Chapter 4 — full chapter
4.4.2 Certifications, Labels and Assurance Schemes
Certifications, labels, and other assurance schemes can help companies demonstrate that a defined material, product, facility, process, or management system meets specified criteria. They may support sourcing decisions, supplier requirements, business-to-business evidence, and consumer communication.
However, these terms should not be used interchangeably:
- Certification is formal assurance that a defined object meets the requirements of a standard or scheme. Certification is usually conducted by an independent certification body.
- A label is a communication tool displayed on a product, packaging, or digital interface. It may communicate a certified result, but the presence of a label does not mean that every aspect of the product has been assessed.
- An assurance scheme is a broader system that may combine criteria, audits, testing, chain of custody, documentation, reporting, and verification.
- A membership or improvement programme supports organisations in managing risks and improving practices but does not necessarily certify a product or company.
- A rating or performance assessment evaluates performance against defined indicators. It should not automatically be described as certification.
This distinction matters because schemes answer different questions. A recycled-content certification does not demonstrate safe chemistry. A harmful-substance test does not verify labour conditions. A factory audit does not prove that every product made at that facility is sustainable. Similarly, company membership in an improvement programme cannot be transferred into a product-level claim.