Independent Certification:
Certifications undertaken by independent companies to ensure criteria are met according to specific recognised guidelines relevant to the product or service in question. Independent certification can be split into 3 general categories.

1. Product specific certification

2. Management processes

3. Employment (ethical) certification

Product specific certifications cover items and materials to ensure they are genuinely what the seller is claiming.
Examples include but are not limited to:
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification, ensuring sustainable timber certified at source under the FSC set of criteria is the same wood in the finished product marketed as FSC certified. WEBSITE LINK
Control Union (Formerly SKAL) known mainly for auditing organic status of cotton production and manufacturing WEBSITE
Employment (ethical) certification. This is generally associated with ethical manufacturing, ensuring workers producing products are not exploited and are paid a fair “living” salary.
Examples include but are not limited to: Fair Trade Foundation (originally targeting the supply of food but now in other areas),WEBSITE
Fair Wear Foundation (Specific to garment production) WEBSITE
Management processes
General management and good practice, most famously ISO accreditation, of which some certificates are specifically monitoring and assessing the environmental impact and ethical policies of companies for example but not limited to ISO 14001/ WEBLINK
Independent companies that can carry out certification on behalf of the governing bodies include but are not limited to:
Bureau Veritas WEBSITE
SGS WEBSITE
Soil Association WEBSITE

Certain global or industry standards have started emerging in specific sectors as well. These have been adopted by niche certification bodies as underlying standards. For example but not limited to:
GOTS (Global Organic Textiles Standards)
ETI’s Base Code (Ethical Trading Initiative)
ILO (International Labour Organisation)

Self Certification:
Certification undertaken by the producer or provider of the goods or services.
Self certification is not independently verified and therefore should be considered but not 100% relied upon.
Self certification can be a useful tool to determine certain noon-essential elements of production and supply or general areas that do not require independent certification. Examples might include but not be limited to:
How goods are shipped (air, sea or road), country of origin, whether goods can be recycled, how items are printed.