Overview of UEBT fees

Membership fees (2024)

UEBT members pay an annual membership fee. Fees are based on the annual turn-over of the member organisation.

Notes:

• Turnover is defined as annual sales minus all discounts and sales taxes.

• A one-time membership application fee is charged upon submission of the membership application. The fee is 50% of the membership fee.

• Membership annual fees are payable from the moment that provisional UEBT membership is granted.

• Farms and producer associations, such as cooperatives, with an annual turnover of less than 1.9 million Euros are exempt from membership and application fees.

• Exceptions apply for companies seeking certification. There is a UEBT integrated membership + certification approach (see next section).

Exceptions for UEBT integrated membership + certification approach

For companies that are seeking certification and that fall in the scope of the UEBT integrated membership + certification approach, as defined by the UEBT Secretariat, the following exceptions apply:

• For organisations seeking certification that are directly responsible for cultivation or wild collection practices (these organisations are generally located in sourcing areas), the integrated membership + certification approach may apply. In this integrated approach, the membership assessment is conducted as part of, and at the same time as, the certification audit.  There is a membership fee but no application fee.

• In this approach, the annual membership fees are based on the turnover of the certified ingredient(s) and not on the turnover of the entire organisation. Once calculated, the same table above is used to lookup the applicable annual membership fee.

• For farms and producer associations such as cooperatives, membership is optional if the organisation’s annual turnover is less than 1.9 million Euros. If these farms or associations opt for UEBT membership, the integrated membership + certification process applies, but there is no membership fee nor application fee.

• For organisations seeking certification that are not directly responsible for cultivation or wild collection practices (e.g. manufacturers or brands buying from traders or not working in the sourcing area), the standard membership process applies and membership fees are based on the turnover of the member organisation.

Questions?

Write to us at membership@uebt.org

UEBT Ethical Sourcing System certification fees

To support the functioning of the UEBT Ethical Sourcing System (ESS) certification programme, two different types of fees exist:

• a certification fee (based on the turnover of the ESS certification scope)

• a licensing fee (based on the aggregated turn-over of the products for which the label is used)

• Payable annually

• Based on the turnover of ESS certification scope

The Ethical Sourcing System certification fee is an administrative cost and is not the same as the costs for the actual third-party audit that should be budgeted separately by the potential certificate holder and which is paid to the UEBT-accredited certification body chosen to carry out the audit.

Licensing fees (Consumer Facing claims only)

• See UEBT Claims and Labelling Policy for claims that are allowed for ESS certificate holders.

• Licensing fees are payable annually from the moment the UEBT ESS certification label use is approved and these fees cover artwork approvals, ESS certification label use, and marketing claims.

• Fees depend on aggregated turn-over of the products for which the label or claims are used.

• When there are UEBT certified ingredients in the product, ESS certificate holders only pay the ESS licensing fees above for marketing communications related to the certified ingredient (e.g. advertisements, social media, etc.). However, an additional licensing fee will apply for approval of claims that are connected to on-product or off-product ingredient lists or other similar (on-product or online) formulation information (e.g. creation and approval of customized ingredient labels). Please see the costs section on UEBT ingredient certification and the table on Licensing Fees (consumer-facing) for ‘ingredient lists.’

Questions?

Write to us at certification@uebt.org

UEBT ingredient verification fees

To support the functioning of the UEBT verification system, three different types of participation fees exist for ingredient verification throughout the supply chain:

• a chain of custody fee (charged to supply chain actors that trade or process the UEBT verified ingredient)

• a licensing fee (charged to the brand that uses the UEBT name and/or text claim to inform its consumers about UEBT verification)

Chain of Custody (ChoC) fee

• Chain of custody approval is only required if claims of ‘UEBT verified’ are made to clients  (client or consumer facing - B2B or B2C)

• Annual fee, invoiced when the ChoC approval is issued or renewed

• Approval and reporting requirements apply for any company that buys and sells ingredients as ‘UEBT verified’

Licensing fees (Consumer facing claims only)

• See ‘UEBT Claims and Labelling Policy’ for allowed claims related to UEBT verification. UEBT members and non-members have different claims options for verification. Typical UEBT verified text claims are, for example: ‘UEBT verified ethically sourced shea nut’ or ‘UEBT verified responsibly sourced shea nut’.

• Licensing fees are payable from the moment when the claim is approved and charged annually while ‘UEBT verified’ text claims are made.

• Licensing fees for claims used for marketing a product are based on the aggregated turn-over of the products covered by the claims.

  Example: Joyous Brand has a text claim of ‘UEBT verified ethically sourced Lavender’ for two products in its Daytime Allure (DA) Lip Care Line. The licensing fee is charge based on the total turnover of the two products that use the UEBT claim in the DA product line.  Joyous Brand estimates that the annual turnover is EUR 5 million for one lip product and EUR 10 million for the other lip product.  The total licensing fee will be EUR 10,000 (5+10 = 15 million aggregated turnover = one licensing fee of 10,000 EUR).  Marketing claims are made in multiple media channels for the lip care products, but the licensing fee is paid once per year.

Questions?

Write to us at claims@uebt.org

Overview of UEBT ingredient certification fees for 2023

To support the functioning of the UEBT certification system, three different types of participation fees exist for ingredient certification throughout the supply chain:

• An ingredient certification fee (charged to certificate holder)

• a chain of custody fee (charged to supply chain actors that trade or process the UEBT certified ingredient)

• a licensing fee (charged to the brand that uses the UEBT name, text claim and/or certification label to inform its consumers about UEBT certification)

Ingredient certification fee

• Annual fee, invoiced when the certificate is issued/renewed

• OaS are the organisations directly responsible for cultivation or collection of the natural raw material.

• The ingredient certification fee is an administrative cost and is not the same as the costs for the actual third-party audit that should be budgeted separately by the potential certificate holder and which is paid to the UEBT-accredited certification body chosen to carry out the audit.

Chain of Custody (ChoC) fee

• Chain of Custody approval is only required if claims of ‘UEBT certified’ are made to clients  (B2B or B2C)

• Annual fee, invoiced when the ChoC approval is issued or renewed

• Approval and reporting requirements apply for any company that buys and sells ingredients as ‘UEBT certified’

Licensing fee (Consumer-facing claims only)

• See ‘UEBT Claims and Labelling Policy’ for allowed claims related to ingredient certification. UEBT members and non-members have different claim and labelling options.

• Licensing fees are payable from the moment when the claim is approved and charged annually while ‘UEBT certified’ claims are made.

• Licensing fees for claims used for marketing a product are based on the aggregated turn-over of the products covered by the claims.

  Example: Joyous Brand markets ‘UEBT certified Echinacea’ for four products in its Evening Allure (EA) Skin Care Line. The licensing fee is charge based on the total turnover of the four products that make the UEBT claim in the EA product line. Joyous Brand estimates that the annual turnover is EUR 20 million for each of the four products. The total licensing fee will be EUR 10,000 (20+20+20+20 = 80 million aggregated turnover = one licensing fee of 10,000 EUR). Claims are made in multiple media channels for the products, but the licensing fee is paid once per year.

Questions?

Write to us at claims@uebt.org

UEBT and Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices Programme fees

Membership fees

Certification & licensing fees

When claims are made of ‘certified’, a volume-based royalty is paid to Rainforest Alliance based on the volume of certified goods purchased.  Therefore, UEBT does not charge any certification or licensing fees payable to UEBT for the Herbs & Spices Programme. 

When certification claims related to ‘UEBT’ are made, such as when a certificate holder prefers to use the UEBT certification label or authorized UEBT text claims, the UEBT fees will apply.   

Royalties

For the latest on the fees and royalties charged by Rainforest Alliance please visit the Rainforest Alliance’s Herbs and Spices page.

Questions?

Write to us at herbsandspices@uebt.org

Due diligence tools

UEBT is developing practical due diligence tools to support companies in identifying and managing their natural raw material supply chain risks.

The following tools are available:

UEBT ABS due diligence database

A database with country specific legal requirements and practical guidance on ABS

UEBT responsible sourcing risk database

A database with country and ingredient sourcing risks for natural raw material supply chains

UEBT supplier due diligence platform

A tool to map natural raw material supply chains risks by allowing suppliers to submit self-assessments of social and biodiversity sourcing risks. This tool will be launched in May 2023.

Annual subscription - rates for members:

Annual subscription fees are based on the annual turn-over of the organisation

*The ‘ABS database with helpdesk’ subscription includes additional support on ABS information in the database.

**As the Supply chain due diligence platform is running as a Beta version, the subscription fee for this tool for 2023 & 2024 will be reduced to 50% of the price mentioned in the table

Annual subscription rates for non-members:

Annual subscription fees are based on the annual turn-over of the organisation

*The ‘ABS database with helpdesk’ subscription includes additional support on ABS information in the database.

**As the Supply chain due diligence platform is running as a Beta version, the subscription fee for this tool for 2023 & 2024 will be reduced to 50% of the price mentioned in the table

The subscriptions include the following number of users:

**Additional users can be added for € 50/€ 250 per additional user (member/non-member rate)

Questions?

Write to us at due-diligence@uebt.org