FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Ethical BioTrade Standard is an internationally-recognised standard addressing economic, social and ecological issues arising in the sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity. It is based on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations (UNCTAD) BioTrade Initiative Principles and Criteria, and other international agreements and goals. It focuses on regenerating biodiversity and securing a better future for people - the farmers and pickers involved in cultivation and wild collection activities.

The UEBT standard may be used for various purposes, including verification, certification or general guidance. UEBT also uses the standard for its membership requirements. The standard can be used by any organisation that wishes to adopt Ethical BioTrade practices.

The UEBT standard is applicable to a wide variety of production systems, including cultivation and wild collection. Cultivation includes agriculture (e.g. chamomile, hibiscus, aloe, sesame, jasmine), cultivated tree crops (e.g. bergamot, magnolia, almond), and agroforestry (e.g. vanilla, cupuazú, sandalwood). Wild collection refers to harvesting of plants and other natural raw material from natural habitats (e.g. shea, sea buckthorn, wild apples, rosehip, blackcurrant leaves).

Companies that use the UEBT standard are primarily active in the cosmetics, food and natural pharmaceutical sectors. Nevertheless, the application of the UEBT standard is not limited to these sectors.

The work of UEBT focuses on ingredients from biodiversity. UEBT member companies work primarily with plant parts (e.g. flowers, leaves, roots, stems, fruits or bark) and plant compounds (e.g. plant-based oils, butters, waxes, extracts, flavours, fragrances, colorants). Companies may also work with microorganisms, algae, or beeswax. The UEBT standard applies to all ingredients from biodiversity, but it is oriented towards specialty ingredients. Specialty ingredients are used in relatively small volumes, different than commodities such as coffee, cocoa, bananas, palm oil, timber, or fish. Many of these commodities are the focus of other standard systems.

Here are some of the things that are new in the standard:
• Better defined practices and detailed guidance for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, with an increased focus on regeneration of biodiversity.
• A more outcome-based approach, emphasizing monitoring of actions taken, assessing results and implementing improvements.
• More guidance on cost calculation so that fairer prices are paid to farmers and wild collectors.
• Better alignment with legal and policy developments related to access and benefit sharing (ABS) and the Nagoya Protocol.
• Further alignment with United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and International Labour Organisation conventions.
• A continuous improvement (stepwise) approach, with some actions that can be prioritized in future stages.

In the Ethical BioTrade Standard, “sourcing” is used to describe the range of activities through which raw material is produced, processed, and acquired. It includes selecting suppliers, defining quantity and quality, negotiating prices and other terms of purchase, and processing of raw material. However, not all requirements apply to all sourcing activities. Some of the practices outlined in the UEBT standard focus on cultivation or wild collection activities. Other practices focus on the company or organisation being assessed. A few requirements extend to suppliers or other actors along the supply chain.

The UEBT Board approved the 2020 UEBT standard on 13 July 2020, following the recommendation of the standard and assurance committee at UEBT. It was published on 15 July 2020. There was a 12-month transition process to the new standard for UEBT members. Here is a summary of how the transition timeline went:
• July 2020: Publication of the 2020 UEBT standard
• July 2020: Publication of UEBT Prohibited Agrochemicals List that accompanies the standard
• July 2020: 12-month transition period begins (until 15 July 2021)
• January through July 2021: Webinars offered to introduce the new standard to stakeholders
• September and October 2020: Translations of the standard and assurance documents were published
• July 2020 to June 2021: Certification audits continued to take place against 2012 UEBT standard , i.e. all audits before 15 July 2021. However, companies could opt for ‘pilot’ audits against the 2020 version by requesting this from their certification body.
• July 2021: Transition period ended - Audits against the 2020 version are now binding from 15th July 2021. (Note: the UEBT and Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices Programme has a different timeline with audits to the new UEBT 2020 standard complemented by an RA supplement becoming mandatory from January 2022.) Read more on this programme here .

This programme launched in early 2021 and there is now a 12-month transition period as well. Read more information on our web page for UEBT and Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices programme

If you are interested in UEBT membership as well as certification, we suggest you contact our membership team first at membership@uebt.org .

You can learn more about UEBT natural ingredient certification and UEBT certification of ethical sourcing systems on our certification web page , and about the specific costs of certification here . These pages also include the current membership fees if you are interested in UEBT membership.

UEBT offers two types of certification. One is for brands and is certification of ethical sourcing systems and another is for suppliers or producers of natural ingredients and is certification of specific natural ingredients The UEBT certification label is used for both types of certification and is awarded to companies that meet the criteria of the Ethical BioTrade standard.

While UEBT certification requires practices that respect biodiversity and reduce biodiversity loss, such as restrictions on forest clearing, protection of endangered species and pollinators, and reducing agrochemicals, it is important to understand that UEBT certification is not the same as organic certification. However, many ingredients in UEBT member companies’ products are both UEBT certified and certified organic, and the two systems are complementary.

The previous standard (version 2012) will remain in effect until the transition is completed in 2021. Starting in February 2021 UEBT membership assessments and verification audits will be done with the new standard. For certification audits, a transition period will be in place. Contact us for more information on how this transition would work for you.

Audits against the 2020 version of the standard are now binding from 15th July 2021. Please contact us to discuss your situation.