A – PRINCIPLES AND REQUIREMENTS
B – CERTIFICATION PROCESS
C – CONTACTS
D – TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS TO DOWNLOAD
A – PRINCIPLES AND REQUIREMENTS
European Flax® is open to any Company worldwide, whose products are composed of certified flax/linen, and willing to play their role in the traceability of their value chain, to bring ultimately the guarantee of origin for premium linen fibre grown in Europe to retailers and consumers.
Each Company commits to the criteria in accordance with its activity, as part of the TRACEABILITY CHAIN (click on image to enlarge or download):
Upstream, flax growers and scutchers, by signing the EUROPEAN FLAX CHARTER, guarantee local farming that respects the environment, uses no irrigation and no GMOs, generates no waste and enhances agricultural biodiversity.
Downstream, each stage of processing and trading commits to the EUROPEAN FLAX® STANDARD and is verified accordingly, to guarantee traceability of the certified flax/linen materials.
Together, they form a ‘Chain-of-custody‘ where each link has to be certified, meaning each player in the chain taking ownership of the material, in order to carry certification to the next player. Therefore, to certify a finished product, each of these links has to be certified until garment manufacturer/specifier (brands/retailers who purchase finished products are not subject to audit). Subcontractors enter the scope of their client’s certification and do not need to receive a certification in their name.
Certified companies can claim products as European Flax certified if made from flax/linen supplies 100% certified, and composed of pure linen or majority blends. Blends with non-certified flax/linen are not allowed.
B – CERTIFICATION PROCESS
FOR A SCUTCHER
► Application
European Flax® Charter + Company profile will be supplied by your national association
After submitting your application, you will receive a European Flax® licence number, logo, marketing charter and tools.
The validity of scutching licence number is for 3 years, automatically renewed until the Chater/standard is revised.
FOR A PROCESSOR OR TRADER
See complete CERTIFICATION PROCESS and GUIDANCE for download below, and summarized here :
► Application
Request for Quotation: a non-committing information to initiate certification dialogue with BV and CELC.
- For companies in Europe and Africa:
Please download your RFQ from table below and send to CELC, see contacts below.
Notes:
– for European Processors or Traders, CELC membership is required (via national linen association if relevant);
– for European companies who are Masters of Linen® certified, same auditing body may be used vs BV.
- For companies from other geographic areas:
Please download your RFQ from table below and send directly to BV corresponding local office, see contacts below.
Audit proposal: BV sends a 3 year offer with yearly audit, based on the scope described in the RFQ, production sites, subcontractors,…
Note: compositional tests for processors, shall be either included in BV offer (not applicable in Asia) or ordered seperately from list of accredited laboratories..
After BV proposal is signed, the date for the 1st audit is planned.
► Certification
To prepare first audit, the Company shall use the European Flax documents: STANDARD, CERTIFICATION PROCESS, CHECKLIST, GUIDANCE, for download in table below.
And also download and sign the TERMS OF USE, and send to CELC as mutual agreement about the use of the European Flax® registered mark.
Year 1 audit: documentary audit usually, via phone meeting and e-mails.
BV validates audit and issues European Flax® certificate as pdf, with a certification number and a validity date of 3 years.
CELC sends European Flax® logo, marketing tools, and Terms of Use countersigned.
Certification maintenance:
Year 2: on-site audit. For processors, audit is followed by a composition test on 3 samples selected by BV (tests are not required for scutchers, pre-processors, traders or finished products manufacturers). Tests are performed by one of the laboratories accredited by CELC’s Bast Fibre Authority, incl. BV CPS in France.
Year 3 audit, documentary usually (same remark as Year 1) and test.
Afterwards, the contract is renewable for 3 years, at the same conditions.
► Timing
After offer signature, the date of audit is planned. After audit, and all documents are provided by the Company, the audit review is performed by the auditor, then by BV Headquarters, leading in the absence of non-conformities, to certificate issuance.
Overall, the whole process will take approximatively 17 weeks*, so the certification request should be anticipated early enough. (*in a fluid process of reactivity of each company).
Note: companies who have not yet received their certificate may buy and process certified materials, but they cannot sell certified materials until they receive their certificate.
► Cost
Trademark use: granted by CELC free of charge, without any mark licensing fees.
Audit: approx €2,500 per year, per company, for processors and traders (cost may vary in case of multiple sites or subcontractors)
Test of composition: €300 per year, per company, for processors (see above), starting 2nd year.
Note: for European Processors or Traders, CELC membership fees apply, please contact CELC.
FOR A BRAND OR RETAILER
The certification of your products depends on your supply chain :
►If buying fabrics and commissionning the manufacturing to subcontractor.s :
Brands/Retailers needs to become certified, and their subcontractor.s integrated in the scope. Please follow same steps as Processors.
►If buying finished products,
– the manufacturer needs to become certified as Processor. The finished product will be certified by the manufacturer, through his sales invoice which needs to feature the claim ‘European Flax certified’ for each relevant product, as well as his certification number.
The manufacturer produces the tags/labels and labels the products, according to the Terms of use they have signed and the European Flax® Marketing and Graphic Charter.
– Brands/Retailers may use the European Flax® trademark and tools in their communication and marketing, by signing the Terms of Use for Brands & Retailers and its Profile (links for download below), and by sending CELC each year a few copies of invoices evidencing the certified products (confidential information such as prices may be erased).
C – CONTACTS
YOUR CERTIFICATION CONTACTS/ BUREAU VERITAS NETWORK
BV FRANCE/EUROPE/AFRICA
– Isabelle PAULY Sales | isabelle.pauly@bureauveritas.com | +33 1 41 97 04 00
BV CHINA :
– Mr Xiangyun WANG xiangyun.wang@bureauveritas.com | + 86 1801 7502 125
BV TAIWAN :
– Ms Mavis LIU mavis.liu@bureauveritas.com +886-922 762 662
BV VIETNAM /CAMBODIA /SOUTH KOREA /MYANMAR /INDONESIA :
– Mr. Thien DINH | thien.dinh@bureauveritas.com
BV INDIA /SRI LANKA:
-Mr. Dinesh K SHETTY |dinesh.shetty@bureauveritas.com |+91 22 62742929
BV BANGLADESH:
– Mr Tareq AHMED | tareq.ahmed@bureauveritas.com
BV PAKISTAN:
–Mrs Sabeen AHAD | sabeen.ahad@bureauveritas.com
BV JAPAN :
– Ms. Chieko SAKUMA | chieko.sakuma@jp.bureauveritas.com +81 45 651 4770
BV INTERNATIONAL AND TECHNICAL COORDINATION:
– Anne-Sophie CABRAL Technical Manager | anne-sophie.cabral@bureauveritas.com | +33 6 82 03 84 53
Note: other geographic areas are managed by BV France with a local auditor.
YOUR CERTIFICATION CONTACTS/ FOR MASTERS OF LINEN® CERTIFIED COMPANIES:
European spinners, weavers and knitters eligible for Masters of Linen® may perform both certifications with CENTROCOT (IT) stefania.dalcorso@centrocot.it or CENTEXEBL (BE) sst@centexbel.be .
YOUR INFORMATION & MARKETING CONTACT: CELC
certification@allianceflaxlinenhemp.eu
D – TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS TO DOWNLOAD
