The purpose of this guide is to demonstrate how to generate and access Preliminary Audit Reports and Final Audit Reports in the course of a Fair Trade USA™ (FTUSA) audit in ChainPoint.
Training Audience
This guide is intended to be a resource for Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs), the FTUSA Certification Team, and the FTUSA Producer and Commercial Teams.
Audit Reports: What’s Included
Each audit report contains the following sections:
| Section | Intent |
| General Audit Information | General information about the associated audit including audit ID, audit year, and auditor name |
| Module Summary | Number of critical and progress non-compliances (NCs) found in each module |
| Summary of Progress Points* |
Overview of progress points achieved and if program requirements have been met *Agricultural Production Standard (APS) and Capture Fisheries Standard (CFS) only |
| Summary of Non-Compliances | Details of the individual non-compliances found during the audit |
Note that in ChainPoint, the Preliminary and Final Audit Reports are generated automatically from the audit findings in PDF form. If the report containing information that needs to be updated, the impacted criteria must be updated in the audit checklist.
A draft version of the Preliminary Report is generated when the audit moves from Audit In Progress to Draft Preliminary Report status. The Preliminary Audit Report is then finalized and shared with the Certificate holder when the Lead auditor advances the audit status to “Ready for Technical Review.”
To access and download the preliminary report, navigate to the General Information section of the Audit Coversheet and select the report name next to Preliminary Audit Report. Open the report using a PDF viewer or browser. CAB Program Admins, Technical Reviewers and Auditors should all have access to view and download the Preliminary Report.
The Preliminary Audit Report is intended to be reviewed by the Lead Auditor with the Certificate Holder (CH) during the closing meeting. The CH will have access to the Preliminary Report and Final Audit Report from the Certificate section in ChainPoint.
Final Audit Reports
Final Audit Reports are generated by ChainPoint after the Technical Reviewer advances the audit from status Technical Review in Progress to Final Report Submitted. Note that the CAP Reviewer must be assigned by either the Technical Reviewer or CAB Program Admin, prior to advancing the form to Final Report Submitted.
To download the report, navigate to the General Information section of the Audit Coversheet and select the report name next to Final Audit Report. Open the report using a PDF viewer or browser. CAB Program Admins, Technical Reviewers and Auditors should all have access to view and download the Final Audit Report.
The Final Audit Report (and simultaneously access to the NC Review and Closure Form) is shared with the CH in an automated email when the audit reaches the status “Final Report Submitted.” Certificate Holders can also access the Preliminary and Final audit report from the Certificates submenu section.
Final Audit Reports include data in the Module Summary and Summary of Non-Compliances to indicate if any updates occurred during the technical review process.
The Module Summary includes two additional columns displaying the Final Number of Critical and Progress Non-Compliances compared to the Preliminary Number of Critical Non-Compliances.
- The Final Number of Critical and Progress NCs is the current number of NCs as determined during technical review.
- The Preliminary Number of Critical and Progress NCs is the original number of NCs issued by the auditor during the audit.
For a more detailed view of which NCs changed during technical review, the Summary of Non-Compliances includes the Preliminary and Final Status of each finding. If there is no change during technical review, the status will be the same for both Preliminary Status of Finding and Final Status of Finding. If there is a difference between these two fields, the Final Status of Finding is the current status as determined during technical review, while the Preliminary Status is the original finding by the auditor which was reviewed during the closing meeting. If the Preliminary Status of Finding is empty, the NC was added during technical review.
Audit Reports: Summary of Progress Points*
*APS and CFS Only
For APS and CFS audits, a Summary of Progress Points table is included in the preliminary and final audit report. The table, organized by module and farm size, includes:
- the number of progress points required for the CH to meet program requirements
- the number of progress points that were achieved during the audit
- the percentage of points required to be compliant with the standard
- an indication of whether or not the program requirements were met
In the example below, only the audited farm sizes have results included in the Summary of Progress Points table. The Certificate Holder sites are categorized as medium, and therefore no information is included for small or large farms.
If the program requirements are not met for either module, NCs must be addressed as part of the NC Review and Closure process to meet the number of progress points required. For more information about how progress points are scored, please refer to the program standard and the Score System Guide in the Resources section.
Additional Resources
Agricultural Production Standard
Agriculture & Seafood Conformity Assessment Body Manual
Agriculture & Seafood Program Assurance Manual
Factory Production Standard (FPS) 2.0.1
Factory Conformity Assessment Body Manual