Auditors trained in Peru, Colombia, and South Africa: UEBT strengthens its base for verification

The Union for Ethical BioTrade recently held workshops for auditors and interested stakeholders in Peru, Colombia, and South Africa to test its new training toolkit.

The toolkit was developed in partnership with AB Training, an experienced consultancy firm in the field of training auditors. While the three workshops were opportunities to test part of the toolkit, which includes an e-learning platform, participants also gained a deeper knowledge of the Union and its processes, particularly the verification system. Feedback was very positive.

In Peru, Pierre Hauselmann, Technical Director of UEBT, and Diego Gayacundo, Certification Coordinator at the Colombian Fundación NaturaCertificación, led the first workshop. This was an opportunity to train auditors from the IMO, Control Union, and SGS – organisations that all have a strong presence in Peru. Other stakeholders took part as well, including member organisations of the Union, representatives of the Ministry of Environment, and the GTZ.

Hauselmann and Gayacundo also led the workshop in Colombia, which was principally aimed at auditors of Fundación NaturaCertificación – the Union's verification body partner in the country. As in Peru, several of the Union's trading and affiliate members joined.

In South Africa, Mr Liviu Amariei of AB Training joined Hauselmann to run the workshop. Two certification bodies attended: SGS QUALIFOR, a long-time verification body partner of the Union, and Afrisco, the local representative of EcoCert. This was the first time the Union worked with a certification body that is neither part of the Sustainable Agriculture Network nor accredited under the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) – a sign that the Union is expanding its network of verification body partners.

The auditors who took part in the three workshops were exceptionally acute and receptive. No doubt these events will create a strong base for UEBT verification. Many participants said that despite their relatively low level of understanding of the Union's mechanism at the outset, they quickly became enthusiastic about its new approach to verification.

With the experience gained from of these workshops and its collaboration with AB training, the Union can begin to fine-tune some of its procedures before the online launch of the e-learning training platform in spring 2009.

The Union will hold a similar workshop in Europe at the end of June 2009. If you are a certification body, we encourage you to express your interest as soon as possible.

For further information, please contact Pierre Hauselmann at pierre@ethicalbiotrade.org.