If you’re planning for an audit, you can find all the details for the Certification Bodies here. Keep in mind that it may take up to three months to schedule an audit date.
Re-certification FAQs
No, provided that there is someone in your business who has completed certification training and who will act as the representative at your audit.
No. You can choose the certification body to audit your business and they may be different every three years. We suggest that when you are preparing for an audit you complete an audit quote request form to obtain quotes from the seven different certification bodies that can undertake a sustainability audit.
It is recommended that you make contact with the certification bodies at least three months in advance of your certificate expiry date.
- Before committing to an audit, ask the Certification body for a written estimate of time to complete the audit and a quote including travel costs and any extras.
- Be fully prepared for your audit by ensuring you have completed everything on your internal audit. Make notes on your internal audit to remind you where all your records are kept.
- Ensure you have all your records available and accessible when the auditor arrives.
- Stay on task and on topic during the audit. Ensure that distractions are minimised and that your time is used efficiently.
It is recommended that you complete at least one M7 Internal Audit Form over the three years of your audit cycle to ensure all your record keeping is in place before your audit. While you can complete the M7 Internal Audit Form each year to ensure your record keeping is maintained between audits, auditors will also accept annual completion of the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia workbook as a form of internal audit.
It is a requirement of certification that annual membership of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia program is maintained, that is, data, workbook and payment must be complete by 14 September each year. At audit you will be asked to demonstrate your ongoing membership. You can do this by showing a membership certificate. You may also be asked to login and the auditor may ask some questions about your data and workbook.
Sale/purchase of certified sites FAQ
No. Neither Sustainable Winegrowing Australia nor Freshcare Certification is transferable between businesses.
Ahead of your next audit, you can apply for an ‘extension of scope’ to your current Freshcare certificate by contacting the Certification Body who undertook your last audit. Part of the review will be to assess the proximity between the sites as to whether the new site could be audited at the same time as the existing site(s).
Yes. You can extend your membership as long as the new vineyard is in the same GI region as the existing vineyard(s) listed on your membership.
Yes. You can include the new vineyard in your membership as long as the new site is in the same GI region as the existing site(s) listed in your membership AND you have been granted an extension of scope on your existing Freshcare certificate (see above).
If you have multiple sites listed on your Freshcare certificate and you have sold one or more of the sites, you need to contact your Certification Body directly to have your certificate updated and reissued. You will then need to upload your new Freshcare certificate on the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia website for your membership.
As the ‘seller’ you must advise the Certification Body that you no longer own the certified site. The certification for the sold site will then be cancelled.
No. It is completely up to you as the seller whether you would like to transfer any records associated with the sold site to the new owner.
- If you do transfer your records to the new owner, the new owner may apply to AWRI to retain the same membership number for the site. In this situation the seller must advise AWRI that they are providing records to the new owner and must provide AWRI with the business contact details of the new owner. AWRI will then contact the new owner for additional details to update the membership.
- If you sell the site and you do not transfer the membership to the new owner, you must advise AWRI and the membership will be suspended.
- You should either request the previous owner to transfer the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia membership to you (see above) OR register a new site membership here.
- You should then ensure that a representative from your business attends certification training (you can complete an expression of interest here).
- Once the training is done, you can apply to complete a third-party audit.
Standard rules relating to Trust mark eligibility also apply in this situation, as do cut-off date requirements for vineyard members wishing to use the trust mark.
