AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – The second public consultation round in the code revision process has started. Continuous improvement is one of the UTZ Certified program’s major focus points and the revision process for the UTZ Codes of Conduct has the objective to establish internationally accepted, meaningful, practical and credible standards for sustainable production of coffee, cocoa and tea.
The second public consultation period will remain open for 60 days until 31 January 2014 and all actors in the coffee, cocoa and tea supply chain are invited to contribute to the development of the Codes.
Providing valuable input
Numerous stakeholders actively participated in the first public consultation period that ended on 1 September 2013, providing positive and constructive feedback on all certification documents.
This already resulted in considerable changes compared to the current Code, such as a clearer and more concise structure and simplified language, an improved distinction between individual and group certification and the development or amendment of definitions and guidelines.
The feedback received during this second public consultation period will be reviewed by the UTZ Code Team and Standards Committee to create the final version of the new Codes of Conduct.
These will then be published in the course of 2014, ensuring compliance with the ISEAL ‘Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards’ which requires code reviews at least every five years.
To access the code revision page please go to www.utzcertified.org/coderevision.
