The European Union's upcoming Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) represents a significant shift towards sustainable and transparent supply chains. It aims to combat deforestation and ensure that products imported into the EU are sourced responsibly. As businesses gear up for compliance, integrating with advanced traceability solutions can streamline operations and enhance transparency throughout the supply chain, whilst also ensuring compliancy ✅
Let's recap: What's the EUDR ?
So how do I ensure compliancy ahead of the December 2024 deadline?
In order to know what action needs to be taken to prove compliance, it's important to understand what your current supply chain looks like, from start to end. Who are the players, what are the current practices... By having this information at hand, the journey to compliance becomes easier to approach.
An important first step to compliance starts with understanding what is happening at source: what are the practices on ground and are there potential risks of deforestation linked to the product /commodity you aim to import into the EU. Moreover, when a transaction takes place, for example between a producer and cooperative, is this information documented in a trusted way or are we missing a system that enables this? These are all aspects that consider, not only from the perspective of the EUDR, but from the perspective of future regulations to follow, such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which aims to promote sustainability, protect human rights, and improve corporate accountability.
Another factor to think about is whether the product/commodity is traceable at batch/ lot level, whereby each individual batch is assigned a unique identifier and thus, can be linked to the exact geolocation of where it was produced. OR whether all plots of land used to produce the raw goods are grouped together. This second scenario means the operator will be declaring in excess, whereby, several plots are combined together vs declaring one geolocation per commodity/ product produced. We recently published an article on the risks associated with declaring in excess but in short, this means the operator takes full responsibility for the compliance of all the plots of land with provided geolocation and so, even if only some of the plots are used for production, the operator is still accountable for the compliance of every declared plot. And if any one of these plots is found non-compliant, this will mean ALL plots are non-compliant.
Step 2: Partner with a Traceability Solution Provider for Seamless Compliance
farmer connect offers a comprehensive traceability solution designed to meet the compliance requirements of the EUDR. And what's more, the benefits of our solution extend beyond compliance. This solution includes satellite-based deforestation assessments through our preferred partner Trade in Space, and goes beyond deforestation to also include various other ESG data points, addressing additional regulations such as the German Supply Chain Act.
Additionally, once the regulation steps into force, our clients will be able to submit their EUDR Due Diligence Statements to the EU's reporting system Traces via an API, directly from our platform.
Once your supply chain is mapped, you will get access to a dashboard where your supply chain data can be visually presented. Within this dashboard you will be able to explore risk areas and generate detailed reports for audit purposes. In the future this will also include direct submissions of the EUDR required Due Diligence Statement into the EU DD reporting tool, Traces. We are currently in the process of building this API integration. This will allow our clients to submit the Due Diligence Statement directly from their farmer connect dashboard, searchable by DDS#, Purchase Order Number or other reference such as Bill of Lading or ERP transaction number.
By following these steps, businesses can proactively prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation while leveraging traceability solutions to enhance transparency, traceability, and sustainability across their supply chains. This approach not only ensures compliance with current and future regulatory requirements but also fosters consumer trust and supports responsible sourcing practices in the EU & Globally.