SFA Announces Update to Chain of Custody Standard: What It Means for Our Clients

We are pleased to share important news regarding the latest update to the Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard. As one of the Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) impacted by these changes, we want to ensure our clients are informed and prepared for the transition.

On October 1st, 2024, SFA will officially publish version 1.1 of its CoC Standard. This update comes in response to requests from stakeholders, including those seeking to use the SFA brand logo alongside General Claims, a feature not possible under the current framework.

What’s Changing?

• The new v1.1 will completely replace the existing v1.0 standard, which will become obsolete. This streamlined approach aims to prevent CABs from managing multiple versions of the CoC Standard simultaneously.
• The current SFA Chain of Custody Guidelines (v3.1) will remain valid until March 1st, 2025, providing entities with sufficient time to transition their systems ahead of the next harvest season.

Special Provisions for Industrial Primary Processors From November 1st, 2024, primary industrial processors will need to be certified against the SFA Clean Fibre Processing Standard, aligning with the effective date of v1.1.

Entities will be able to continue seeking certification under the v3.1 guidelines until March 2025 and can use the SFA traceability platform as soon as it becomes available—though this platform is still under development and may not be ready until the end of the year.

For further details or questions about how these changes affect you, please feel free to contact us.

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