Certification: Locally Grown

Locally Grown certification has been created for​:

• Crops and products direct from farms (D2C)
• Ingredients or products made from crops (B2B)
• Single-ingredient food, supplement, personal care, biofuel, furniture and clothing products (products sold to consumers)
• Multi-ingredient food, supplement, personal care, biofuel, furniture and clothing products (products sold to consumers)

All products (for single-ingredient products) or all ingredients (for multi-ingredient products) must be able to be traced by Chainparency from the farm to the point you sell them.

The step-by step process for Locally Grown certification is below:

• You Apply for Certification using our Registration Form – Provide basic information of your company and product/s (including official ingredients list).
• We put you in touch with Chainparency, our traceability partner, who will implement their traceability protocol – GoTrace – with your product/s. (which can be viewed in our FAQs section above).
• As soon as GoTrace has traced your first product from the farm/s to its final destination, a GoTrace notification, including the relevant load or batch ID, will be sent to us for review.
• We send you our Certification Decision.
• If your certification is accepted we send you the Certification Agreement to fill in and sign. You pay us the certification fee upon signing the Certification Agreement. This annual price is a flat rate fee and covers certification for as many products as you wish to certify. If you own multiple brands each brand requires a separate certification.
• The annual Locally Grown certification fee differs depending on the size of your operation. Please see the fees in the FAQs section above.
• The GoTrace fee, which is separate from the certification fee and is paid directly to Chainparency, also differs depending on the size of your operation. Please see the fees in the FAQs section above.
• During the year Chainparency will directly send us regular updates to confirm that you are following the GoTrace protocol on every batch of product you produce.
• All certified products are included in the Traceables Locally Grown certified product database.
• Maintaining Certification: Certificates are valid for one year and we will send you a renewal notification one month before your renewal is due. Certification renewal involves signing a new Certification Agreement, paying the annual certification fee and Traceables confirming with Chainparency that you have met your GoTrace traceability requirements for the previous year.

Introduction

The Locally Grown certification program (the “Program”) has been established to:

• Improve traceability of product ingredients for food, supplement, personal care, furniture, biofuel and apparel brands;
• Enable consumers to understand where the product they buy is from with certainty;
• Encourage local production that supports local farmers, reduces carbon footprints and improves food security;
• Enable farmers to improve their connection to final consumers and to build their farm brands

Purpose of the Standard

The Standard:

• Describes the certification framework and testing requirements applicable to products certified as Locally Grown (“Certified Products”); and
• Provides guidance for public claims made in connection with Certified Products, either on or off label/product.

Intended Users of the Standard

The Standard is intended to be used by farmers, ingredient suppliers and food, supplement, personal care, furniture, biofuel and apparel brands interested in having products certified under the Program, as well as value chain handlers and purchasers of Certified Products.

Handlers include distributors, wholesalers, importers, processors and manufacturers.

Purchasers of Certified Products include manufacturers, grocers, restaurants, consumers and institutional buyers.

Voluntary Standard

This Standard is voluntary and nonbinding. It is not intended to replace the legal or regulatory requirements of any country in which agricultural products or food, supplement, personal care, furniture, biofuel or apparel products are produced, handled, or sold.

Farmers, Ingredient Suppliers and Manufacturers participating in the Program are not ultimately required to utilize the Locally Grown certification mark on the label of Certified Products.

Scope

This Standard applies to products and ingredients submitted for assessment to determine whether they can be certified Locally Grown.

Program Applicant Submissions

As a prerequisite for assessment, Farmers / Ingredient Suppliers / Food Manufacturers / Supplement Manufacturers / Personal Care Manufacturers / Furniture Manufacturers / Biofuel Manufacturers / Apparel Manufacturers / Producers are required to submit a Program Application Form and supporting documents alongside full QR Code based traceability information provided by Chainparency.

Required supporting documents may include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

• Signed Locally Grown services agreement
• Ingredients List Disclosure
• Signed Agreement with Chainparency (owner of the GoTrace platform)

Conformance Requirements for Certified  Products

1. For single ingredient products, 100% of your Certified Product/s must be grown/raised, produced, distributed and intended for sale within the borders of your Claim Country/Region (for outside U.S. or Canada) or grown/raised, produced, and distributed and intended for sale within 400 miles (643 km) of its origin or within the Claim State/Province (for U.S. or Canada).
2. For multi-ingredient products, 100% of your product/s’ ingredients must be grown/raised, produced, distributed and intended for sale within the borders of your Claim Country/Region (for outside U.S. or Canada) or grown/raised, produced, and distributed and intended for sale within 400 miles (643 km) of its origin or within the Claim State/Province (for U.S. or Canada).
3. You must identify a single Claim Country/Region or single Claim State/Province (for U.S. and Canada) for each of your Certified.

In order for a product or ingredient to be certified Locally Grown:

• Your product (for single-ingredient products) or all of the ingredients in your product and the final product (for multi-ingredient products) must be traced from the farm all the way through to the final point of manufacture and sale, using the GoTrace QR code The traceability data must be made publicly available via the GoTrace QR code system, either via packaging, website or on the GoTrace platform.
• Your Certified Product/s must be grown/raised, produced, distributed and intended for sale within the borders of your Claim Country (for outside U.S. or Canada) or grown/raised, produced, and distributed and intended for sale within 400 miles (643 km) of its origin or within the Claim State/ Province (for U.S. or Canada).
• Every batch of production must be fully traceable through the GoTrace QR code system;
• Your ingredient and product batch numbers must be able to be audited by the Certifier at any
• Supporting documentation (e.g. land identification showing where a crop is grown) or pictures (e.g. of harvesting or transport vehicles) must be made available to the Certifier upon

Duration of Certification

Once a Product has been successfully certified, the certification shall remain in effect for one calendar year, unless the certification is suspended or revoked in accordance with the provision ‘Revocation or Suspension’ below or under the contract provision which enables the owner of the Program to cancel certification 6 months after your Certificate of Compliance is sent via e-mail, for any reason.

As a quality control measure, Certified Products may be audited at any time. The results of audits will remain confidential and will only be released to the Producer of the Certified Product/s.

Revocation or Suspension

A certification will be placed under review or suspended or revoked if any of the following conditions exist:

• The Certified entity does not use the GoTrace QR code system on every batch of their certified product/s;
• The Certified entity does not pass an audit for any reason;
• A manufacturer / ingredient producer is unwilling or unable to correct observed discrepancies;
• A Certified entity is unwilling or unable to meet financial or contractual arrangements;
• A Certified entity is intentionally misusing the Locally Grown certification mark; or
• A Certified entity is intentionally violating any program requirements.

Product Integrity and Traceability

The Producer of a Certified Product is required to:

• Demonstrate the ability to recall Locally Grown certified products if a certified product batch is not tracked using the GoTrace QR Code system;
• Demonstrate the ability to prevent comingling of Certified Products with non-certified products.

Use of Locally Grown Certification Mark

The Producer of a Certified Product is permitted to use the Locally Grown certification mark in connection with Certified Products, either directly on product labels, signage and other point-of-sale materials, or indirectly on websites, brochures, and other printed and online collateral.

If the Locally Grown certified product is sold in a country or territory which requires a labeling language other than English, the Certifier will provide the certification mark in the correct language within 30 days of written request.