How the platform works
This page describes the model Provien applies to product claims: the objects it maintains, the tests applied at verification, the stages a claim passes through and the records each stage produces.
The nine objects in the model
- Claim
- A specific statement made about a product, recorded with exact wording, scope of application, markets and the channels in which it appears. A claim is not a category label; 'Organic' on the front of pack and '82% organic content' in a retailer sheet are two claims with different substantiation requirements.
- Evidence
- A document or registry record that supports a claim. Each item is typed (certificate, lab report, supplier declaration, calculation, traceability record), attributed to its source, dated and versioned. Evidence is only meaningful in relation to a claim and its scope.
- Verification
- Confirmation that the evidence exists, is current, is issued by the party it purports to be, and covers the claim's scope. Where a public registry exists, the certificate reference is checked against it on a schedule. Where none exists, the record is held as a controlled manual document with a named reviewer.
- Approval
- A recorded decision that a claim may be published in defined channels, made by an authorised reviewer, with rationale and any wording constraints attached. Approval is scoped and time-bound; it lapses when its supporting evidence does.
- Publishing
- The controlled release of an approved claim to packaging artwork, digital channels, retailer data and transparency pages. Unapproved and lapsed claims cannot enter the publishing queue.
- Monitoring
- Scheduled re-checking of registry status, certificate validity, supplier declarations and formulation changes. Any change re-opens the affected claims and identifies exposed channels.
- Governance
- Named ownership for every claim, separation of duties between marketing and compliance, and defined review cycles. Governance is enforced by permissions, not by convention.
- Audit trail
- An immutable, timestamped record of every upload, link, check, review, approval, rejection and publication event, exportable as an evidence pack per product, claim or period.
- Transparency
- External publication of the verified position — which claims are supported, by what type of evidence, verified when — without exposing commercially sensitive documents.
Nine stages, each producing a record
A claim cannot advance without the record produced by the previous stage.
Six tests applied to every piece of evidence
A claim is only marked verified when all six tests pass. Failure of any test produces a specific, actionable finding rather than a generic warning.
Existence
Is there a document or registry record at all?
Attribution
Was it issued by the party named on it?
Currency
Is it valid today, and for how much longer?
Scope
Does it cover this product, market and claim wording?
Completeness
Are all contributing suppliers and components covered?
Consistency
Does it agree with the formulation and packaging on record?
How the score is derived
The confidence score is a weighted function of the verification tests, not a judgement of the product.