<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none;" alt="" src="https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=6205948&amp;fmt=gif">
Skip to content

Customers Terms & Trader Suspension and Termination Procedure
Last updated on August 2026

Based on Annex D of Rulebook

Klimato Customer Terms — ESFC EmpCo Certification Scheme Provisions

(Implementing Rulebook ESFC-AX-D v0.1, 15.07.2026, §D.2.1–D.2.9. For incorporation into Klimato's General Terms of Service).

Version: (customer_terms_V1)

Definitions. "Scheme" means the ESFC EmpCo Certification Scheme. "Rulebook" means the ESFC EmpCo Certification Scheme Rulebook as amended from time to time. "ESFC" means the European Sustainable Food Coalition, as scheme owner. "Conformity Assessment Body" or "CAB" means the body responsible for certification and surveillance audits under the Scheme. "Customer" means the trader entering these terms. "Klimato" means Klimato AB and its affiliates.

Clause 1 — Scope of Binding (Rulebook §D.2.1). The Customer acknowledges that the environmental ratings, scores, and labels generated using Klimato's services are issued under the Scheme, a third-party certification scheme designed to support compliance with Directive (EU) 2024/825 (Empowering Consumers Directive). The use of such ratings, scores, and labels in the Customer's products, menus, marketing materials, or other consumer-facing communications is subject to the rules of the Scheme. For the purposes of any consumer-facing claim made using Klimato's output, the Customer is the trader under the Scheme.

Clause 2 — Compliance with Claim Rules (Rulebook §D.2.2). The Customer shall comply with the Scheme's rules concerning: permitted and prohibited claim wording; visual presentation requirements, including the requirement that visual presentation not contradict the underlying metric; validity periods and re-assessment triggers; the prohibition on selective display of only favorable ratings; and the withdrawal of expired or invalidated assessments. The Customer shall not make claims that exceed the assurance level of the underlying assessment. For the avoidance of doubt, on-pack claims based on a Collective Assurance (menu-label) assessment are not permitted.

Clause 3 — Duty to Furnish Information (Rulebook §D.2.3a). The Customer shall respond to Klimato's reasonable requests for information substantiating the Customer's claims within ten (10) business days of the request, provided that where the request originates from an inquiry by a consumer-protection or market-surveillance authority, a court, or a substantiated third-party challenge to a claim, the Customer shall respond without undue delay and in any event within five (5) business days, or sooner where the relevant authority's own deadline so requires. Where the Customer's designated contact is unavailable, the applicable deadline shall run from the contact's return to availability. The Customer shall notify Klimato promptly of any such inquiry received directly. Requests under this Clause shall be limited to what is reasonably necessary to substantiate the claim in question; commercially sensitive information furnished hereunder shall be treated in confidence and shall not be published in the Scheme's public verification record.

Clause 4 — Audit and Verification Consent (Rulebook §D.2.3). The Customer consents to: (a) sample-based verification of its claims by the Conformity Assessment Body, including reasonable requests for input data, supporting documentation, or remote access to recipe and product records; (b) site visits or remote audits, where the Conformity Assessment Body's risk-based assessment indicates that verification at the Customer's premises is necessary, upon no less than ten (10) business days' notice for non-urgent visits; and (c) investigation by Klimato or by ESFC upon receipt of a complaint concerning the Customer's use of Scheme claims. Klimato shall act as the Customer's primary point of contact for sampling and complaint-related communications and shall forward Conformity Assessment Body requests to the Customer.

Clause 5 — Trader Register and Status Disclosure (Rulebook §D.2.4). Klimato shall maintain a complete internal register of customers bound under these terms, comprising trader name, status (active, suspended, or terminated), and joining and status-change dates, covering all customers that have expressed interest in EmpCo compliance and are either in the certification process or certified. The register shall be kept current within twenty-four (24) hours of any status change. The register shall be disclosed in full, in confidence, to the Conformity Assessment Body, ESFC, and competent authorities upon request. Klimato shall publish aggregate register statistics (counts of active, suspended, and terminated traders) at Science-Based Carbon Data & Methodology | Klimato ; individual listing on the public verification portal shall be available on an opt-in basis only. Status confirmation for a named Customer shall be available on request via Contact Klimato | Sustainability Solutions & Support .

Clause 6 — Complaint Cooperation (Rulebook §D.2.5). The Customer shall cooperate with Klimato and, where a matter is escalated, with ESFC and the Conformity Assessment Body, in the investigation and resolution of complaints concerning the Customer's use of Scheme claims, including by: (a) providing reasonable information about the products, recipes, or communications subject to the complaint within the timelines specified in Klimato's complaint handling procedure; (b) implementing corrective actions as required by the resolution, including claim-wording changes, label removal, or communication retraction; and (c) notifying Klimato of any consumer-protection authority inquiry received in connection with Scheme claims. General inquiries and complaint cooperation with Klimato shall be directed to Contact Klimato | Sustainability Solutions & Support . Complaints concerning a certified claim itself are administered by ESFC and shall be submitted via the channel published in the EmpCo section of the digital access point linked from the certified label (see Science-Based Carbon Data & Methodology | Klimato ), in accordance with Rulebook §11.4.

Clause 7 — Termination and Suspension Authority (Rulebook §D.2.6). Klimato's authority to suspend or terminate the Customer's access to Scheme-relevant services, including rating issuance, label use, and register status, is set out in Klimato's Trader Suspension and Termination Procedure, incorporated herein by reference. Suspension or termination shall trigger the corresponding status update in the trader register under Clause 5 and, where the Customer has a public register entry, on the public verification portal. The Customer is entitled to appeal a suspension or termination decision via the appeals procedure set out in Rulebook §11.7.

Clause 8 — Downstream Use of Certified Methodology (Rulebook §D.2.7). Klimato's certification under the Scheme covers use of the certified methodology within the Scheme only. A Customer seeking to use Klimato's certified methodology as the basis for certification under a different scheme shall obtain Klimato's prior written consent, which Klimato is under no obligation to grant. Where such consent is given, Klimato bears no responsibility for the conduct or findings of any compliance assessment carried out outside the Scheme.

Clause 9 — Continuing Scheme Compliance (Rulebook §D.2.8). Klimato may from time to time update these terms to reflect updates to the Scheme, including new claim-wording rules, updated assurance-level definitions, or new register or listing requirements, and to reflect material changes to the Trader Suspension and Termination Procedure incorporated under Clause 7 that affect Customer rights. Updates shall be notified to the Customer with an acceptance period of not less than sixty (60) calendar days for material changes, after which continued use of Klimato's services constitutes acceptance under applicable law. A Customer that does not wish to accept an updated version of these terms may terminate the service contract during the acceptance period without penalty. Upon such termination, the Customer's listing in the trader register shall be updated to "terminated," the Customer shall cease to be bound by the Scheme, and existing on-pack labels and other consumer-facing claims shall be withdrawn in accordance with Rulebook §12.

Clause 10 — Disclaimer of Conformity Assessment Body Direct Relationship (Rulebook §D.2.9). These terms do not create a contractual relationship between the Customer and the Conformity Assessment Body. The Customer's compliance with the Scheme is enforced through the Customer's contractual relationship with Klimato under these terms and through Klimato's own certification agreement with the Conformity Assessment Body. The Customer does not have a separate certification agreement with the Conformity Assessment Body unless the Customer enters Individual Assurance and executes an individual licence agreement.

Klimato Trader Suspension and Termination Procedure

(Implementing Rulebook §D.2.6, incorporated by reference into Clause 7 of the Klimato Customer Terms)

  1. Purpose. This Procedure sets out Klimato's authority and process for suspending or terminating a Customer's access to Scheme-relevant services under the Klimato Customer Terms, in implementation of Rulebook §D.2.6.

  2. Mandatory Suspension. Klimato shall suspend a Customer's access to rating issuance, label use, and active register status where:

    1. the Conformity Assessment Body issues a finding of non-conformity directly attributable to the Customer's claim use, and the Customer does not implement corrective action within the timeline set by the Conformity Assessment Body; or

    2. the Customer makes claims outside the scope of an active assessment, whether expired, suspended, or never issued. Mandatory suspensions shall be executed within five (5) business days of the triggering event being confirmed. Klimato shall execute 100% of triggered mandatory suspensions within this timeline, in accordance with Rulebook §D.4.

  3. Discretionary Suspension or Termination. Klimato may suspend or terminate a Customer's access where:

    1. the Customer materially breaches Rulebook §9 (Audit and Verification), §10 (Claim and Label Use), or §11 (Non-Compliance, Complaints, and Suspension);
    2. a complaint concerning the Customer's use of Scheme claims is not resolved within the timelines set out in Rulebook §11, and the Customer has not implemented agreed corrective action; or
    3. the Customer repeatedly fails to cooperate with sampling, complaint, or audit requests despite reasonable notice.

  4. Automatic Termination Following Repeated Suspension. Where a Customer has been suspended, under Section 2 or Section 3, four (4) times within a rolling twenty-four (24) month period, Klimato terminates the Customer's access automatically upon the fourth suspension. Automatic termination under this Section does not require a separate discretionary termination decision under Section 3, and applies regardless of whether the underlying suspensions were mandatory (Section 2) or discretionary (Section 3).

  5. Notice. Klimato shall notify the Customer in writing of a suspension or termination, stating the grounds and, for discretionary suspensions, any conditions for reinstatement.

  6. Register and Portal Update. The Customer's status in Klimato's trader register (Clause 5 of the Klimato Customer Terms) shall be updated within twenty-four (24) hours of the suspension or termination taking effect. Where the Customer holds a public register entry on an opt-in basis, that entry shall be updated on the same timeline.

  7. Reinstatement. A suspended Customer shall be reinstated upon: (a) confirmation that the corrective action required under the relevant finding or complaint resolution has been implemented; and (b) sign-off from the Conformity Assessment Body confirming that the underlying non-conformity has been resolved. Reinstatement shall not be granted on the basis of corrective action alone without Conformity Assessment Body confirmation.

  8. Appeals. The Customer may appeal a suspension or termination decision under this Procedure via the appeals procedure set out in Rulebook §11.7.