4C Association Coffee Certification sets up 4C Association Fine Coffee beans

4C certification is currently widely accepted in the world, involving coffee cultivation, production, processing and other aspects of the supply chain sustainable development management rules, including social, environmental and economic principles. Coffee growers are required to protect biodiversity, protect various nationally endangered plants and animals, correctly use and dispose of pesticides and other chemicals, protect the natural environment and human health, pay attention to soil protection, water resources protection, safe disposal of wastewater and garbage, and prioritize the use of renewable energy.

The 4C Association is a global organization of stakeholders in the coffee industry chain whose mission is to improve producers 'incomes and living conditions by reducing costs, improving quality, providing market conditions and ensuring environmental sustainability.

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4C Association Coffee Certification

Mo Lizhen (1966~), female, undergraduate, Bachelor of Agronomy, has been engaged in scientific research, production technology, training and cup products of Arabica coffee in Pu 'er City since 1988. She has published many papers in Tropical Crops Research, Yunnan Thermal Cultivation Technology and Tropical Agricultural Science, and published the monograph Illustration of High-yield and High-quality Cultivation Technology of Arabica Coffee.

4C coffee certification is a development trend, 4C certification is currently widely accepted in the world, involving coffee cultivation, production, processing and other aspects of the supply chain sustainable development management rules. This article is a translation of the FAQ for 4C coffee certification provided by 4C website for reference only. If there is any confusion, please refer to the original 4C website.

I. Brief answers to 4C organizations

1. What is the 4C Association?

4C Association is a legal, non-profit, global (United Nations) coffee industry organization registered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its full name is Common Code for the Coffee Community, which translates into "Management Rules for the Coffee Community" in Chinese, abbreviated as 4C or 4C Association.

Members of 4C include coffee farmers (large and small), traders (importers and exporters), practitioners (coffee roasters and retailers) and civil society (NGOs, standard-setting schemes and trade unions); individuals, donors and other institutions may also join as associate members.

The 4C Association is a multi-stakeholder organization, a global social effort that brings together coffee workers to improve their economic, social and environmental conditions, with the ultimate goal of mainstreaming sustainability and enabling as many farmers as possible to achieve sustainable production practices.

2. Why the 4C Association?

The coffee crisis of 2001 - 2002 led to a long period of very low coffee prices, threatening the sustainability of the coffee industry and creating major difficulties for the development of coffee growing areas. Growers, traders and representatives of industry and civil society are therefore aware of the need to work together to address the sustainability issues affecting the coffee sector. In 2003, a coffee community management project was launched by various stakeholder groups, the "4C" Association, with the slogan "Together for a Better Coffee World." Over the past decade, the 4Cs have continued to serve as a pre-competitive platform for stakeholder groups to work together to address issues affecting sustainable development.

3. What is a 4C unit?

A 4C unit is a production group that produces 4C standard coffee for a long time. 4C units are flexible. A 4C unit can be a small farmer registered together, such as a cooperative or farmers association, a purchasing station, a factory, a local merchant, an export organization, or a coffee roaster producing in a country.

There are three prerequisites for establishing a 4C unit: membership in the 4C Association or membership in an existing 4C; ability to provide at least one container of commercial green coffee beans (20 tons); and ability to comply with the 4C Code of Conduct. If you are a producer of commercial green coffee beans with a yield of more than 20 tons, you can register yourself as a 4C unit. If your output is insufficient, you can join an established 4C unit or establish a new 4C unit with another small-scale farmer; another situation is for the exporting country to establish a 4C unit with a supplier.

In a 4C unit, anyone who comes into direct contact with coffee is called a business partner. A person or company providing services related to coffee production and direct contact with fresh fruit or commercial green coffee beans, such as growers and pesticide spraying companies, is also considered a business partner.