GCP Equivalence Mechanism
Ensuring schemes meet the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code
The GCP Equivalence Mechanism is an innovative building block to support continual increases in the purchase of coffee produced following baseline principles and practices of sustainability.
The GCP Equivalence Mechanism is a framework developed by GCP to assess whether a scheme can be considered equivalent to the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code (Coffee SR Code), a sector-wide reference on the foundations of sustainability in economic, social and environmental dimensions for green coffee production and primary processing worldwide. GCP’s Equivalence Process evaluates whether a sustainability scheme meets both the Code SR Code and a set of operational criteria (including governance, standard-setting, assurance, data and claims requirements). This helps to ensure that recognized sustainability schemes have a credible and effective system for implementation. Aligning efforts and using a common language allows the coffee sector to better understand sustainability and identify which schemes meet at least baseline practices of sustainability in a credible and effective manner.
The Equivalence Mechanism, together with the Coffee SR Code and the GCP Collective Reporting on Sustainable Coffee Purchases are connected assets developed by GCP to offer a common language on the foundations for coffee sustainability and promote the supply and demand of coffee produced following at least baseline sustainability principles.
For the assessment of the sustainability schemes, GCP partners with the International Trade Centre, which, as GCP implementation partner, assesses the schemes against the principles and practices of the Coffee SR Code and the Operational Criteria of the EM 2.0 ensuring the integrity of the recognition process. Following successful assessment and GCP recognition, sustainability schemes are eligible for roasters and retailers to be included in the annual GCP Collective Reporting on Sustainable Coffee Purchases, another way companies are aligning to advance coffee sustainability globally.
Depending on their assurance model they are classified as GCP Coffee SR Code equivalent 2nd Party or 3rd Party assurance.
In total, 27 sustainability schemes are currently recognized by GCP (see table below). Four schemes have been recognized as equivalent – 3rd party assurance and 23 schemes as equivalent – 2nd party assurance. They are eligible to be included in GCP Collective Reporting on Sustainable Coffee Purchases.
Interested schemes are invited to get in touch today to find out more about starting their Equivalence Mechanism journey with GCP and to be considered for recognition in 2025.
SUSTAINABILITY SCHEMES
CURRENTLY RECOGNIZED BY GCP AS EQUIVALENT TO THE COFFEE SR CODE
It is important to note that while all of the below sustainability schemes have been independently assessed as meeting the requirements of the GCP Equivalence Mechanism 2.0, – creating a common baseline understanding of sustainability – they are different, developed for different purposes and by different stakeholders.
Depending on their assurance model these sustainability schemes are classified as GCP Coffee SR Code equivalent 2nd Party or 3rd Party assurance.
Other key differences include chain of custody models, transparency, and stakeholder engagement in the system. GCP Members, especially roasters and retailers using sustainability schemes as part of their sourcing strategies should use the GCP recognition of equivalence to the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code as a starting point for their own due diligence.
SUSTAINABILITY SCHEMES
CURRENTLY RECOGNIZED BY GCP AS EQUIVALENT TO THE COFFEE SR CODE
3rd PARTY
ASSURANCE
4C
Fairtrade International, Small Producer Organization and Coffee Standard
Fair Trade USA’s Agriculture Production Standard
Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard
2nd PARTY
ASSURANCE
Agri Evolve’s ACE
Comexim’s Green Trace
Coocacer’s Café Sustentàvel
Cooxupé’s Gerações
ECOM’s SMS Verified
Enveritas’ Enveritas Green
Expocacer’s ECO
Exportadora de Café Guaxupé’s Guaxupé Planet
Louis Dreyfus Company’s Responsible Sourcing Program Advanced
Montesanto Tavares Group’s GMT Green
Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe’s NKG BLOOM, and
NKG Verified
ofi’s AtSourceV, and
AtSource+
Perhusa’s ARTS
Racafé’s CRECER
3E® by RGC Coffee
Sucafina’s IMPACT
Touton’s PACT
Volcafe’s Volcafe Verified, and
Volcafe Excellence
Westrock Coffee Company’s
RAÍZ Sustainability™
What does it mean to be Equivalent 2nd or 3rd Party?
2nd Party assurance is often referred to as verification and 3rd party assurance is often referred to as certification. The main difference between these two levels of assurance is that 3rd Party assurance includes the independent oversight of the competency of the entity performing the assessments/audits to ensure effectiveness and impartiality., this includes but goes beyond third-party audits at farm level.
2nd Party assurance is often referred to as verification and 3rd party assurance is often referred to as certification. The main differences between these two levels of assurance are that 3rd Party assurance:
i) includes the independent oversight of the competency of the entity performing the assessments/audits to ensure effectiveness and impartiality, this includes but goes beyond third-party audits at farm level
ii) the scheme is not managed or owned by the certificate holder, audit firms, or buyer.
Documents of the
Equivalence Mechanism
The Equivalence Mechanism in your language.
Spanish
Portuguese
Bahasa Indonesia
Vietnamese
The EM at a glance
3
Governance Criteria
4
Standard-setting Criteria
10
Assurance Criteria
6
Data Criteria
4
Claims Criteria
Governance
Criteria
G1 Sustainability Outcomes
G2 Transparency
G3 Complaints and Appeals
Standard-setting
Criteria
SS1 Transparency: Sustainability Criteria
SS2 Transparency: Standard Setting
SS3 Stakeholder Engagement
SS4 Consistent Interpretation
Assurance
Criteria
A1 Fit forpurpose
A2 Assessment Methodology
A3 Continuous Improvement
A4 Remediation
A5 Group Assessment
A6 Assurance Providers/Evaluators’ Performance
A7 Exceptions
A8 Impartiality and Conflictsof Interest
A9 Chain of Custody
A10 Traceability
Data
Criteria
D1 Data management
D2 Transparency: Performance Insights
D3 Data Quality
D4 Data Governance
D5 Performance Reporting
D6 M&ESystem
Claims
Criteria
C1 Defined Rules for Claims
C2 Monitoring
C3 Substantiation of Claims
C4 AssuredClaims
Webinar
catch up
Catch up on the launch webinar where industry voices discussed the Equivalence Mechanism revision, its broad consultation and its potential application to drive coffee sustainability.
Follow the conversation between:
- Aimee Russillo (Partner, Liseed Consulting)
- Flavia Barbosa (Exportadora Guaxupé)
- Gelkha Buitrago (GCP Director of Programs and Corporate Partnerships)
- John Schulter (Chair GCP Technical Committee)
- Marcelo Burity (Nestlé)
- Mathieu Lamolle (International Trade Centre)
- Olivier Laboulle (LDC)
Archive: GCP Equivalence Mechanism 1.2
If you are interested in older versions of the mechanism, you can access them here: GCP Equivalence Mechanism 1.2
Contact
For more information regarding the Equivalence Mechanism, or if you are interested in submitting your sustainability scheme for assessment, please contact:
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