Governance structure of the voluntary scheme
1. Voluntary schemes shall establish a governance structure to ensure that the scheme has the necessary legal and technical capacity, impartiality and independence to perform its duties. Depending on the scope of the voluntary scheme, it shall set up a technical committee or an equivalent system of technical expert support, which in specific cases shall also allow the engagement of independent external experts to provide advice on technical issues.
2. Voluntary schemes shall include to the extent possible in the governance structure and decision-making a broad range of representatives from various relevant stakeholder groups such as farmers’ or foresters’ associations, environmental non-governmental organisations, indigenous and local communities potentially affected by the scheme, academia, and fuel producers. No individual stakeholder or stakeholder group shall have a dominant position in the decision-making process. Decisions shall only be taken where a quorum of the majority of stakeholders is reached.
3. Voluntary schemes shall set up rules and procedures to avoid conflicts of interest in decision-making. As a minimum standard, they shall enforce a system of checks and balances to ensure that no individual stakeholder, having a vested interest in the outcome of a decision, can have decisive influence on that particular decision.
4. Certification bodies shall set up integrity rules and procedures to ensure their full independence from the economic operators participating in the scheme. Voluntary schemes shall require that the certification bodies operating on behalf of the scheme are accredited to International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standard 17065.
5. The governance system of the certification body shall aim at ensuring the highest possible level of independence of the auditors’ judgement by applying principles of auditors’ rotation or other existing best practices in the area.
6. Persons having a potential conflict of interest shall be excluded from decision-making in both the voluntary scheme and the certification body. Voluntary schemes shall put in place appropriate procedures and an audit trail to identify and document such cases, and shall regularly review them as part of their internal monitoring systems.
Non-conformities of economic operators under the scheme
1. Voluntary schemes shall set up a comprehensive system to deal with non-conformities by economic operators. As a minimum standard, that system shall include a clear classification of non-conformities, based on their degree of severity in accordance with the requirements of Article 10. For each type of non-conformity, there shall be a transparent set of rules and procedures to ensure timely enforcement of corrective measures and sanctions, including suspensions, where appropriate. Such enforcement procedures shall be triggered without delay, depending on the severity of the non-conformity and the urgency of the corrective measures.
2. Economic operators whose certificates are suspended, shall not be able to make sustainability claims until the suspension has been lifted. Suspended operators may not join another voluntary scheme during that period. Where the participation of an economic operator, or its legal predecessors, in a voluntary scheme is suspended or terminated by the withdrawal of its certificate following an audit which confirmed critical non-conformity, other voluntary schemes may refuse the participation of that operator for at least two years following the suspension or termination of participation.
3. Where an economic operator that was previously found to be in critical or major non-conformity applies for re-certification, the auditor shall bring that fact to the attention of all voluntary schemes in which the economic operator is currently participating, or to which it has applied for recertification.
Internal monitoring, complaints procedure and documentation management system
1. Voluntary schemes shall set up a system of internal monitoring to verify compliance of economic operators with the rules and procedures applied by the scheme and to ensure the quality of the work carried out by the auditors of the certification bodies. Internal monitoring shall be undertaken at least once a year and reflect the geographical and raw material coverage of the voluntary scheme, as well as the level of risk of the activities conducted by the economic operators. As part of the monitoring process, voluntary schemes shall require certification bodies to submit all audit reports, and, where applicable, the calculations of actual values for the greenhouse gas emissions. The monitoring activities shall cover a random and risk-based sample of those audit reports by each certification body.
2. Voluntary schemes shall establish rules and procedures to ensure effective follow up of the results of the internal monitoring and, where necessary, the application of sanctions. On the basis of the results of the internal monitoring, corrective measures shall be taken at the level of the governance structure or of the internal monitoring process of the voluntary scheme in order to improve its functioning in the future. The results of the annual monitoring activities of the voluntary scheme shall be summarised in the annual activity report submitted to the Commission.
3. Voluntary schemes shall establish procedures for the lodging of complaints against economic operators or certification bodies. The complaints procedure shall be accessible on the voluntary scheme’s website and allow complaints to be sent electronically or by post. The complaints procedure shall also ensure the protection of persons who report infringements or lodge complainants in good faith in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 4 ) . The website shall indicate at least all of the following information:
(a)
the information and the evidence to be provided to file a complaint, as well as the postal address or email address to which it is to be sent;
(b)
guidance on which complaints are within the scope of the procedure;
(c)
a step-by-step overview of how complaints are handled, from the receipt of the initial complaint through to resolution, and the associated timeframe for each step;
(d)
the decision-making process for complaints and the process for appealing decisions;
(e)
the consequences of the voluntary scheme finding a non-conformity as result of a complaint.
4. Voluntary schemes shall keep a register of all complaints, and provide a summary of those complaints to the Commission in the annual activity report. Upon request by the Commission or a Member State, they shall provide all documents related to a complaint and its handling.
5. Voluntary schemes and certification bodies shall establish a documentation management system that addresses each of the following elements:
(a)
general management system documentation (e.g. manuals, policies, definition of responsibilities);
(b)
control of documents and records;
(c)
management review of management system;
(d)
internal auditing/internal monitoring;
(e)
procedures for identification and management of non-conformities; and
(f)
procedures for taking preventive actions to eliminate the causes of potential non-conformities.
Documentation shall be kept for a minimum of 5 years, or longer if required by the relevant national authority.
Publication of information by voluntary schemes
Voluntary schemes shall make the following information publicly and freely available on a website:
(a)
their governance structure, describing the roles of all relevant bodies, details on the ownership structure, composition and experience of the Board of Directors, Secretariat and Technical committee, or equivalent, as well as the list of members with voting rights or participants in the scheme, as appropriate;
(b)
the list of economic operators participating in the scheme, their certification status, with their respective date of certificate issuance, suspension, withdrawal, termination or expiry, as well as the certificates or the summary audit reports drawn up in accordance with Annex II. Where audits identify critical or major non-conformities, voluntary schemes shall publish an aggregated list of these non-conformities together with a respective action plan and timing for their correction as agreed with the economic operators concerned. Specific information on the certificates or summary audit reports may be redacted to comply with personal data protection legislation. Economic operators whose certificates are withdrawn, terminated or expired shall be listed on the website for at least 24 months after the withdrawal, termination or expiration date. Changes in the certification status of economic operators shall be made public without delay;
(c)
the latest version of their scheme documentation and the guidelines for audits. The documents shall include a date and version number and, where applicable, summarise any changes made compared to the previous document version;
(d)
the contact details of the scheme, including telephone number, email address and correspondence address;
(e)
the list of certification bodies carrying out independent auditing under the scheme, indicating for each certification body which national public authority or entity accredited or recognised it and which entity or national public authority of the Member State supervises it, in accordance with Article 30(9), second subparagraph, of Directive (EU) 2018/2001. Certification bodies that are no longer entitled to conduct independent auditing under the scheme shall be listed for at least 12 months after the last audit with an indication to that effect;
(f)
the results of the annual monitoring activities of the voluntary scheme as summarised in the annual activity report.
Change of scheme by economic operators
1. Voluntary schemes shall require economic operators to disclose the following information in their applications for certification:
(a)
whether they or their legal predecessor are currently participating in another voluntary scheme or have participated in another voluntary scheme in the last 5 years;
(b)
all relevant information, including the mass balance data and the auditing reports and, where applicable, any decisions to suspend or withdraw their certificates in the last 5 years;
(c)
whether they withdrew from a scheme before the first surveillance audit.
2. Voluntary schemes shall exclude from the scheme economic operators in the following cases:
(a)
they do not disclose the information in paragraph 1, point (a) and point (b);
(b)
they or their legal predecessor failed the initial audit under another scheme, unless such initial audit took place more than 3 years before the application or if in the meantime the other scheme ceased its certification activities, which prevented the economic operator for reapplying. Where a voluntary scheme accepts the justification of the economic operators and decides to assess their application, the scope of the initial audit shall be adjusted to cover all relevant issues and specifically focus on the shortcomings identified in the initial audit that they failed in the other scheme;
(c)
they or their legal predecessor withdrew from another scheme before the first surveillance audit took place, unless the operator can prove that it had a valid reason for doing so. Where a voluntary scheme accepts the justification provided by the economic operator, the scope of the initial audit shall be adjusted to cover all relevant issues of the surveillance audit.
Recognition of other voluntary schemes
Where part of the supply chain relies on other voluntary schemes, they shall accept evidence of voluntary schemes recognised in accordance with Article 30(4) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, only to the extent of the scope of their recognition.
Recognition of national schemes
Voluntary schemes shall not refuse recognition of recognised national schemes as regards the verification of compliance with the sustainability and GHG emissions saving criteria set out in Article 29(2) to (7) and (10) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, with the GHG savings thresholds set out in Article 25(2) of that Directive and with the criteria for certification of low ILUC-risk biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels set out in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/807.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
