FAQs - Process
FAQ – admin part
How to participate in the CEC Scheme?
You can log in to the website for the CEC Registration process:
https://cecocert.com/bin/view/StartPage/
Once you have reviewed the available information, you can register for CEC here:
https://cecocert.com/bin/view/StartPage/X1000%20-%20Contact%20Registration%20Form/
And a detail description of the process here:
Once you have registered and signed the NDA, to which you will gain access during the registration process, we will send you further information and the necessary forms to start the CEC process for your company.
How to establish the CEC NDA?
You can log in to the website below for the CEC NDA process:
https://cecocert.com/bin/view/StartPage/X1200%20-%20CEC%20NDA%20Download/WebHome
How to start the CEC Certification process?
You find a process overview in the Intro presentation contained in the CEC Document Package sent to you, on slide 19 “Card Eco Certification Scheme ("CEC") – Certification Process Flow”.
Please have a look and let me know what is still unclear after reviewing the slides.
Or:
- The process around the CEC LCA Support is described in the cecLOF form
- The process around the CEC Assessment is described in the cecAOF form
Both services are provided solely on a prepay basis.
You may order the CEC assessment at the same time as the LCA Support, or after you have received the CEC indicators as a result of the LCA support service. Ordering at the same time speeds things up, ordering sequentially reduces the risk that at the end of the LCA Support, you find out that your claim does not fulfil the criteria for certification, and you have already ordered and paid for the assessment.
Send cecAOF and cecAP:
1. You prepare the cecAOF form to initiate the CEC assessment process.
2. You prepare the cecAP in preparation of the assessment itself. The indicators to be reported in the claim details worksheet are in the cecLCR. With respect to the AP Metrics focus on the data you provided in the cecLQF.
Send cost description for one site, multiple products:
-Does this help:
https://cecocert.com/bin/view/StartPage/Guidance/Bundle%20multiple%20claims/#?
To assess one product manufactured in one site, the CEC Assessment is 3000 USD. To assess an additional product at the same time is 1000 USD more. If you have more than 1 site (I think you only have the one in Zhuhai), would also add 1000 USD.
You use the cecAOF form contained in the CEC Documentation package to order the assessment.
To determine the CEC KPIs, we offer an optional calculation service. That is 2000 USD for the first product and site combination, and another 1000 USD for each additional product or additional site. To benefit from the discount, we have to receive all data at the same time. You use the cecLOF form to order this CEC LCA Support service.
For the Assessment: 1000 Base + 2 Products + 1 Site = 4000 USD.
For the LCA Support: 1 Site and Product New = 2000, plus 1 Site and Product renewal =1000, totals to 3000.
So, in total, should sum up to 7000.
If you use the cecLOF and the cecAOF, and enter the numbers, the embedded spreadsheets should calculate the above numbers.
For the future, if you create only 1 cecAOF, and enter in that cecAOF that you have 2 products and 1 site, then the cecAOF will calculate a lower price.
Half price for mini LCA support
Dear *,
You typically need both, an LCA Support Service to update the KPIs, and a CEC Re-Assessment.
If there are no changes to the material supply and the card construction, we offer a half-price LCA Support Service to just update based on new energy consumption values and new yield numbers. If there are changes to the card construction, or you have changed supplier, then you need the full LCA.
So, you need to complete the cecLOF and the cecAOF forms included in the attached latest version of the document package.
Guidance for the process you find here: https://cecocert.com/bin/view/StartPage/X0200%20-%20Overview%20of%20the%20CEC%20Certification%20Process/
You will need a revised LCA to update your KPIs, taking into account updated energy consumption and yield, and the Assessment. If the card construction and supply chain is unchanged, we offer a reduced price LCA support service for that.
Please keep in mind that CEC services are only provided on a pre-paid basis and that hence it is best to order well ahead, to allow your finance department to settle the invoices, as delayed payment will result in delayed re-certification.
How to feedback to renew request?
Attached is the latest document package.
A re-assessment is required, pretty much the same process as the initial certification.
You need to complete the cecAOF form to initiate the re-assessment process, also pretty much the same as the initial certification.
You have the option to once extend your certificate for 6 months using the cecXOF form. After that though a re-assessment has to take place if you want the certificates to remain valid.
Please send CEC-related messages to contact@cecocert.com in future.
Send the process when one extension (6 months) is expired:
The intended process was as follows:
- AustriaCard provides the necessary information in the cecLQF (latest version attached)
- TruCert calculates the CEC KPIs based on the information provided in the cecLQF
- AustriaCard prepares the cecAP (the equivalent of the cqmAP, if you have been involved with CQM)
- We conduct the assessment.
So, the next step is that you complete the cecLQF. As a minimum I need the dimensions and the weight for each sheet, the supplier and type number for each sheet, the reject rate after print, and after punch and sort, plus the total electricity consumption of the factory and a total number of cards produced. If you heat using oil or natural gas, please enter that information too. Keep the records. If you have problems getting the factory to provide sheet dimensions and weight, maybe the delivery notes have that information?
As you already had one extension, we need to follow the above process. Anyhow, if you can get that information, it can all be done relatively quickly. If there are gaps outside of the above, we can cover those with corrective actions but that should not delay your re-certification.
Please let me know how you would like to progress and if I can help, even though help without the above-named minimum data will be difficult.
Reassessment request:
I found the below email in the uwe@trucert.co mailbox, which normally not monitored. Please remove the address from your address book and Outlook history. As is written in the instructions in the …OF forms and on the cecocert.com website, please always use contact@cecocert.com to contact us regarding anything related to CEC.
Please follow the instructions here: https://cecocert.com/bin/view/StartPage/X0200%20-%20Overview%20of%20the%20CEC%20Certification%20Process/
Your claim had been extended previously for 6 month. Hence, the next step is a renewal of the claim, consisting of re-determining the KPIs and a full CEC assessment. You will need to raise a cecLOF (to order the LCA support to determine the KPIs) and a cecAOF (to order the re-assessment of the claim).
The cecXOF form is only applicable if the previous extension was based on an assessment, and the 12 month extension is only applicable if the previous assessment resulted in 100% compliance.
Awaiting the cecLOF and cecAOF form from you, to be sent to contact@cecocert.com.
CEC is registered with CSI
Sustainable card products need to be covered by a CSI letter. You also must have completed CQM conformity testing (can be internal testing, no external lab testing is required if you can do all tests in-house). But you should do that anyway to comply with CQM 😉. Same for CSI (CQM requirement #3100#).
Changes management for CEC
There is a CEC requirement about change control and change notification. You would need to notify the change, and to assess the impact of the change. If another assessment is required, depends on the impact of the change. Generally, Mastercard does want to avoid green-washing, so if your change makes the product worse, then it likely requires a re-assessment and otherwise the certificate would be withdrawn. If you change makes the product better, then it can usually be addressed during the next re-assessment.
No CEC certificate impact
My understanding is that this will be tied into the artwork approval process and beginning 2028 such cards will not receive artwork approval anymore. Actually, CEC certification is already tied into the artwork approval process to verify if card artworks showing the environmental MC logo are permitted, as these may only be issued if the card is CEC certified. So it would be a relatively simple change from a process perspective.
Sustainable material selection
CEC has no principal restriction regarding the card material. As long as the environmental footprint determined under the CEC rules is better than a standard PVC card, and the card is technically feasible, we are happy to certify. We are definitely not limited to rPVC, it is just what most of the card manufacturer chose, probably as a first step, as it is relatively easy easy to switch from virgin PVC to rPVC.
What is the estimated time from the registration phase to get certified?
The main time factor is usually the collection of the data needed to conduct the metrics calculation. Therefore it is difficult to forecast the overall timeframe. We need about 4 weeks in total, if you order the LCA support and the Assessment, plus any time you take to collect the data. I have seen the latter being done in as little as 4 weeks and in more than a year.
The answer should probably be something like at least two weeks before you want the assessment to take place.