FAQ

• The product is developed in democracies.
• The product is assembled in democracies.
• 90% or more of the value of the Bill of Materials (BOM) comes from democratic countries.
• The manufacturer has self-certified the above using a standard software.
• A certifying non-profit organization supervises and audits products worldwide to make sure standards are upheld.

No Made-in-D certifies products, not countries.  The countries that qualify are derived from a composite index explained here.

Once a year the list is updated based on the progression of indices and how countries progressed.  The index is composed of other well-known and respected indices of democracies.

That is true,  that it may not be the only criteria for ethical content of a product.  Democracies do in most cases allow for dialogue and to improve the situation in case of abuses.  Similar improvements are often met with indifference in dictatorial regimes.  We do intend to work with organizations to certify that slave labor is not used in the future using similar basis for certification. So we consider this a valid point to improve but for now we consider it the best option for validation of products and their provenance.

• The software would generate a result based on inputs and results of “D” or not “D” for democratically made via self-certification questionnaire.
• The unique identifier, along with a link to the unique product certification on the Made-in-D website is generated soon after.
• The producer can then add the symbol of “D” on their packaging and the link to the certificate on the product, as well as a corresponding QR code the consumer can scan.
• The consumer can use the above to verify the democratic content and make an educated selection of products!

A high-level report with overall results of the self-certification is sent to central registration, and a unique identifier is created.  This high-level report contains no IP and just gives information on the results and serves as a high-level summary of the results.   Any detailed information that may be considered IP is kept on the local server of the certifier and not exported.

The methodology used to calculate if a country qualifies as democratic or not is straightforward and transparent and explained clearly, for more information click here.

We provide all the information to replicate the calculation The objective of these indices we utilize is to provide standardized measures that can be applied to every country and we use a composite mix of them to try to further increase objectivity.  In very rare circumstances our Ethics Board may review the position of a country, an example might be if a democratic country is attacked militarily and must temporarily suspend certain democratic practices.

• It uses the principle of trust and verify, or the belief that most companies that will invest the resources needed for certification would do so on a good-faith basis.
• It allows the companies to maintain proprietary information, such as name of suppliers on a local network, limiting potential for information reaching competitors.
• Encourages acceptance by companies as it presents very low costs and risks while providing important potential sales and marketing benefits.
• Limits costs and need for assistance, thus only small regional teams would be setup for verifications and some IT support.
• It allows to limit costs in early phases of certification acceptance, as the Made-in-D brand grows, allowing to scale up quickly and with lower costs.

• If not suspicious, a certification code is generated with a unique ID which qualifies the product as Made-in-D.
• The producer can now use this Made-in-D label on his product.
• The consumer can access the unique ID to view the high-level self-certification report, like how one might view the contents of food products.

• Artificial intelligence is used to filter and determine if report is suspicious or not.
• Routines would identify suspect behavior (e.g. BOM value from only a couple subproducts).

• Follow up details on specific points are requested from the producing company and reviewed.
• In case of continued doubt on truth or good faith of reporting an on-site audit of the product production site is performed.
• Items such as the development, assembly and BOM would then be scrutinized in fine details with required evidence of declarations that were made.
• A final report would be submitted with a positive Made-in-D certification, or lack of.

As mentioned just because a product is made in a democratic country cannot assure it’s made ethically and without slave labor for example.  We are working on future more refined indices to address this.

The other limitation is the difficulty of having to classify all countries into democratic or not .  While in many cases the choice is clear there are many areas of gray in the middle that can easily appear unjustified.  Is a country with a democratic system but limited press really democratic? Difficulties such as this are common for many countries, but we need to draw the line somewhere.  We continuously review our criteria to try to determine the most objective and just treatments.  But we recognize that a Yes/No classification will always have its limitations.

• A “100% Democratic” label could be envisioned as an additional certification level where 100% of product applies as D-made.
• A Slave Labor Free & Democratic is an additional option we are working on.
• We are working on a RSE and CSR certificate which covers many aspects of the same using similar methods.