Accreditations, External Oversight, and Approvals

Accreditation is the process by which a certifying body's competency and legitimacy as a neutral third-party are independently evaluated.

Many of the programs for which we provide certification or verification services require independent accreditation, while others do not. In either case, SCS is committed to upholding the highest principles of excellence as a neutral third-party, ensuring that we have the training, understanding, and capabilities to carry out our responsibilities, and operate without conflicts of interest.

ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)

SCS was accredited as a Certification Body under ISO 17065, an international performance standard for third-party certification bodies, covering the following services:

  • Food safety auditing conducted on behalf of the Safe Quality Foods (SQF) Food Safety and Quality Code standards. Initial accreditation: March 2009.
  • Wood and paper products chain-of-custody for the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC ST 2002:2020 Chain of Custody of Forest Based Products).  Initial accreditation: March 2009.
  • (IAQ) Indoor Air Quality for SCS' proprietary Indoor Advantage™ and Indoor Advantage™ Gold and FloorScore®. Initial accreditation: March 2009.
  • level®, a multi-attribute furniture Certification Program for BIFMA e3-2012 Sustainable Furniture Standard and FEMB Sustainability requirements for office and non-domestic furniture for indoor use. Initial accreditation: October 2010 and November 2018, respectively.
  • Food safety auditing conducted on behalf of GLOBALG.A.P. standards (crops base: fruit & vegetables, combinable crops), including Option 1 and 2  V6-GFS (single and multi-sites) and Harmonized Produce Safety Standard V1.2 (HPSS), Produce Handling Assurance V1.2 (PHA). Initial accreditation: March 2015, December 2015, December 2019, and May 2024 respectively.  
  • Auditing against the Responsible Wood Chain of Custody for Forest Products Certification. Initial accreditation: July 2016
  • Food safety auditing conducted on behalf of PrimusGFS, including Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) scopes. Initial accreditation: July 2016
  • Auditing against Alaska Certified Seafood International (CSI) (Previously known as Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM)) Chain-of-Custody, Version 2.5, May 2025. Initial accreditation: August 2017
  • Auditing against EPA TSCA Title VI on behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Title 40, Part 770 Formaldehyde Standard for Composite Wood Products, Third-Party Certification Program. Initial accreditation: March 2019
  • Auditing against the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Chain of Custody standard. Initial accreditation: March 2019
  • Auditing against the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) Food Safety, Processing and Packing, and Social Standards. Initial Accreditation: January 2020.
  • Textile Exchange for the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS), Global Recycled Standard (GRS), and Content Claim Standard (CCS). Initial Accreditation: January 2020.
  • Auditing against the BRC Global Standard (BRCGS) for Food Safety and Packing Materials. Initial Accreditation: March 2022.and October 2024, respectively.
  • Auditing against the Sustainable Biomass Program’s (SBP) Supply Chain (SC) and Biomass Producer (BP) standards. Initial accreditation: December 2017 (with ASI), June 2022 (with ANAB).
  • Certification under the American Tree Farm System (ATFS). Initial accreditation: November 2022.

SCS was accredited as a Validation and Verification Body under ISO 14065 and 14064-3 for Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification, including the following programs. Initial accreditation: May 2009

  • The Climate Registry (TCR), General Verification Protocol;
  • Verified Carbon Standard (VCS);
  • Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Forest Verification Protocol;
  • The American Carbon Registry;
  • Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)
  • Canadian Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR). Initial accreditation: June 2023.

SCS was accredited as a Certification Body under ISO 17021-1:2015 to conduct audits against the following standards:

  • Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Fiber Sourcing Standard, excluding Appendix 1. Initial Accreditation: December 2019.
  • Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Forest Management Standard. Initial Accreditation: February 2020.

Please reference the following link for SCS’s scope of accreditation with ANAB: SCS Global Services (ansi.org)

Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ)

SCS was accredited as a Certification Body to conduct audits against the following standards:

  • Responsible Wood Australian Standard® for Sustainable Forest Management (AS/NZS 4708:2021). Initial accreditation: June 2017.
  • Integrated Management Systems (IMS) for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001. Initial Accreditation: July 2024.

Assurance Services International (ASI)1

ASI has evaluated SCS and confirms that SCS is approved for the latest (most recent) versions of the following accreditation standards:

  • The Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) Forest Management, Chain of Custody, and FSC Controlled Wood Certifications. Initial accreditation: February 1996.
  • The Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing, and for Chain of Custody certification of operations that handle MSC-certified fish. Initial accreditation: January 2001.
  • The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Chain of Custody standard and Farm Standards (Abalone, Bivalve, Flatfish, Freshwater Trout, Pangasius, Salmon, Seabass, Seabream, Meagre, Seriola and Cobia, Shrimp, Tilapia, Tropical Marine Finfish, Groups, and Multisite Option 2 with IMS) and Feed Standard. Initial accreditation: April 2012 and March 2014.
  • The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) Supply Chain (SCCS) and Principles & Criteria (P&C) certifications. Initial accreditation: January 2017 and November 2018, respectively.

The following schemes receive tailored oversight by ASI. 

  • SCS was approved as Certification Body to deliver Bonsucro audits and certification. Initial approval by scheme: May 2011.
  • SCS was accredited as a Conformity Assessment Body to conduct audits against Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) Code of Practices and Chain of Custody standards. Initial accreditation by scheme: April 2014.
  • SCS was approved as a certifying body for the verification against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance Program (IRMA) Standard for Responsible Mining Assurance. Initial approval by scheme: July 2024.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

  • SCS was accredited as a Certification Body for the National Organic Program (NOP) to certify organic crops, wild crops and handling operations. Initial accreditation: April 2002.

The California Air Resources Board (ARB)

  • SCS was accredited to verify carbon offset projects under the California Cap-and-Trade Program. Initial accreditation: February 2013.

Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI)

  • SCS was approved as Auditing Firm to conduct audits against the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) . Initial approval: August 2017.

Rainforest Alliance (RA)

  • SCS was approved as a Certification Body to conduct audits against the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard for Farm and Supply Chain clients. Initial approval: April 2021

Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC)

  • SCS was approved as certifying body for the Regenerative Organic Certified™ program for the pillars of Soil Health and Land Management and Farmer and Worker Fairness for the levels of Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Initial approval: April 2022.

 

1ASI’s activity does not constitute an accreditation within the meaning of Article 2(10) of Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008. Nor does it constitute proof of any audit that may be required by the European Union or any of its Member States with regard to the sustainability criteria set out in Article 17(2) to (5) of Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009. ASI bases its assessment and accreditation of certification bodies exclusively on privately set standards, and they do not comprise an assessment or accreditation by public authorities.