The SRP Assurance Scheme
About The SRP Assurance Scheme
A cost-effective tool to verify and de-risk rice supply chains
The SRP Assurance Scheme is the world’s first and only rice sustainability management system. It defines rules for proving compliance with the SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation – an established, science-based benchmark co-developed through broad stakeholder collaboration. The system offers rice industry actors a robust, cost-effective method to verify and communicate sustainability claims. We ensure that each claim is earned.
Why did SRP create this system?
Action and accountability lead to impact. Transforming the global rice sector towards sustainability requires that farmers shift to proven, climate-smart best practices. Buyers need a way to verify these changes in order to support a sustainable sourcing claim. And by purchasing verified sustainable rice, consumers are empowered to improve the livelihoods of small farmers and protect the environment.
Key Benefits
- A robust, cost-effective, and transparent path to procure sustainable rice
- Empowers consumers to improve the livelihoods of small farmers
- Focuses on verification rather than certification, which is cost-beneficial for lower-income producers
- Enables actors across the rice industry to de-risk supply chains
- Allows companies to make measurable contributions toward their sustainability commitments
- Encourages producer groups to self manage and follow internal control mechanisms using the SRP Internal Management System (IMS) Standard
- Drives wide-scale shift to sustainable practices by aiding small farmers, boosting their incomes and contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
How does the SRP Assurance Scheme work?
The SRP Assurance Scheme is an auditing system that enables rice farmers and producer groups to show proof of compliance with the SRP Standard. Three possible levels of assurance are offered, each with different assessment requirements and levels of robustness. This provides grounds for continuous improvement even without full compliance while providing a basis to use on-pack SRP claims and the SRP-Verified Label.
How the Assurance Scheme fits into SRP’s suite of tools
Create a global standard for sustainable rice
Our first step was to create a global standard to define and measure sustainability in the rice farming sector. Together with the International Rice Research Institute and stakeholders from across the spectrum, we launched the SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation v 1.0 in 2015.
Develop a system for measuring compliance
The next challenge was to link farmers to global markets. The SRP Assurance Scheme was designed to be inclusive and smallholder-friendly, with three possible levels of assurance to facilitate small farmers and larger export-oriented businesses.
Ensure accountability through traceability
The SRP Assurance Scheme is complemented by the SRP Chain of Custody Standard v 2.0, which enables any supply chain actor to communicate SRP-based sustainability claims on product packaging.Key roles in the Assurance Scheme
Producers and Producer Groups:, Individuals or entities legally responsible for rice production.
Responsibilities: Producers and Producer Groups must register with a Data Collector or Verification Body to participate in the SRP Assurance
Scheme.
Data Collectors: A farm assurer, a research institute, company, extension worker, project owner, group manager, or miller.
Responsibilities: Data Collectors are responsible for collecting registration data and self-assessment reports from Producers and Producer Groups
applying for Level 1 assurance. They must contact an approved SRP Verification Body (VB) to upload essential data to the SRP database managed by
GLOBALG.A.P.
(*Data Collectors shall be responsible ONLY for collecting registration data as required in Annex 2 as well as the self-assessment reports from producers
and producer groups applying for Level 1.)
Verification Bodies (VB): An approved Verification Body that is ISO 17065‐accredited.
Responsibilities: VBs are responsible for inspecting and verifying compliance with the current version of the SRP Standard and issuing compliance
verification statements. Find a list of approved VBs here: https://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/for-producers/sustainable-rice-platform/
Assurance Service Provider (ASP): GLOBALG.A.P. manages the implementation of the SRP Assurance Scheme, including farmer registration,
management and training of Verification Bodies and auditors, oversight of verification audits, shadow audits, and database management.
The ASP approves and works directly with Verification Bodies (VB) and Data Collectors.
Three levels of assurance
Partners can choose from three levels of assurance to accommodate the needs of resource-poor small farmers or export-oriented value chains. At Level 1, rice producers can complete a self-assessment and register their farm with SRP. Level 2 requires an external audit by an approved second-party verification body. Level 3 involves more stringent inspections by a third-party inspector and may permit the use of the SRP-Verified Label on-pack.
Self-assessment: This entry level allows producers, producer groups or appointed individuals to conduct self-assessments against the SRP Standard without external verification, following a checklist covering all elements of the SRP Standard.
Second-party verification: A second-party VB linked to producers or producer groups conducts compliance audits against the SRP Standard and SRP IMS Standard (for producer groups) within the scope of their project/operation.
Third-party verification: An independent third-party VB with no links to producers, producer groups or implementation partners conducts compliance audits against the SRP Standard and SRP IMS Standard (for producer groups) and issues Compliance Verification Statements.
The SRP Chain of Custody
The SRP Chain of Custody Standard v 2.0 is used in conjunction with the SRP Assurance Scheme. A Chain of Custody certification is required for all participating actors in the supply chain in order to use SRP claims and the on-pack SRP-Verified Label.
The SRP Assurance Scheme recognizes three types of Chain of Custody models:
• Identity Preservation
• Segregation
• Mass Balance
If you are a supply chain organization looking to communicate results on product, you must be audited and certified against the SRP Chain of Custody Standard by an approved VB.
Figure 2: Options for on-pack communications under the SRP Assurance Scheme
* Compliance is achieved with a minimum score of (1) at least 90% against the SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation v2.1, while meeting all essential compliance levels (thresholds), by individual producers and producer group members externally inspected, and (2) at least 75% against the SRP Internal Management System Standard v1.0 while meeting all thresholds. ** Minimum score of 33 against the SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation v 2.1, while meeting all thresholds for select health and safety requirements is required.
The SRP-Verified on-pack label
SRP-Verified rice represents a dedicated and unique product category, enabling differentiation in the market and enabling measurable contributions to corporate sustainability commitments. SRP-Verified rice also aligns with the rapidly growing trends towards sustainably produced food among consumers and regulators alike.
