Bonsucro

Bonsucro is a global multi-stakeholder initiative, dedicated to reducing the environmental and social impacts of sugarcane production while recognizing the need for economic viability.

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The aim of Bonsucro is to bring sugarcane production and its final products to a level of excellence, supporting and helping agricultural producers and companies to improve their performance and seeking the continuous improvement of the sector.

FoodChain ID was the first certification body approved by Bonsucro. FoodChain ID has worked with the Bonsucro initiative since its beginning by contributing to the development of the Production Standard and the aspects related to certification rules.

Overview

Bonsucro developed a set of principles, criteria and indicators used to assess the conformance of the supply chain of sugarcane and its products around the world. The Bonsucro Production Standard is the first global sugarcane standard.

The Production certification is granted to the sugar and ethanol mill, however, the evaluation includes audit of the mill and of the sugarcane supply area. Economic operators after the mill, such as refineries, ports, warehouses and traders, who wish to make claims regarding sustainability of Bonsucro certified products, shall be certified against the Bonsucro Mass Balance Chain of Custody Standard.

Only certification bodies approved by Bonsucro are allowed to grant the certification through audits carried out by qualified auditors. FoodChain ID was the first certification body approved by Bonsucro. FoodChain ID has worked with the Bonsucro initiative since its beginning by contributing to the development of the Production Standard and the aspects related to certification rules. FoodChain ID performed pilot audits in versions 1 and 2 of the Production Standard in Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Australia, and India, performing 14 pilot audits in 14 mills and 39 farms of sugarcane production.

Currently, FoodChain ID conducts audits in several countries around the world, with Bonsucro certified clients in Brazil, Dominican Republic, Australia and Thailand, as well as pre-audits in other countries.

Pre-audit

The main purpose of a pre-audit is to provide to the mill and its sugarcane supply area an independent evaluation about the level of compliance regarding implementation of the Bonsucro certification standard.

In a pre-audit, the mill can choose the scope of evaluation of its interest, and FoodChain ID issues a report with the results in accordance with the scope evaluated.

Certification Audit

Conducting a certification audit is a prerequisite for the granting of Bonsucro certificates by FoodChain ID, upon compliance with the requirements of conformity defined by Bonsucro.

The certification service includes audit of the mill and a sample of the total sugarcane supply area included in the scope of certification. The mill is audited against the Bonsucro Production Standard and the Bonsucro Mass Balance Chain of Custody Standard. The sugarcane supply area is audited only against the Bonsucro Production Standard, as part of the mill assessment.

In both Bonsucro standards, Production and Chain of Custody, clients have the option to include in the certification scope the additional Bonsucro EU requirements, for EU RED compliance.