Interpretation Guidelines

The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standard is a generic standard applicable to more than 100 crops. How the standard is interpreted and applied to particular circumstances of different crops and geographies is guided by interpretation guidelines developed with the support of SAN stakeholders in the field. Two types of guidelines exist: 1) generic interpretation guidelines and 2) local interpretation guidelines

• Generic interpretation guidelines provide guidance for farmers and group administrators on how to implement the sustainable agriculture standard on their farms.

• Interpretation guidelines -- generic and local -- only contain indicators. They are not binding for certification processes, but they are important for implementing good agricultural practices on farms and provide more detailed guidance during audit processes.

Local interpretation guidelines interpret the binding criteria of the standard in the context of local conditions or for a specific crop and are developed by local workgroups in each country.

Local Interpretation Guidelines:

Coffee

• Brazil (PDF, in Portuguese only)
• El Salvador (PDF, in Spanish only)
• Honduras (PDF, in Spanish only)
• Kenya (PDF, in English only)
• Peru (PDF, in Spanish only)

Cocoa
• Ghana (PDF, in English only)
• Ivory Coast (PDF, in English only)

Banana and Pineapple
• Philippines (PDF, in English only)

Sugarcane
• El Salvador (PDF, in Spanish only)
• Guatemala (PDF, in Spanish only)

Tea
• Kenya (PDF, in English only)

Interpretation guide for the definition of
a high value ecosystem:

• Costa Rica (PDF, in Spanish only)
• El Salvador (PDF, in Spanish only)
• Guatemala (PDF, in Spanish only)
• Peru (PDF, in Spanish only)