The audit process in BASTA
The sun is out, the trees are blooming and summer is approaching - and so is the audit process. Every year, BASTA conducts an audit with up to 60-70 affiliated companies. Let's go through how it works.
Hi Cecilia! What is your role in the audit process?
I'm responsible for the process from BASTA's side and am the one who contacts selected companies and coordinates the process. I have been on the other side and declared products myself, but never been part of an audit and it will be exciting to follow that process.
How does an audit work?
If your company is selected, the company contact person will receive an email from me. As a company, it is important that you have a relevant contact person entered in BASTA's system so that we can get in touch with the right person.
When I have reached the contact person, I ask them to submit assessment documentation that forms the basis for the declarations and also assessment summaries for up to 5 articles. If the company has fewer than 5 articles, all registered articles are included. The documentation is then sent to an external auditor who goes through all the material and contacts the company to schedule the audit meeting. Then the auditor, together with the company, goes through the assessment documents to ensure that company has the assessment skills, assessments are made correctly and marketing is done in the right way. At BASTA, we of course want all companies that declare in the system to market their presence.
If everything looks good, the audit is approved, otherwise it becomes a deviation. A deviation is when a document is missing or an assessment is incorrect, and then the company has the opportunity to come in with updates.
How long does it take?
The whole process, minus any adjustments, takes around 2 - 3 months. If your company is selected for this year's audit, you will have a number of weeks to submit the documentation.
Why is an audit carried out?
The audit is carried out both to ensure the quality of the BASTA system and to support affiliated companies in their assessments. As the BASTA system is based on self-declarations, it is important that we regularly check the content and provide support to our affiliates making the assessments.
We want it to be clear and easy for our affiliates to make assessments leading to different grades and for us the audit is an opportunity to ensure the quality of the BASTA criteria. For our part, it is also valuable to get in touch with affiliated companies and to show that we are happy to support with questions and concerns.