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Companies are encouraged to maintain fully segregated supply chains whenever possible, as this is the best way to achieve full traceability from farm to end-product and to link product contents to origin. But because full segregation isn’t possible for all commodity supply chains, the Mass Balance Sourcing Program was created. This will enable manufacturers, brands, and retailers to support the field impacts of certification without the need to change man-ufacturing processes to comply with the requirements of segregation.

The Rainforest Alliance Mass Balance Sourcing Program is available only for specific commodities, which are refer-enced in the Appendix to this Guidance document. If your company is only selling segregated certified materials, this document does not apply. The key requirements of the Rain-forest Alliance Mass Balance Sourcing Program are as follows:

Governance

General / Scope

In compliance with the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agri-culture Standard for farms and farm groups, eligible certified commodities must be segregated until responsibility is trans-

ferred from the farm certificate holder to the first buyer (for ex-ample via the issue of the first transaction certificate) and may be handled with mass balance processing from that point. All companies that take physical possession and/or legal own-ership of a product originating from a Rainforest Alliance Cer-tified™ farm and make promotional, on-pack or sales claims (for example, business to business claims) regarding the certi-fied status of these products must comply with the Rainforest Alliance Chain of Custody (CoC) standard and policy.

CoC is the process of verifying a product’s handling from a certified farm through the various stages of manufacturing and processing to assure the end consumer that the claims made about the certified product are true. The Rainforest Al-liance CoC Standard requires that a credible management system and traceability is in place from this point in the sup-ply chain onward to ensure the equivalent volumes of certi-fied materials can be transferred/processed. When operating a mass balance system, there are a few differences in CoC implementation that are outlined in Appendix 1.

Operator Scope

Mass Balance Sourcing Program operators must comply with the CoC policy. They can choose to manage the require-ments at a single site or multi-site level. The multi-site certifi-

Guidance for Working with the Rainforest Alliance Mass Balance Sourcing Program

JULY 2020

cate has no geographic restrictions in its scope. To qualify for a global multi-site certificate, the operator’s sites must be un-der a central administration and use the same management system. They must also be CoC certified under one multi-site certificate with the same Certification Body.

If a site has Rainforest Alliance’s single-site CoC certification, single-site mass balance accounting will be required. Trans-actions between single site CoC certificates, even within the same company must always relate to changes of physical possession or legal ownership. Within a multi-site CoC certif-icate, mass balance credit volumes may be transferred be-tween sites with or without an accompanying legal or physi-cal change of ownership.

Mass Balance Accounting

Traceability

All sales and shipment transactions of mass balance materi-als or products claimed as Rainforest Alliance Certified must be reported to the Rainforest Alliance using our online system, Marketplace 2.0. At minimum, all sales conducted during a calendar quarter must be registered in Marketplace 2.0 within 30 days of the end of that quarter.

Mass balance credits are valid for a maximum of three years. If sales exceed purchases, these must be covered with suffi-cient purchases of certified inputs by the end of the quarter in order to issue Transaction Certificates (TCs) for that quarter.

Product Recipe and Origin Matching

When using mass balance, transaction certificates (TCs) for purchases of the certified ingredients should reflect the reci-pe of the product. For example, if the formulation for a choco-late product is 30 percent cocoa butter and 70 percent cocoa powder, TCs should be purchased for these certified ingredi-ents in the same proportions. It is not possible to convert or substitute TCs unless this reflects the processing that has tak-en place or could take place e.g. cocoa powder TCs cannot be converted to cocoa butter TCs, but cocoa bean TCs may be converted to cocoa powder or butter using the standard

conversion ratios. Similarly, orange juice soluble solids can be converted to Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice (FCOJ) or Not From Concentrate (NFC) products, but once there is a TC for NFC then that volume can no longer be converted to FCOJ solids but must be used for NFC products only.

For all mass balance crops, origin matching for materials or products is only required if the seller wishes to make a claim regarding the country of origin of that product on pack or in sales, marketing, or promotional materials. For example, if an orange juice bottle claims to source its orange juice from Bra-zil and Mexico, then the operator must buy certified orange juice with TCs from producers in these origin countries in ap-proximately (within 10 percent margin of error) the same pro-portions as in the recipe for the product.

If no origin claim is made, the source country on the Trans-action Certificates may differ from the physical origin of the product as a result of mixing. The country stated on the TC in-dicates the country where a volume of ingredient equivalent to the volume used to produce the product was purchased from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

Avoiding Double Counting for Multi-Certified Materials

If a batch of certified material is purchased from a farm that has more than one sustainability certification (e.g. Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade), then the equivalent volume of mate-rial can be sold forward with both certifications attached to the batch. However, the two certifications may not be sepa-rated and applied to two separate batches of material, each equivalent in volume to the original purchase, as this would be considered double accounting. Volumes entered in Mar-ketplace 2.0 as Rainforest Alliance credits and sold under an alternative scheme must be recorded in Marketplace as “Sold as non RAC.”

For example, if an operator has purchased 100 MT of cocoa powder made from beans grown on a farm that has both Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade certification, the company cannot sell forward 100 MT of Rainforest Alliance Certified co-coa powder and 100 MT of Fairtrade certified cocoa powder. Instead, the total volume of cocoa powder that can be sold forward as certified (Rainforest Alliance and/or Fairtrade)

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from that batch must not exceed 100 MT. The Rainforest Alli-ance is working closely with other certifications to avoid dou-ble counting of certified materials, and this will be carefully checked during CoC audits.

Conversion Ratios

If a user wishes to convert mass balance credits to allow them to be used for further processed materials (for example from cocoa beans to liquor, or from cocoa liquor to powder and butter) then they must use the conversion ratios set out per crop below. It is not possible for credits to be converted backwards (e.g. from cocoa liquor to beans) or in any other manner inconsistent with actual processing conversions. De-tails of the specific ratios per crop are provided in the appen-dices. In the case of orange juice products, the original yield at first extraction will determine the number of soluble solids available for the different products, NFC or FCOJ. Once these solids are converted via a TC to FCOJ for example, then the mass balance credits going forward will only be valid for FCOJ products and cannot be converted to NFC.

Labelling, Claims, and Use of Trademarks

*Note that this section is applicable to uses of the pre-2020 Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. The new 2020 Rainforest Alliance seal must be used according to the Rainforest Al-liance Labeling & Trademarks Policy, 2020 edition, including for mass balance sourcing.

General

As with all trademark users, companies should register in Marketplace 2.0, obtain a License Agreement, and ensure their traceability information is updated prior to the use of any Rainforest Alliance trademarks.

Any public use of the Rainforest Alliance trademarks and ac-companying text on packaging, promotional materials, press releases, and web pages, etc., must be approved by the Rain-forest Alliance prior to publication. This can be done online through Marketplace 2.0. For full guidance on use of Rainforest Alliance trademarks please refer to Requirements and Guide-lines for Use of the Rainforest Alliance Trademarks (July 2016), available here. This section adds guidance on mass balance claims and labeling only.

Labelling for Mass Balance Sourcing

Companies promoting products made with materials sourced through the Mass Balance Sourcing Program should use the Rainforest Alliance Certified green frog seal with the crop identified and the word SOURCING in capital letters ei-ther below or next to the seal. The seal may be used either on the front or the back of product packaging, and must be ac-companied by an explanatory statement and URL to a web-site which provides more information about the Rainforest Alliance’s Mass Balance Sourcing Program, either www.ra.org/mb or on the brand/product’s website. If space is limited, the seal may be used on the front of the pack and the explanato-ry statement included on the back of the pack.

Sample explanatory statement: “We purchase a volume of [name of commodity] from Rainforest Alliance and/or UTZ certified farms equivalent to the volume used in this product. For more, see: www.companyname.com/[crop- sourcing] or www.ra.org/mb.”

Design Specifications

As with other on-pack uses, the seal must 1) be no smaller than 19 mm wide; 2) be produced in Pantone 625 green, black & white, or reversed white printed on a dark background; and 3) include a clear space equal to 20 percent of the seal’s width around it to avoid encroachment by other graphics or text. The explanatory statement elsewhere on pack must be printed in a font size that is sufficiently legible and clear.

Volume Equivalencies

Mass balance-based products can only use the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal on packaging if purchases of Rainforest Alliance Certified and/or UTZ certified inputs are equivalent to 100 percent of the ingredient in the recipe requirement of the SKU; this means that a volume of certified material equiva-lent to 100 percent of the SKU’s material content for the spec-ified commodity must be purchased from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms and a Marketplace TC must be available to document this transaction, or from UTZ certified farms doc-umented with traceability in the Good Inside Portal (GIP) or MultiTrace.

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or[CROP] SOURCING

[CROP] SOURCING

CoC Criteria

Criteria 1.1.bProcedures and records for controlling the reception, pro-cessing, mixing, storing, packaging, delivery, transport, and resale of products coming from certified farms.

Criteria 1.2The personnel involved with the handling and processing of certified products shall demonstrate that they have been trained and that they have the knowledge and skills to effec-tively implement the Participating Operator’s Chain of Custo-dy Management System.

Section 2. Traceability

Criteria 2.2The Participating Operator shall implement a system for identifying the certified products by means of physical or vi-sual identification.

Criteria 2.6The Participating Operator shall check supplier documenta-tion to ensure it includes one of the following:a. A copy of a Transaction Certificate(s) from the Rainforest Alliance or associated Transaction Certificate number(s); or b. Supporting documentation (supply contracts, invoices, de-livery documents, etc.) that indicates the Participating Oper-ator’s claim for the product(s) purchased.

Participating operators (POs) implementing the Mass Bal-ance Sourcing Program are only required to develop and implement procedures and keep records for controlling the purchase, receipt, and sale of the certified product. POs shall notify the Rainforest Alliance of any overselling that occurs.

Training is required and will be verified by the auditors for ad-ministrative, accounting, receiving, delivery and/or sales staff, sufficient to ensure that the volume of inputs processed for the Mass Balance Sourcing Program meets or exceeds the volume required for output products with certified claims.

For companies implementing mass balance, segregation requirements will not apply. The rules of the mass balance guidance document apply and shall be implemented by the company. Auditors will be reviewing volume inputs and outputs as well as documentation to ensure claims being made align with the product the company has purchased.

This criterion does not apply. Companies are not required to segregate and identify Rainforest Alliance Certified product when they are implementing the mass balance program.

Upon receipt of Rainforest Alliance Certified mass balance product, participating operators shall verify the volume to be received as Rainforest Alliance Certified as it could be less than 100 percent of the total volume included in the shipment.

Guidance for Mass Balance Operators

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All Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard criteria apply unless in-dicated below. Auditors must be familiar with the Mass Bal-ance Sourcing rules outlined in this document to ensure that the company is using the mass balance system correctly. Some companies may be implementing mass balance and segregation at the same site for different product lines; in this case the auditor should include two sets of findings for these different claims. Should the auditor encounter the

company incorrectly implementing the mass balance cri-teria aside from the CoC Standard rules outlined below, then the auditor shall contact Rainforest Alliance at agcoc@ra.org to inform them of this error. The Rainforest Alliance reserves the right to implement sanctions per the CoC Poli-cy. The following is guidance for companies and auditors to use when evaluating mass balance systems:

Appendix 1: CoC Audit Requirements for Mass Balance Sourcing Program

table continues on following page

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The Participating Operator making the sale should include a reference to Rainforest Alliance Certified mass balance material on commercial documentation for the shipments. When a shipment is made for Rainforest Alliance Certified mass balance volumes that is less than 100 percent of the to-tal shipment volumes, the total volume amount as certified shall be indicated on all associated documentation.

If the company is implementing a multi-site mass balance system through a central headquarter location, internal au-dits of multi-site members can be conducted via desk au-dit and review how volume transfers occur between sites and general accounting/communication between sites and headquarters.

Criteria 2.7The Participating Operator shall provide claim information to its customers, including: a. A copy of a Transaction Certificate(s) from the Rainforest Alliance or associated Transaction Certificate number(s); or b. Supporting documentation (supply contracts, invoices, de-livery documents, etc.) to indicate the Participating Opera-tor’s claim for the product(s) sold; and c. When an unlabeled product is sold that contains less than 100 percent Rainforest Alliance Certified content, the Partici-pating Operator shall indicate the certified percentage.

Criteria 4.1cNew sites must undergo an internal inspection before being included.

CoC Criteria Guidance for Mass Balance Operators

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Appendix 2: Conversion Ratios

Companies can also define conversion ratios with the approval of Rainforest Alliance.

Conversion Ratio

CocoaCocoa Beans Cocoa LiquorCocoa Liquor Cocoa PowderCocoa Liquor Cocoa Butter

Coconut OilCoconut CopraCopra Crude Coconut OilCrude Coconut Oil Refined Coconut Oil (RBD)Crude Coconut Oil Refined Coconut Oil (Hydrogenated)

Oleochemical derivative products are excluded from the scope of MB at this time.

Palm OilFresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) Crude Palm OilFresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) Palm KernelsCrude Palm Oil Refined Palm OilCrude Palm Oil PFADPalm Kernels Palm Kernel OilPalm Kernels Palm Kernel ExpellerPalm Oil OleinPalm Oil StearinOlein Double Fraction OleinOlein Mid Fraction StearinStearin Mid Fraction OleinStearin Double Fraction StearinPalm Kernel Oil Refined Palm Kernel OilPalm Kernel Oil PKFADRefined Palm Kernel Oil PK OleinRefined Palm Kernel Oil PK Stearin

Oleochemical derivative products are excluded from the scope of MB at this time.

Orange JuiceFresh Oranges Soluble Solids

Soluble Solids All further processed products such as Not-From-Concentrate Juice (NFC) Juice, Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) at a specified Brix, Pulp (cells), Pulp Wash, Pulp Wash Concentrate, etc.

Oranges sold as fruit are excluded from the scope of MB at this time. Actual juice yields for the period must be reported from first extraction together with aver-age Brix values for the reported period. Supporting data files must be available documenting the reported averages. Corrected Brix must be declared for each outgoing product.

100 : 82100 : 50100 : 50

100 : 25100 : 62100 : 96100 : 96

100 : 20100 : 5

100 : 95100 : 5

100 : 45100 : 55100 : 80100 : 20100 : 65100 : 35100 : 65100 : 35100 : 95

100 : 5100 : 65100 : 35

Actual Yield for the period expressed as a percentage (Kg of Soluble Solids over Kg of Fresh Oranges) and result-ing average Brix.

Actual Kg of Solids Used at the speci-fied corrected Brix

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