Five stages between an application and a certificate anyone can verify — a remote desk review of documents, formulations and supplier declarations. Every decision on the file is a person's.
Tell us what you make and a certification reviewer scopes your quote with you. · Typical desk review: 5–10 business days from complete documentation.
The journey
From application to a certificate anyone can check
The whole path on one spine — what happens at each stage, what it asks of you, and what you end up holding. Certification is never automatic: a person decides, and a review that finds a shortfall says so in writing.
01
Apply
Step 1
Tell us your products and the marks you want. No documents at this stage — your quote comes back scoped to exactly what you make, and nothing is payable until you approve it in writing.
Applicant file01 · received — application opened
02
Submit documents
At your pace
Once you approve the quote, you send the file: formulations, supplier declarations, certificates of analysis where they apply, facility and process documents, packaging artwork.
Applicant file01 · received — application opened02 · documents in — formulations and declarations filed
03
Desk review
From complete documentation
A named reviewer reads every document against the requirements for each mark. Gaps pause the clock, they do not end the review — you get the name of the missing document, not a rejection.
Applicant file01 · received — application opened02 · documents in — formulations and declarations filed03 · in review — a named reviewer is on the file
04
Approval
Certificate on issue
A person makes the certification decision. A pass issues your certificate and the mark artwork kit; a shortfall is written up with exactly what is missing, and your file stays open.
Applicant file01 · received — application opened02 · documents in — formulations and declarations filed03 · in review — a named reviewer is on the file04 · approved — certificate issued
05
Verify anytime
Renewed annually
Your certificate carries its own number and a QR code. Anyone — your buyer, their compliance desk, a consumer — can check it on the V-Cert verification portal, with no account and without asking you first.
This one has not been issued to anyone. It is drawn from the same component that draws a real certificate, so it shows exactly the fields yours would carry: the certificate number, the holder, the mark, the standard it was reviewed against and the validity dates. The chip records the decision at issue — what a certificate is today is what a check of its number returns.
V-Cert · Certificate of conformity
US-V-0926-0001
Example Foods Ltd.
12 SKUs — plant-based snack range, one manufacturing site.
Standard
V-Cert Vegan Standard · v1.0
Mark
Vegan
Valid from
Valid until
CertifiedScan to open the verification portal
On an issued certificate the QR opens that certificate’s own record on the V-Cert verification portal. On this example it opens the portal’s entry form, where any certificate number can be typed in by hand.
Straight answers
What a desk review is — and isn't
Documents, formulations, supplier declarations — no on-site audit unless stated in your quote. That scope is the honest reason this takes days. Here is the file a reviewer reads, and exactly where the review's edges are.
What you send
Product formulation and full ingredient list, for every product in scope
Supplier declarations at the risk points for each claim
Certificates of analysis where a claim needs them — gluten-free scopes are tested against the applicable threshold: Below 20 ppm gluten — the threshold applied to your products is recorded on your certificate
Facility and process documents — how the product is made, and what else runs on the same line
Packaging artwork, so every label claim is checked against the wording the mark allows
Any third-party certificates you already hold
What it deliberately isn’t
No on-site audit unless your quote states one
We don't run lab tests ourselves — we review the test reports you provide
No certificate without evidence — gaps pause the clock, they are never waved through
No equivalence to any other program's mark — if your buyer requires a specific program, we say so at the quote stage
Do you visit our facility?
No. The review is a desk review of documents, formulations and supplier declarations — there is no on-site audit unless your quote explicitly states one. If your buyer requires an on-site program, we tell you at the quote stage.
What documents do we need to prepare?
Six families of document: product formulations and full ingredient lists, supplier declarations, certificates of analysis where a claim needs them, facility and process documents, packaging artwork, and any third-party certificates you already hold. The checklist above lists them in full, and the tool further down this page works through them mark by mark for your exact scope.
Is any part of the certification decision automatic?
No. Every review and every decision is made by the named human reviewer on your file, against the requirements for each mark. Your quote is scoped to the products you list; the certification decision behind the certificate is never produced by software.
What happens if our documentation is incomplete?
The review pauses and you get a written list of exactly what's missing — not a rejection, and not a new fee. The review window counts from complete documentation, so the clock resumes when the file is whole.
What if the review finds we don't meet the standard?
You receive a written decision naming the specific criteria and the evidence gap, and you can fix and resubmit — your file stays open. Certification is never automatic, and a review that finds a shortfall says so. If your scope was never a realistic fit for the mark, that conversation happens at the quote stage — not after a failed review.
Are you ISO accredited?
V-Cert is an independent certification body and is not ISO/IEC 17065 accredited. What each mark requires and the rules for granting, suspending and withdrawing certificates are published, and every certificate is verifiable by QR code.
The money story lives on one page: how quotes work. Suspension and withdrawal rules: governance. Working to a ship date? Date the whole plan for your products — timeline estimator.
Tick what you already have. It returns the named gaps for the marks you pick, written as a note you can forward to whoever holds the documents.
File readiness
0%0 of 8 documents readyFile completeness — not certifiability.
Named gaps
Product list — every SKU you want certified, by name
Full ingredient list per product, with each ingredient's supplier named
Formulation breakdown per product (percentages or parts)
A short production-flow description for each manufacturing site
Current label artwork for each product
A named contact at each ingredient supplier who can sign declarations
Supplier declarations for animal-origin risk ingredients
Your animal-testing policy statement, finished product and ingredients
A gap pauses the review clock — it is never a rejection.
The gap list, written as an email
Subject: Certification file — 0 of 8 documents ready
Team,
I scored our certification file against the V-Cert desk-review checklist (Vegan).
We are at 0% — 0 of 8 items ready.
Still needed:
- Product list — every SKU you want certified, by name
- Full ingredient list per product, with each ingredient's supplier named
- Formulation breakdown per product (percentages or parts)
- A short production-flow description for each manufacturing site
- Current label artwork for each product
- A named contact at each ingredient supplier who can sign declarations
- Supplier declarations for animal-origin risk ingredients
- Your animal-testing policy statement, finished product and ingredients
A gap pauses the review clock; it is never a rejection. Once these are in one folder, the review runs without pauses.
Checklist: https://v-cert.org/tools/readiness/
Copy it to whoever owns the missing documents.
None of these documents are needed to apply — the checklist comes after the quote.Get my quote
A checklist can tell you whether a file is complete. Whether the products qualify is a reviewer’s decision, made against the requirements for each mark — never a tool’s.
Next step
You've seen the process — start it
No documents yet, no payment details. And if a desk review isn't the right fit for your scope, we say so at the quote stage — before you pay anything.
