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Revision process of the UEBT standard

Following good practice in standard-setting, we revise the UEBT standard every five years through a participatory process including public consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including companies, affected local and indigenous communities, NGOs, governments and academia.

For the current standard published in July 2020 (version 5.0) we held two public consultations. The first consultation ended in late 2018 and received more than 200 comments from 80+ organisations. The second consultation ended in August 2019 and more than 130 people commented during this period, representing approximately 60 organisations.

Stakeholder participation

UEBT offers many ways for people to participate in our standards revision process. During our 2018-2019 consultation, for example, we used the following methods:

  • Direct emails to stakeholders

  • Calls for comments via LinkedIn and our Web site’s home page

  • A UEBT email address for comments

  • An online comment form

  • Consultation workshops held in The Netherlands, Madagascar, Brazil, Vietnam, Myanmar, South Africa and India.

Timeline of current standard

  • The UEBT Board approved the new standard on 13 July 2020, following the recommendation of the standards 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.

  • The UEBT and Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices program checklists were publised in early 2021, and there was a 12 -month transition period process.

Next revision

Per the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practice in Setting Environmental and Social Standards (the ISEAL Standard-Setting Code), major reviews of the UEBT standard take place every five years.  UEBT is a full member of the ISEAL Alliance and is in compliance with the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice.

The next major review of the UEBT standard is scheduled to take place in 2025.

UEBT welcomes comments on the standard at any time. Comments will be incorporated into the next review process. Please submit comments to comments@uebt.org.

Governance of the standard revision process?

A wide range of stakeholders – companies, communities, civil society – contributed to the development of the UEBT Ethical BioTrade Standard. In July 2020 the new standard (version 5.0) was published.