Governance & Policy
Third Party Certification
Certification of conformity by an accredited body independent of both producer and buyer — the credibility backbone of sustainability standards.
Definition
Third party certification is the assessment and attestation of an organisation's conformity with a standard by a body independent of both the certificate holder and its customers — accredited under frameworks such as ISO/IEC 17065, with auditors bound by impartiality rules. It is distinguished from first-party (self-declared) claims and second-party (buyer-conducted) audits, and provides the assurance model behind FSC, organic, fair trade, SA8000 and management system certification.
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