What is RWS certification and how to do it?

RWS responsible wool standards are independent and voluntary standards. On farms, certification ensures that sheep are treated freely and that land management and protection are the best practices. Certification ensures the correct identification and tracking of wool from certified farms throughout the processing stage. Responsible RWS wool certification provides a perfect supervision system from farm to final product to ensure consumers' confidence in RWS products.

RWS is also listed as a quality assurance certificate by the wool auction trading system of Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), which allows Australian wool farmers and middlemen to register their RWS-certified wool.

So far, RWS has been audited, calibrated and applied in wool farms of different sizes, geographical regions and countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Argentina, China, Britain and South Africa. RWS is also listed as a quality assurance certificate by the wool auction trading system of Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), which allows Australian wool farmers and middlemen to register their RWS-certified wool.

Farms can obtain RWS certification individually or as part of a farm group. And will submit a correction certificate or pay extra inspection fees to CB. Once you are certified by RWS, you will get a scope certificate to verify whether you can meet the standards. This certificate is valid for three years and will be reviewed once a year. The audit can be arranged in the high-risk period (i.e. marking and cutting), which is decided by the certification body.

RWS certification procedure for responsible wool

Step 1: Practice authorizing a certificate authority (CB) to request services.

Step 2: Please fill in the CB application form and farm information (RWS farm problem).

Step 3: After receiving your complete application, CB will decide whether your farm can meet the standard, and prepare a quotation and its cost structure.

Step 4: After the quotation is accepted, you will be required to sign a contract with CB. This contract is valid for 3 years and needs to be renewed after its expiration.

Step 5: Before the audit, make sure you know all the requirements, so all the necessary documents are prepared according to the standards. Good preparation can reduce the cost of certification and save audit time. RWS supporting documents can be used to assist in this preparation.

Finally, RWS certification is responsible for wool standards, which is an independent and voluntary standard and can be selectively certified. This means that enterprises can choose whether to obtain certification or not.