text: NAPCO was the first company which was able to progress to registration of final 14001 certification. This was primarily due to the increased costs of surveillance audits and an absence of market incentives to promote this certificate as the gold standard within the Australian beef industry. A ‘cluster approach’ was utilised by the company when working towards certification; this meant that the entire company qualified for certification, rather than each individual worker. The effect of the ‘cluster approach’ was to reduce the substantive cost involved in certification and the subsequent surveillance audits that would have to be implemented; this meant that cost was able to be reduced by approximately 50%. This approach also provided a means by which workload and ideas between producers could be collectively distributed.