Our name: CERES - CERtification of Environmental Standards refers to "Ceres", the ancient Roman goddess of agriculture, who was equivalent to the Greek goddess Demeter. She represented the plenitude of crops and was a symbol for soil fertility. CERES works towards the following quality goals: 1. Transparency We are transparent regarding our criteria, policies and standard interpretation. Our policies are available to the public and clients do not need to worry about suddenly being faced with new, unexpected requirements. 2. Efficiency We strive to deal with your certification request in the shortest possible time. We endeavor to answer your questions within three business days. 3. Partnership We provide you with the necessary tools to auto-assess your farm's or company's compliance with relevant standards and define corrective measures. We believe in operator responsibility. How we seek to achieve these goals: The CERES management, Ulrich Findel, Dr. Bernhard Schulz, and Albrecht Benzing have many years of experience in international certification work We work with well trained and independent local staff who are regularly updated. We continuously adapt and improve our quality management system. We reduce bureaucratic procedures to the necessary minimum We seek consistent, impartial, equal treatment for all clients We are open to new ideas and suggestions for improvement We have clear procedures for preventing conflicts of interest and discouraging corruption Accreditation: CERES is accredited/registered to certify according to the following standards: Regulation (EC) 834/07, NOP (see USDA website), JAS Organic, GLOBALG.A.P., UTZ CERTIFIED, C.A.F.E. Practices, and TESCO Nurture.