Ask a supplier for "your organic certificate" and you will almost certainly receive a scope certificate. It is a real document, it is worth having, and on its own it does not prove that anything you were sent is organic.
Two Documents, Two Jobs
| Scope certificate | Transaction certificate (TC) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it proves | This operator is certified, for these activities, for these products | This consignment is organic |
| Issued | Annually, after inspection | Per shipment |
| Names | The operator, scope, product categories, validity dates | Quantity, lot, buyer, invoice, vessel or AWB |
| Answers | "Can they handle organic goods?" | "Are these goods organic?" |
A scope certificate is a licence. A transaction certificate is a receipt. Filing the licence and never asking for the receipt is the single most common gap in organic botanical purchasing.
Why the Gap Matters
A certified operator can lawfully handle both organic and conventional material. Most do — the economics of running organic-only lines are punishing for anything but the largest processors. So the existence of a scope certificate tells you the supplier is able to supply organic. It says nothing about whether the twenty drums in front of you came off the organic run or the conventional one.
The transaction certificate closes that gap by tying certified status to a specific quantity, lot and shipment, traceable back through the operator's records. It is the document your own certifier will ask for when they audit you, and the one that supports your finished-product organic claim downstream.
When to Ask
Not after arrival. The TC is issued by the certification body against a specific shipment, and requesting one retrospectively for goods already dispatched is at best slow and at worst impossible if the paperwork trail was not set up for it.
- At enquiry — confirm the supplier's scope covers your product category and the activity (processing, or trading/handling).
- At order — state that a TC is required, in writing, on the purchase order. This is the step that gets skipped.
- At shipment — the TC should travel with the commercial documents, not follow weeks later.
Reading the TC When It Arrives
Four checks, none of which take long:
- Quantity matches the invoice. A TC for a smaller quantity than you were shipped is a live problem.
- The product description matches what is actually in the drums, including the form — extract, powder, ratio.
- The consignee is you. A TC naming a different buyer does not transfer.
- The certifier is accredited for your destination programme — see reading an organic certificate.
What This Means Practically
If you are buying organic botanical extracts and your file contains only annual scope certificates, your organic claim is resting on an assumption rather than a document. That is worth correcting before an audit does it for you.
SV Botanica sources certified organic material against buyer specification with a transaction certificate per consignment. Tell us the destination programme and we will confirm what documentation will travel with the goods before you order.
Organic-Route Botanical Extracts from India
Certified organic material sourced against your specification · transaction certificate per consignment · solvent and marker basis confirmed before you order