Terms of Use

1. General

 

This Web Site and services described herein are owned, operated, and provided by Green Tick® Certification Limited (GTC). The Web Site and services described herein are made available on the following terms and conditions. By using this Web Site and/or its services, you accept these terms and conditions, which will be interpreted according to relevant New Zealand law.

 

2. Licence

 

2.1 GTC grants you a non-exclusive licence to access and use the content in this Web Site for your personal purposes. You may not reproduce, copy, or distribute any part of the content for commercial purposes.

2.2 You acknowledge that the copyright, database, and all other intellectual property rights comprised in or relating to this Web Site, and in the information it contains, belongs to GTC. The Green Tick® and Green Tick TM trademarks are owned by GTC, and are used by permission.

 

3. Changes to the Web Site

Changes to this Web Site may be made at any time by GTC to upgrade or improve the services supplied.

 

4. Privacy policy

All information sent to us by you will be kept in confidence and not released to any other party without your written permission. All such personal or private information shall be managed in accordance with our Privacy policy, and is held on a secure server equipped with the latest security devices and firewalls. All other Privacy matters are managed as required under New Zealand law.

 

5. Cookies

Cookies are small packets of computer data stored by us on your computer which enable us to identify your computer when you access our Web Site. We may use cookies to provide you with a convenient means of access, without needing your password. This also occurs to protect the integrity of registered Green Tick® suppliers’ names and passwords. We will not disclose information obtained by the use of cookies to third parties.

 

6. Independent and Impartial

GTC has no affiliation whatsoever with any other information supplier or agency, and provides services for its customers on an independent and impartial basis; using details as provided by the customer, together with publicly available data sets with appropriate licensing or purchasing arrangements where required.

 

7. GreenTick® Certification

 

7.1 A Green Tick® Certification, and permission to use the Green Tick® trademark/s, will be issued to organisations that pass the Green Tick® Audit for Sustainability, Carbon Neutral, Carbon Negative, Carbon Credits, Natural, GE-FREE, Organic, Fair Trader or Green Bond criteria as described in the Green Tick® Standards page of this website; and which enter into a licensing agreement for the use of the Green Tick® trademark/s.  A Pre-Application Review service is available for clients who wish to check their sustainability status prior to application.

 

7.2 A Green Tick® Certification and permission to use the Green Tick® trademark/s are issued for a maximum period of 3 years, or as specified for a Green Bond certification.

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7.3 Organisations which use Green Tick® trademark/s must agree to be subject to "spot reviews (audit)" of their operations or activities during their license period. A "spot review(audit)" is a Green Tick® review (audit) of some part of their operations or activities at any time: at least 24 hours’ notice of a spot review (audit) will be given to licensees. There is no charge for spot reviews (audits).

 

7.4 In commissioning to a Green Tick® Audit, an applicant accepts that GTC offers no guarantee that the applicant will pass audit requirements and be issued with authority to use the Green Tick® trademark/s. The result of a Green Tick® audit is either a "pass" or a "fail".  GTC will accept no claim for liability, loss or damages in this respect at any time.

 

8. Audit and Licensing Agreement Payment Processes and Costs

 

8.1 The applicant shall make an application to GTC for certification in any one or more of the Green Tick® trademark/s, by completion of the Application Form (or form to like effect), and by payment of the required Application Fee for each corporate or site, product or service applied for.  Application fees are non-refundable.  GTC may also charge a due diligence fee prior to accepting an application for certification if it considers a due diligence process is necessary to understand the financial and reputational risks related to the applicant and any of its related business entities (refer section 8.8 below).  See Fees.

8.2 Following discussions with GTC, the applicant shall commission a Green Tick® Audit, and enter into an Audit agreement with GTC or one of GTC's registered auditors. The costs of such audit shall be borne by the applicant.   

8.3 GTC shall receive the Green Tick® Audit report from the registered auditor, and shall consider whether or not to grant certification on the basis of the evidence supplied in the report. The registered auditor shall supply a copy of the audit report to the applicant at the same time that it is supplied to GTC. GTC shall advise the applicant in writing of its decision within 10 business days of receiving the audit report.

8.5 Where permission to use a Green Tick® trademark is gained by an applicant, the applicant shall enter into a Licensing Agreement with GTC for the use of the trademark. The successful applicant shall agree to have their audit report published for free download on the Green Tick® website. No confidential commercial information shall be included in the audit report.

8.6 Where permission to use the Green Tick® trademark has not been gained by an applicant, recommendations for improvements shall be made to the applicant by the registered auditor. The applicant shall have the right to either make those improvements and re-apply.  

8.7 Generally, license fees shall comprise:
(a) Royalty payments being a stated percentage of net sales for the corporation, site, product, or service certified, payable to GTC on a quarterly basis in arrears; or,
(b) Such other arrangements as may be acceptable to GTC.
(All royalty agreements are negotiable.)

8.8 GTC retains the right to alter fee structures and amounts for any Green Tick® project as may be necessary from time to time to preserve certification and wise business practice standards.

 

9. Limitation of Liability

 

9.1 GTC excludes all warranties, express or implied, as part of this Web Site or the services described herein. This includes, but is not limited to, any implied warranty that the information it contains is accurate or up-to-date or is suitable for any particular purpose. GTC shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use of this Web Site or the services it describes.

9.2 GTC does not recommend or warrant any particular product or service from any other supplier or agency.  Green Tick® Certification is not a "fit-for-purpose" certification.

9.3 Whilst GTC makes every effort to produce products and services of the highest quality, their accuracy is limited by the source information supplied, and GTC accepts no liability or responsibility for any outcome of the use of any of its products or services.

9.4 GTC unreservedly retains the right to withdraw permission to use a Green Tick® trademark/s in any instance and at any time where:
i) An organisation’s operations or activities no longer meet the quality requirements of the Green Tick® trademark/s;
ii) A major non-conformity affecting the integrity of the Green Tick® trademark/s is discovered by a spot review (audit), or by some other means;
iii) Full payment of Green Tick® royalty fees does not occur by the due date;
iv) License agreements are not adhered to.

9.5 Where breaches of quality standards occur, the organisation involved shall be given at least one months’ notice in writing to correct any such breach, but may not be permitted to continue to use the Green Tick® trademark/s until the breach has been addressed to GTC’s satisfaction.

9.6 In respect of the matters outlined in this paragraph 9, no claim for liability or compensation in any form shall be accepted by GTC.

 

10. Disputes Resolution Procedure

 

10.1 Where any dispute arises from a refusal to certify corporations, sites, products or services, or from a refusal to allow the use of the certification mark, the applicant or licensee may elect to use the following dispute resolution procedure:
(a) The applicant organisation shall within 10 business days detail in writing to GTC it’s reasons for objecting to the refusal to certify and/or refusal to allow use of the certification mark;
(b) GTC shall within 10 business days of receiving the objection, reply in writing detailing it’s reasons for refusal;
(c) The parties shall then meet and attempt to resolve the issues amicably;
(d) If at this point an amicable agreement is not reached, then the parties shall jointly commission an independent scientific, engineering or legal review, as may be appropriate, of the reasons for objection (submitted by the applicant), and the reasons for refusal (submitted by GTC);
(e) The review will be carried out by independent persons or organisations acceptable to both parties;
(f) The costs of such review shall be paid by the applicant and or licensee;
(g) The determination of the reviewer shall be accepted as final by both parties.

 

11. Changes to Policy and Inquiries

Changes to our terms and conditions of use will be posted here. Any other inquiries please contact us.