SFA Chain of Custody Standard v1.1
Publication Date: 28TH FEBRUARY 2025
What to do with last year’s fibre that is still with the first seller?
Over the coming months, Chinese producers will be audited against the SFA Animal Fibre Standard v1.0 and SFA Chain of Custody Standard v1.1 by a Conformity Assessment Body (CAB). This represents the final part of the SFA supply chain to be audited against the SFA Chain of Custody by a third party, marking the SFA’s transition to a fully third-party assured certification programme.
Due to the timing of the fibre harvesting season, these audits will not be completed until after the effective date of the SFA Chain of Custody Standard v1.1 on 1st March 2025.
Some stakeholders have suggested that this may result in the decertification of fibre harvested last year that is yet to be sold by the producer or their agents. This is not the intention of the standard. To ensure minimal disruption to the supply chain, the SFA is issuing a clarification to the SFA Chain of Custody Standard that fibre produced in China before 1st March 2025 does not need a transaction certificate or transaction record issued by a CAB to be recognised as ‘SFA Certified’ fibre.
The SFA and our Chinese partners, the International Cooperation Committee for Animal Welfare (ICCAW), will continue to issue certificates for transactions between producers and the first buyer for fibre produced in China before 1st March 2025 that is still in the possession of the producer or their agents until it has all been sold or the producers or their agents have an SFA Chain of Custody certificate. Once the fibre has been sold or an SFA Chain of Custody certificate received, all transactions will be governed in accordance with the SFA Chain of Custody Standard by the CABs issuing certificates against that standard. All subsequent transactions (i.e. the second buyer and onwards in the value chain) for fibre produced in China before 1st March 2025 shall be governed by the SFA Chain of Custody Standard, as usual.
Approval Audit for China Classification Society Ongoing
Publication Date: 28TH FEBRUARY 2025
China Classification Society Certification Company (CCSC) has historically been the CAB for assessments of Chinese producers against the SFA-ICCAW Cashmere Goat Welfare Code of Practice. The SFA is currently auditing CCSC to determine their competence and suitability for delivering assessments of Chinese producers against the SFA Animal Fibre Standard and SFA Chain of Custody Standard. We do not expect the CCSC audit to be completed before this year’s assessments of Chinese producers, which must be timed around the cashmere harvest season. To allow audits to proceed as in previous years, the SFA has granted temporary approval for CCSC until their audit has been completed. This means certificates issued by CCSC against the SFA Standards should be considered valid.