Bonsucro Production Standard vs Chain of Custody: Which One Do You Need?
If you're not a sugarcane mill or grower, "Bonsucro certification" usually means something different for you than it does for a producer. Bonsucro runs two separate standards: the Production Standard, which certifies sugarcane growing and milling itself, and the Chain of Custody Standard, which applies further down the supply chain, to traders, refineries, wholesalers and manufacturers that handle Bonsucro-certified sugarcane, sugar or derivatives as an input. Getting these confused is common, and it leads companies to prepare for the wrong audit. This article breaks down which one actually applies to you.
Production Standard: for growing and milling
The Production Standard is what a sugarcane mill and its supplying farms are audited against directly, covering legal compliance, labour standards, production efficiency, biodiversity and continuous improvement. If your company grows sugarcane or operates a mill, this is the certification that applies to you, not Chain of Custody.
→ See: Getting Started with Bonsucro Certification: What the Production Standard Requires
Chain of Custody: for everyone handling certified material afterward
The Chain of Custody Standard applies once certified sugarcane leaves the mill. It's built for companies that take ownership of Bonsucro-certified product further down the chain, including traders, refineries, wholesalers and manufacturers that use certified sugarcane, sugar or derivatives as an input into what they sell. If your company doesn't grow or mill sugarcane, but does buy, process, or resell Bonsucro-certified material, Chain of Custody, not the Production Standard, is what applies to you.
The current model is a mass balance system. Rather than requiring certified material to be physically segregated from non-certified material at every stage, mass balance allows certified and non-certified sugarcane to be mixed during processing, provided the volumes are tracked and reconciled on paper. The standard sets out five core requirements for doing this:
implementing a mass balance tracking system,
validating incoming Bonsucro data,
reconciling that data against what's processed and sold,
tracing it through your operation,
identifying the relevant data to your own customers further down the chain.
A third option: the Credit Trading Platform
Bonsucro also runs a Credit Trading Platform, which works differently from Chain of Custody. Rather than tracking physical volumes of certified material through a supply chain, it lets buyers and producers trade Bonsucro Credits directly, with bids and offers matched automatically and prices visible on the platform. This is a book-and-claim style approach: a buyer purchasing credits is supporting certified production and can make a corresponding claim, without that specific purchase being physically traceable to a specific shipment the way mass balance requires. Bonsucro's own materials don't spell out a fixed rule for when a company should use credit trading instead of Chain of Custody certification, so if this route interests you, it's worth confirming directly with Bonsucro which one fits your situation and your buyers' expectations.
Where retailers and end-product sellers fit in
Companies that only sell finished consumer products, without processing or reselling the certified sugarcane-derived material itself, generally sit outside both certification requirements. The obligation runs through the supply chain up to the point where certified material stops being an input into something else and becomes a finished product on a shelf.
How to work out which one applies to you
The practical test is whether you grow or mill sugarcane, in which case it's the Production Standard, or whether you take ownership of already-certified sugarcane, sugar or derivatives as an input somewhere downstream, in which case it's Chain of Custody. If you're doing both, because you mill and also trade material from other certified mills, you may need both certifications covering the different parts of your operation.
Not sure which certification your business actually needs?
Getting this wrong at the start means preparing documentation for the wrong audit. If you'd like help working out where your company sits in the chain and what that means for certification, get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Bonsucro Chain of Custody certification if I already have the Production Standard?
If you're a mill that also trades certified material from other mills, or otherwise handles certified sugarcane beyond your own production, you may need both. If your only involvement is growing or milling your own cane, the Production Standard alone is what applies.
What does "mass balance" mean under the Chain of Custody Standard?
It means certified and non-certified sugarcane can be physically mixed during processing, as long as the volumes are tracked, validated and reconciled on paper, rather than requiring certified material to be kept physically separate at every stage.
What's the difference between Chain of Custody and the Credit Trading Platform?
Chain of Custody requires tracking and reconciling physical volumes of certified material through your operation. The Credit Trading Platform is a book-and-claim system where buyers purchase Bonsucro Credits directly, supporting certified production without that purchase being physically tied to a specific shipment.
Do retailers selling finished sugar products need Bonsucro certification?
Generally no. Companies that only sell finished consumer products, without processing or reselling the certified material itself, typically sit outside both the Production Standard and Chain of Custody requirements.