on the follow-up visit results.

Q 7.4: What is the follow up visit by verifiers?

A: It is a short verification visit to check non-conformities. It takes place either within 180 days after failed verification, or within 360 days in the case of a one year provisional license. If a 4C Unit fails this follow-up visit, a full verification will take place, provided the 4C Unit still wishes to be verified.

Q 7.5: What is the difference between verification and certification?

A: Verification confirms/ disconfirms the results of the 4C Unit’s Self-Assessment, whereas certification confirms/ disconfirms compliance by a group with a standard.

Q 7.6: What happens if the verifier finds out that a new 4C Unit has red practices during 4C verification?

A: Given the continuous improvement approach, 4C Units are required to reach average-yel-low performance per dimension so as to receive their 4C License. This means, within one dimension there may still be some red practices, as long as there are an equal number of

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green ones to balance them out. If red practices outnumber green practices, the 4C Secre-tariat will not issue a 4C License to the 4C Unit and the Unit will not be able to sell its coffee as 4C Compliant. If green practices outnumber red practices, a 4C Unit will receive a 4C License. The Continuous Improvement concept however requires that ALL red practices are eliminated after three years; this is verified during the re-verification.

Q 7.7: What is a conflict of interest of verifiers?

A: Conflict of interest MUST be avoided at all times otherwise a Unit’s 4C License can be suspended. Conflict of interest may arise when

• The 4C Verifier has (within the last three years) provided services to the 4C Unit which are related to the 4C implementation and the currently requested verification

• The 4C Verifier has been selected by the same 4C Unit for two consecutive verifica-tions prior to the currently requested verification

• The 4C Verifier has interests in the business of the 4C Unit requesting for verification

• See more details in Verification Regulations, page 49.

Q 7.8: Is it common that Verifiers and Managing Entities were in a business rela-tionship before or worked together for another certification?

A: Yes, in some cases. And it is ok as long as no Conflict of Interest (COI) is involved and 4C Units can prove the verifier selection is objective. Verifiers sign a CoI-free clause in their framework contract with 4C and this is checked during the 4C verification system review. The framework contract clearly indicates what a CoI is. Furthermore, the topic is always presented/ discussed during verifier trainings and verifiers themselves are very much aware of the danger of having a CoI (e.g. losing credibility/impartiality and thus clients).

Q 7.9: Who does the verification?

A: Professional, independent third-party companies, which are accredited against ISO/Guide 65 or equivalent and 4C approved! Verifiers have to meet certain qualification criteria to work for the 4C Association. Verifiers must:

• have inspection/ system auditing experience;

• have background and experience in the coffee sector;

• have successfully participated in 4C Verifier Training;

Q 7.10 When is the first time a 4C Unit can become verified?

A: This is up to the 4C Unit and its readiness for verification. There are units which take several months and others which need several years to comply with the 4C requirements for successful verification. Once a 4C Unit is ready for verification, it sends a request for propos-al to verifiers and arranges the verification visit with a 4C approved verifier.

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6. Glossary

6. Glossary

A 4C Unit

An operational entity that implements the 4C Code of Conduct in order to be part of a 4C Supply chain. This entity can be established at any level of the coffee supply chain in a producing country. It can be an estate, a loose group of farmers, an organised cooperative/ association, or a mill, etc. Within the 4C System, 4C Units are subject to verification.

4C License

The official document issued by the 4C Secretariat on behalf of the 4C Association. It recognises a 4C Unit’s efforts in implementing the 4C Code of Conduct and that it has reached the minimum “average yellow performance” level as confirmed by 4C Verifiers.With this License the 4C Unit can sell coffee from its listed business partners as 4C Compliant to other 4C Members in the coffee supply chain.

4C VerifierThird party professional auditing companies who are approved by the 4C Secretariat to conduct 4C Verification.


Verification carried out within a three-year verification cycle to recognise the expansion of a 4C Unit when it wishes to include new business partners in addition to those who were part of the unit during the previous verification.

Annual Update

A set of documents updated by 4C Units on an annual basis after being licensed. These documents include: a summary of annual updates, updated Self Assessments, updated Business Partner Mapping and an updated Improvement Plan.

B Business Partner

Any actor within the 4C Unit up to the Managing Entity level who has physical contact with coffee cherries or beans. Those actors are typically coffee farmers, collectors, warehouses, mills, chemical sprayers, labour services providers, etc.

Business Partner Mapping (BPM)

A simple internal monitoring 4C Tool (as part of an IMS) that helps 4C Units manage their Business Partners’ basic data and performance.BPM can be replaced by other IMS documents as long as all required information is covered.

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C Continuous Improvement

A process whereby 4C Members/ 4C Units gradually improve their performance based on the 4C Code of Conduct and other 4C Requirements. The aim is to help 4C Members and Units to move step-by-step towards greater sustainability in their business practices.

F Follow up visit

A short verification visit taking place within 180 days from the last day of an unsuccessful verification. If a 4C Unit fails this follow-up visit, a full verification will take place, provided the 4C Unit still wishes to be verified.

I Improvement Plan

A plan developed by 4C Units following verification which addresses findings/ risks/ observations reported, and outlines the activities 4C Units intend to implement in order to improve their current performance.

Internal Management System (IMS)

A set of documents created and implemented by the 4C Units’ Managing Entity to manage both its own and its Business Partners’ activities in conforming to 4C Requirements and in continuously improving performance. An IMS used for 4C Implementation may be part of an IMS the Managing Entity also uses for managing activities under other schemes.

M Man day

An eight (8)-hour day spent by a verifier team member on verification activities. If a team is composed of two team members who work two full days on site, the number of man days is: 2 verifiers x 2 days on site = 4 man days.

Managing EntityAn individual or group which has an overall responsibility for managing a 4C Unit with regard to implementing the 4C Code of Conduct and trading the 4C Compliant Coffee.

N Non-conformityNon-fulfilment of an applicable 4C Requirement by any related party (mainly 4C Units, 4C Verifiers and the 4C Secretariat).

O Organisational Chart

A tool used by 4C Units to visualise different functions/ actors within their 4C Supply chain.

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6. Glossary

R Request for Proposal

A form used by 4C Units to request approved 4C Verifiers to submit a proposal for verification.

Re-verification

A verification taking place within a maximum of three years from the successful initial verification. This enables the 4C Unit to retain its licensed status and remain in the 4C Compliant coffee chain.

RiskThe likelihood and extent that a non-conformity will actually occur. A risk is derived using the risk assessment matrix.

Risk based sampling

An activity within the verification process when a 4C Verifier determines the Business Partners to be visited during on-site verification, using a risk assessment approach.

Risk factorA situation or condition that poses a threat to 4C Units’ conformance to 4C Verification requirements.

S SanctionsMeasures imposed on 4C Members/ 4C Units and 4C Verifiers when certain 4C requirements are not met.

Self Assessment (SA)

A 4C Tool used by 4C Units to evaluate their 4C performance.

U Unacceptable Practices (UAP)

10 practices that 4C Members have to exclude as a pre-requisite to entering the 4C Verification system.

Unannounced/ surprise visit

A visit to 4C Verifiers and 4C Units by an external third party organisation together with the 4C Secretariat as part of the periodic system review. This visit is not announced in advance until 48 hours before the actual visit. The purpose of the visit to make sure that the system is implemented competently, consistently and transparently.

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V Verification

A series of activities carried out by approved 4C Verifiers to confirm the result of 4C Units’ aggregated self assessments.A successful verification will result in the 4C Unit being awarded a 4C License which allows it to sell its coffee as 4C Compliant.

Verification costs

All the costs incurred during verification, including verifiers fees, transportation fares, accommodation, overhead of 4C Verifiers, per diem, etc.All verifications costs are covered or arranged (with buyers or others) by 4C Units.

Verification Plan

A document prepared by 4C Verifiers and shared with 4C Units prior to actual on-site verification.It lists the major locations and activities to be carried out during verification.

Verification requirements

A set of requirements used by 4C Verifiers during verification to determine the performance level of 4C Units. These requirements can include but are not limited to the 4C Code of Conduct, requirements set out in this document, aggregated Self Assessments, previous verification reports and 4C Unit improvement progress. These requirements may vary depending on the type of verification (initial, re-verification, follow-up, addendum).

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Notes & Imprint

NOTES

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For more information, please visit www.4C-coffeeassociation.org

Or contact:

4C Secretariat

Adenauerallee 108

53113 Bonn, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 228 850 50 0

E-Mail: [email protected]

Acknowledgements: This manual has been produced by the 4C Association with great support from the Rainforest Alliance and funded by Nestlé through its Nescafé Plan.

Responsible for content: Gabriele Schmidt

Concept & Layout: v|werk gestaltungen · Jens Vroomen, Köln

Version: December 2012

© 2012 4C Association. All rights reserved.

No part of this work covered by the copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, record-ing taping, or information retrieval systems) without the written permission of the copyright owner. The 4C Association grants to Nestlé and the Rainforest Alliance a royalty free right to copy, distribute, use, and prepare derivative works for any purpose, in any media, and in any territory for non-commercial use. The 4C Association reserves the right to undertake relevant steps to protect its copyright in case of breach, misuse, inappropriate use or in-fringement of this copyright.

4c_unit_impl_manual_final_klein

Documents

c secretariat

c website

c requirements

c unit concept

c system implementation

c code of conduct

management plan

management approach