The program recognises facilities that achieve a low-risk rating in the assessment by providing a 2-year expiry date for their verification, as opposed to 1 year for other facilities.
Facilities are required to commence renewal before their verification expires and have 6 months to complete the process.
FEM Verification gives Australian exporters reasonable assurance that they are working with responsible operators that are seeking to reduce the risk of serious social or environmental harm in their business.
In addition, it may help Australian exporters with:
Meeting their regulatory obligations.
Developing their ESG policy and processes.
Managing corporate reputation risks.
Building stakeholder trust and confidence.
The FEM Verification program is recognised by the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) as supporting evidence that exporters can use in their application for a licence to export tyres (to help demonstrate that an offshore retreading facility is "appropriate", as required by the waste tyre export rules).
FEM Verification does not, however, address 100% of DCCEEW’s criteria for what is “appropriate” (in particular, it does not look at quality assurance processes for retreaded tyres) and will not be sufficient evidence on its own.
