The Internal Management System is a functioning management system within a company, producer organization, and group is necessary to support the implementation of the Agricultural Production Standard (APS) and the empowerment of farmers and workers.
Tony Serrano, General Manager JAS Family Organic Farms
Tony Serrano is in charge of the overall management and implementation of the Fair Trade Program for JAS Family Farms. He will also be the one tasked with appointing a non voting member to the Fair Trade Premium Committee and ensuring the distribution of funds according to the committee's decisions.
Wendy Guzman, Administrative Director
Wendy is tasked with human resources and administrative activities related to the Fair Trade Program. This includes, but is not limited to, gathering hiring paperwork from all workers, scheduling training and coordination with General Manager and other involved personnel.
Abigail Melchor, Compliance Specialist
Abigail is tasked with providing guidance and assistance, as necessary, during creation and implementation of the Fair Trade Program and Internal Management system. She will conduct internal audits as well as represent JAS during external audit. Abigail will be the contact person between JAS Family Farms and Fair Trade USA.
JAS Family Farms Organics will work with the FTC to implement Module 1 in its entirety. The following are actions we take to ensure that but it's not limited to these:
Provide a space for all meetings to take place.
Offer administrative help and materials.
Schedule elections and trainings.
Provide financial statements to the committee.
Offer assistance in the implementation of projects.
Contact FTUSA for any questions they have.
Provide any required agreements between JAS and the FTC.
Post any postings/ meetings notes that are required.
Ensure the Needs Assessment is up to date and remind premium participants when a new one is required.
Provide a training to all Fair Trade Premium Participants on the functioning of the Fair Trade Committee, the intent of the needs assessment and the development of the Fair Trade Premium Plan. This training should be repeated if and when there is 10% or more in workforce turnover or new membership added since previous year.
Before the Election of Fair Trade Committee members:
Determine the size and composition of the Fair Trade Committee in before election of the Fair Trade Committee(FTC) to ensure proportional representation of all Premium Participants.
The assessment of Premium Participants should include gender, racial/ethnic background, location.
Determine quantity of voting locations. There might need to be only one if all participants are from the same area. Alternatively, given that travel costs to FTC meetings for some members become to high, additional meeting locations can be organized.
Determine which members vote in each location and make a participant list per location. All Premium Participants have a right to vote in the election of the Fair Trade Committee, and each person can cast only one vote.
Determine how the FTC candidates are decided upon.
Example: Nominations before the election meeting: There should be sufficient advanced notice of the nomination process and that all nominations must turned in at a certain time prior to the meeting (ex. one week prior).
Example: Nominations during the election: Announce at first of meeting that nominations will be taken and that one can nominate his/herself or another person.
Determine if those members, one elected to the FTC, should have specific roles and responsibilities or if responsibilities are shared and define a process on how those responsibilities are determined.
Example: Some committees determine roles and responsibilities based on number of votes. So, person with most votes is President, second most Vice-President etc
Example: Some committees determine roles and responsibilities by voting on them, pulling names out of a hat, or nominations.
Determine an appropriate time for Premium Participants to meet and vote on the FTC. Take into consideration the workforce availability (time, date, place, season) in order to ensure diversity of Premium Participants in the election process.
Disseminate meeting information to all Premium Participants (workforce) via appropriate avenues: phone calls/texts, email, oral communication, flyers, etc.
During the Election
Have all Premium Participant attendees sign an attendance sheet.
Begin the meeting discussing to all in attendance the principles of Fair Trade and specifically the role and responsibility of the Fair Trade Committee and its role in determining and executing the Fair Trade Premium Plan.
Discuss the roles and responsibilities for the Fair Trade Committee and its members. This should include a proposed size and demographic composition. The election officials should reaffirm to all in attendance that they all have the right to serve on the Fair Trade Committee, including women and minorities.
Announce the Nomination Procedure:
If nominations are taking place during the election, then the General Manager should urge individuals to nominate themselves or another person.
If it was determined to take nominations before the election, then the General Manger should call nominated people's name and have them stand up in front of the group together. Nominated individuals should still vote.
Announce the Election Procedure
All nominated candidates should be brought to front of the room and introduce themselves to the group and have the opportunity to explain why he/she wants to serve on the FTC.
Provide name tags to each candidate
Explain the voting procedure: voting by raising hands or writing one name per person and then tallying the vote.
Begin the Voting Procedure
Voting by a show of hands: Ensure there is a way to write down the number of votes each candidate receives. Begin by calling nominated candidates name and have them step forward and ask all attendees, including nominated person to vote by raising their hand high over their head.
Voting by written vote: Make sure there is enough pen and paper for everyone to make their single vote. Have votes written down and placed in a bucket/box/hat or other recipient.
Finalize the Vote and Provide Election Results.
General Manager or Administrative Director shall count the votes and provide a total tally per candidate. All results should be displayed or related verbally to all in attendance.
A written final list of winners and individual roles and responsibilities should be published. Each person on the list should initial their name to show agreement of participation in the Fair Trade Committee.
The final list of winners and tally of votes should be maintained for at least 2 years for audit purposes
Meeting minutes documenting the finalized voting process should also be maintained, while photos of the vote would be a best practice.
Using the most current version of the Fair Trade Agriculture Produce Standard, internal audits will take place at fields and packing facilities operated by JAS Family Farms. The Compliance Specialist or Administrative Director will visit all ranches and facilties managed by JAS Family Farms. They will also review all documents and fill out the electronic or hard copy version of the audit at least once every year. More frequent audits can happen, if desired. All internal audits shall take place during the harvest season. The most recent Fair Trade Standard can be obtained by contacting Fair Trade USA and the storing the file on this page. Non-compliances will be reported in Appendix L CAR Report. Record non-compainces, corrective actions, person responsible and when it was closed.
Using the most current version of the PrimusGFS standard, the Compliance Specialist or Administrative Director will visit all ranches and facilities operated by JAS to conduct an internal audit. Internal audits will be conducted quarterly for the ranches and twice a year for the packinghouse when it is in production. Non-compliances will be reported in Appendix L Car Report.
Before the start of the season, Administrative Director, Compliance Specialist, or President shall conduct a risk assessment for all ranches that will be in production. The results will be uploaded to the cloud and a hard copy will be kept in the office.
Appendix J Internal Audit Worksheet shall be conducted quarterly to ensure all documents are updated and filled in the appropriate binder. This worksheet will be completed by the Compliance Specialist. The results will be uploaded to the Internal and External Audit Reports page.
A JAS Family Farms Self-Assessment Form will be filled out for every ranch, facility, and office operated by JAS Family Farms. Compliance Specialist shall conduct the self assessment yearly and will file them in the office. If there are any corrective actions proposed, the Compliance Specialist shall include the proposed timeline the risk will be remedied.
External Audits Policy
JAS Family Farms Organic is audited yearly against the most current PrimusGFS standard and Fair Trade Agriculture Produce Standard. The Compliance Specialist or Administrative Director will file the hard copy preliminary report of each facility/ ranch in their corresponding binders. Any non-compliance will be recorded in Appendix L CAR Report. Final Audit Reports will be filled in the binders and a digital copy will be added under Internal and External Audit Reports.
Audit Retention
All audits will be retained at least electronically on this site under Internal and External Audit Results. If hard copy, it will be scanned in and uploaded to this tab. File name should be save as "Date","Fair Trade Audit,""Location" and then filed in the appropriate folder.
Prior to adding a new farm or facility to the Fair Trade Program, a member of the Fair Trade Management Team shall perform both an internal audit against the Fair Trade Agriculture Produce Standard and a risk assessment to identify and address all issues prior to adding the facility to the certification. The new location shall pass the internal audit.
Removing an Existing Farm or Facility
The Certification Body shall be notified upon any addition or removal of a farm or facility.
Representatives from the Fair Trade Committee/Social Engagement Team are invited to observe the closing meeting of Fair Trade audits. As an additional best practice, audit and inspection results are shared with all participating farmers and workers in a manner that respects privacy of individuals and treats sensitive information appropriately. This discussion can be noted on the meetings' agenda or minutes section.
Any corrective actions found during the internal audit will be documented on Appendix L. Corrective Action Log. Corrective actions will be maintained on file electronically for each ranch and packing facility by "Date","Fair Trade CAR," "Location" and then filed in the appropriate folder under Internal and External Audit Results tab of this site. It is the responsibility of the General Manager to ensure that all corrective actions have been completed and signed off.
Immediate threats should be corrected no later than 90 days after the finding, while minor threats should be corrected within 12 months time.
If a threat is found that jeopardizes the Fair Trade Certification, then that product shall not be distributed to Fair Trade channels.
A risk assessment helps the Certificate Holder focus resources on the parts of the APS where they are most likely to have a non-compliance. The results should be used to identify the specific criteria that will be checked during the internal inspection.
The Compliance Specialist or Administrative Director will perform a risk assessment yearly. It will be filed in hardcopy or electronically in the Fair Trade information.
The Risk Management plan of action shall be documented on the Risk Assessment. When areas of risk are identified, an action plan shall be developed to mitigate the risk. The General Manager must ensure the risk management plan comes to fruition.
Occupational Health and Safety Committee
The Occupational Health and Safety Committee serves to share information among workers and those responsible for health and safety to maintain continuous improvement in health and safety.
Tony Serrano, President
He is in charge of sharing health and safety information to the field and packinghouse managers. He will work with the compliance specialist and the manager(s) to remedy any and all heath and safety hazards in a timely fashion.
Abigail Melchor, Compliance Specialist
She is in charge of conducting internal audits and risk assessments. If there are any health and safety non conformance or threats, she will inform Tony Serrano in a timely fashion. If Tony Serrano is not available to share information to the managers, she will be in charge of sharing information to them.
Francisco Serrano, Field Manager
He will receive health and safety information from the President or the Compliance Specialist. He will convey the information to the field workers. Employees at the ranches can bring up health and safety concerns to the field manager.
Rodolfo Rocha Fernandez, Packinghouse Manager
He will receive health and safety information from the President or the Compliance Specialist. He will convey the information to the packinghouse employees. Employees at the packinghouse can bring up health and safety concerns to the packinghouse manager.
Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species
JAS Family Farms Organics ranches are located in San Benito County, which is home to numerous endangered and threatened species. The list of species that call San Benito County home can be located in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Environmental Conservation Online System. The location in where they can be found is on the online system. The region descriptions can be found in https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-by-region-totals. While none have been observed on the ranches, it is policy to not kill or endanger any of the species on the list. For protected areas: https://www.mapcollaborator.org/cpad/?base=map&y=36.84247&x=-121.43008&z=13&layers=notes%2Cpolygons%2Cuploads&opacs=100%2C25%2C90