1 Commitment to impartiality
AgriPurpose Foundation is committed to maintaining impartiality in the development and governance of the Approved Regenerating standard and certification scheme. Independent Certification Bodies (CBs) are responsible for certification decisions under ISO/IEC 17065 and must maintain their own impartiality management systems.
2 Role separation
Scheme owner / standard setter: AgriPurpose Foundation (governance, standard maintenance, scheme rules).
Operational entity: AgriPurpose AG (runs the programme, the data platform, the calculations and the annual validation; coordinates the implementation with consultants, soil samplers, soil laboratories and Certification Bodies at arm's length; no auditing; no certification decisions).
Certification: Independent ISO/IEC 17065 accredited Certification Bodies (audits and certification decisions).
Implementation partners: consultants, soil samplers and soil laboratories listed by AgriPurpose AG, working at arm's length from AgriPurpose AG and from the Certification Bodies.
3 Governance and oversight
The Board of Trustees of AgriPurpose Foundation is the authority board for scheme governance and approvals.
Stakeholder Management Groups provide balanced input and review to ensure broad representation and legitimacy.
Scheme revisions are documented, version-controlled, and approved by the Board of Trustees.
4 Identification and mitigation of conflicts of interest
AgriPurpose Foundation and AgriPurpose AG shall identify, analyse, and mitigate risks to impartiality, including but not limited to:
Financial interests (e.g., remuneration tied to certification outcomes).
Consulting and advisory services that could influence certification outcomes.
Relationships with applicants/certificate holders, auditors, laboratories, or service providers.
Governance capture by any single stakeholder group.
Where a conflict exists, the conflicted person/entity is removed from decision-making for the relevant case, and mitigation actions are recorded.
5 Restrictions for scheme owner and operational entity
AgriPurpose Foundation does not conduct audits or make certification decisions.
AgriPurpose AG may provide platform onboarding and general training but shall not provide audit consulting designed to influence certification decisions for a specific operator.
Validation staff of AgriPurpose AG are separated from sales and consulting functions, shall not validate farms they have advised, and cannot override a CB decision. The CB audits the validation process of AgriPurpose AG annually.
Any consulting offered by third parties must be clearly separated from certification audits (arms-length relationship).
6 Requirements for Certification Bodies
CBs must be accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 (or equivalent) by SAS or an IAF MLA signatory accreditation body.
CBs must maintain an impartiality committee and impartiality risk process as required by ISO/IEC 17065.
Auditors and decision makers must be independent and competent; CBs prevent conflicts of interest between audit and certification decision roles.
7 Complaints and appeals
Complaints and appeals related to certification decisions are handled by the CB. Complaints about scheme governance or mark misuse may be submitted to the scheme owner and, where relevant, coordinated with the CB.
8 Record keeping
AgriPurpose Foundation maintains records of scheme governance decisions, revision approvals, and identified impartiality risks.
CBs maintain records of impartiality risk assessments and controls for each certification cycle.