CFP Communication Program

Rules on CFP verification

Revised on May 1, 2012
Document ID: R-08-02

Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry

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Chapter 1. General Provisions
Section 1.
<Purpose>
Article 1
This document prescribes a set of procedures for verifying quantification results and declaration
method of Carbon Footprint of Products (hereinafter called “CFP”) in accordance with the ProductCategory Rule of CFP (hereinafter called “CFP-PCR”) under the CFP Communication Program(hereinafter called “the CFP Program”) operated and managed by JEMAI (Japan Environmental
Management Association for Industry).
<Overview of the procedures for verifying CFP quantification results and declaration method>
Article 2(1) The businesses that wish to make a CFP declaration for its product under the CFP program
shall be verified whether its CFP quantification results and declaration method conform to theapproved CFP-PCR and relevant rules, through the verification processes specified by JEMAI.
(2) The CFP declaration of the verified product shall be registered and released, and the CFP
mark shall be permitted its usage, only when it has passed the verification.
<Requirements>
Article 3
The requirements for CFP quantification and declaration shall be prescribed in applicable
CFP-PCR.
<Judgment criteria on CFP verification>
Article 4
Judgment criteria on CFP verification shall be prescribed in the “Judgment criteria on CFPverification”.
< Procedures for CFP verification>
Article 5
CFP verification procedures shall be prescribed in the “Procedures for CFP verification”.
<Products to be covered>
Article 6
The CFP Program shall cover all types of products (goods and services), including not only final
goods for consumers but also intermediate goods.

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Section 2. Assurance level of CFP verification
The assurance level of CFP verification should be “limited assurance level” from the viewpoint of
the nature of life cycle assessment (LCA).
The term, “assurance level” is originally used in accounting audit. The assurance level iscategorized into “absolute,” “reasonable,” and “limited”.
- The “absolute assurance level” means that an auditor works with a company to check whether or
not the company’s operations conform to applicable specifications or standards, and the auditor
guarantees its total conformance. In CFP verification, however, such guarantee is not realistic foran auditor.
- The “reasonable assurance level” generally means that a level which is used by an accounting
audit corporation to check an annual financial statement audit for a company. An accounting audit
corporation tracks the evidence of the documents (e.g., financial statements) submitted by acompany as much as possible, for example by tracking data sources to support the evidence.
Such data verification requires considerable works, because these documents are required todisclose accurate corporate information, and data obtained by such documents can influence astock value of a company. For example, the greenhouse gas (GHG) credit system requires thislevel of assurance because the value is converted into money.
- The “limited assurance level” means that data verification is conducted with limited informationand materials provided by a company, and its level of assurance is therefore limited. Regarding
CFP verification, the data inside and outside (supply chain) of a company are needed for auditing
as the nature of LCA, thereby it is impossible to gain the reasonable assurance level for such alldata. Moreover, there is a case that secondary data is collected because primary data cannot becollected, even for the data inside of the company. In such case, data verification at thereasonable assurance level is not suitable for actual conditions. On the other hand, even at thelimited assurance level, the data on GHG sources, which can have significantly shares ofemissions, shall be verified carefully.

Chapter 2. Verification of CFP quantification results and declaration method
Section 1. Verification of CFP quantification results and declaration method<Basic perspectives of CFP verification)
Article 7
In CFP verification, CFP quantification results and a draft of declaration method shall be checkedfrom the following basic points:- Conformity to relevant rules- Conformity to an applicable CFP-PCR- Ensuring of data traceability

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R-08-02<Application for verification of CFP quantification results and declaration method>
Article 8
The businesses that wish to make a CFP declaration shall conduct CFP quantification inaccordance with applicable CFP-PCR and relevant rules, and shall make a CFP declaration draft.
The business shall submit “application for CFP verification” (which collectively refers to the CFP
quantification results and CFP declaration draft) to the secretariat of the CFP Program (in JEMAI).
<Verification by a CFP verifier>
Article 9
JEMAI shall select in principle one CFP verifier among from the licensed reviewers. The selected
CFP verifier shall conduct CFP verification by checking the application for CFP verification and byinterviewing with the applicant. The CFP verifier shall request the applicant to make corrections totheir documents as necessary, and shall make a final judgment of approval/disapproval after
corrections are made. The CFP verifier shall report the CFP verification result to the secretariat.
<Checks by the review panel>
Article 10
The review panel shall check the contents based on the CFP verification result submitted by theCFP verifier, and shall make a final judgment of approval or disapproval.
<Notification of the verification result>
Article 11
The secretariat shall notify final judgment result of CFP verification and its reason to the applicant.

Section 2 Product that passed the CFP verification process<Official announcement of a product which passed verification>
Article 12
A product that has passed the CFP verification shall be registered and its information shall be
released on the CFP website managed by JEMAI. The procedures for registration and release
shall be prescribed in the “Rules on registration and release of CFP declaration”.
<Valid period of the verification results>
Article 13
The valid period of the CFP verification results shall be 3 years.

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Section 3. The review panel and CFP verifier<Establishment of the review panel>
Article 14
JEMAI shall establish the review panel to delegate checks of the CFP qualification results anddeclaration method. Paper works of the review panel shall be prescribed in the “Rules on
establishment and operation of review panel”.
<Registration and appointment of a CFP verifier>
Article 15
JEMAI shall select a CFP verifier among from licensed reviewers to delegate verification related tothe CFP qualification results and declaration method. Rules applied to a CFP verifier shall beprescribed in the “Rules on registration and assessment of licensed reviewer”.

Supplementary provisionThis document shall come into effect on April 2, 2012.
Date of release:

April 2, 2012 (R-08-01)

Date of revision: May 1, 2012 (R-08-02)

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