TREES Document

Title: TREES Training Services Doc. No: TS-03 Version: 22-Feb-09

Independence Statatement Page 1 of 2

TREES Program

Training Services Independence Statement

2-22-09
Objective of this document: Outline the training services TREES projects and staff will
provide and measures to ensure the independence of RA Auditing services.

TREES projects adhere to Rainforest Alliance policies on independence as outlined in our

website (http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/about.cfm?id=ensuring)

All TREES projects are managed by TREES staff and maintain separate budgets from
any certification related services

11 TREES project staff are not involved in any SmartWood or RA audits and
verifications, or any aspect of certification decision-making. They may participate in
audit activities only as observers and not as auditors.
11 General Certification Training is defined as:
a) Audiences: any stakeholder or certification participant (forest managers,
companies, academics, ngos, etc.)
b) Training Content:
(1) certification introduction and overview
(2) requirements of the FSC standards
(3) certification audit process
(4) auditing skills and methods
(5) organizing for the audit visit
(6) general certification challenges
(7) introduction and overview of common challenges
(a) explore generic case studies of common solutions
(b) ONLY provided by open-invitation workshops to broad audiences and/or via
open audience web-based services
(c) NO participant-specific assistance or solutions will be developed
c) Training Delivery:
(1) via open invitation workshops to many entities
(2) via printed guidance documents generally available to open audiences
(3) via one-on-one training with a single entity via live meeting or on-call (email and
telephone) support services (with the exception of the topic on cert challenges
- item B 7 above)
11 Technical Assistance is defined as a consultancy provided to a single entity
(company) to develop or provide technical systems or documents which become
auditable for certification.
a) TREES Training services do not provide advice or consultancy services to
individual applicants for SmartWood certification as to developing solutions to
their specific barriers to certification.
 TREES Document
Title: TREES Training Services Doc. No: TS-03 Version: 22-Feb-09
Independence Statatement Page 2 of 2

b) Should RA decide to be directly involved in providing technical assistance

services, then SW will not provide certification for those entities served.

11 General Technical Guidance on Certification Challenges

a) TREES will create and distribute generic guidance materials and tools and
associated training programs to support technical assistance providers, and
open groups of forest managers and companies on general solutions to
common certification challenges in their region
b) Activities would include
(i) Convening international and domestic expertise in forest management to
develop and pilot open-access guidance materials on how to overcome
key challenges to certification in the regional context
(ii) All guidance materials will open to the public
(iii) NOTE: this guidance is primarily focused on strengthening
resources for independent technical assistance providers (and open
groups of forest companies) and does NOT provide any direct
consultancy or solution to a specific certification client. The use of
generic technical guidance documents and tools which RA has
developed and distributed publicly to companies does not constitute
technical assistance by RA and thus does not preclude access to SW
certification services.
11 Small and Medium Enterprises non-certification related support training
a) TREES provides non-certification technical training to SMEs
b) A main example of non-certification support training is working with community-
based operations (primarily in Latin America) providing in-depth training to
increase efficiencies in wood processing, business skills and marketing. (see
“COI memo for USAID”)
c) Should TREES decide to be involved in providing direct technical assistance
services that would be auditable, then SW will not provide certification for those
entities served (see item #4 above)