SGS issued its first Alliance for Water Stewardship certification to Olam International

GENEVA, 26-Sep-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — SGS has issued its first Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification to Olam International, in recognition of the company’s approach to water stewardship at its Aviv Coffee Plantation in Tanzania.

This makes Olam International the first agribusiness to receive AWS certification.

The company was certified after successfully completing an assessment, led by SGS South Africa’s Mia Antoni Naidoo, that included a site visit at the Aviv Tanzania Arabica Coffee Farm in the Ruvuma Basin. The assessment was finalized in June 2016.

The AWS standard is based on the Theory of Change. Recognizing that water is a shared resource that relies on all stakeholders for sustainable management, it places great emphasis on work to be performed beyond site boundaries.

The standard is aimed at achieving four water stewardship outcomes:

1. Good water governance
2. Sustainable water balance
3. Good water quality
4. Health status of important water related areas

It is comprised of six steps:

1. Commit
2. Gather and understand
3. Plan
4. Implement
5. Evaluate
6. Communicate and disclose

Each step contains several core criteria and related indicators.

SGS United Kingdom is accredited as a Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) by the AWS. It provides AWS pre-assessment and certification services.

For more information, please contact:

Francesca Cerchia
Environment, Health and Safety
Global Product Manager, Carbon & Water
t: +44 (0)7841 570655

About SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 85,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,800 offices and laboratories around the world.

SOURCE:  SGS SA