TrusTrace, which provides a digital platform for product traceability and supply chain transparency, announced today the launch of a new Deforestation Compliance Solution aimed at supporting companies on complying with the requirement to provide deforestation-free shipments ahead of the implementation of The Regulation on Deforestation Free Products (EUDR).

The EUDR was initially introduced by the EU Commission in November, 2021, with proposals aimed at effectively banning deforestation-linked projects on the EU market. The measure will also establish strong compliance requirements for companies providing or utilizing key commodities and products such as palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy, in addition to some of their derived products, including leather, chocolate, tires, or furniture.

Under the new rules, companies that want to place relevant products on the EU market, or export them, will face mandatory due diligence rules, including a requirement to trace the products back to the land where they were produced, to prove that the products were produced on land that was not subject to deforestation after 2020, and are compliant with all relevant applicable laws in force in the country of production.

The regulation was initially set to go into effect at the end of 2024, although the European Commission has proposed delaying its implementation by a year to give companies more time to prepare for compliance with the new rules.

According to TrusTrace, the new solution aims to provide companies with the relevant data in order to ensure compliance with the new regulation.

TrusTrace said that it worked with leading brands on the Deforestation Compliance Solution, in order to ensure that it meets industry needs, providing traceability of compliance to the initial stages of the supply chain. Describing the solution, the company said that the automated platform enables companies to send hundreds of data collection requests on materials and sourcing with a single click, perform geospatial deforestation analysis in real-time (in collaboration with geospatial analysis firm OpenAtlas), and generate pre-formatted due diligence statements for instant submission.

The solution also offers companies the ability to collect EUDR-required traceability data, including GPS coordinates for each EU-bound shipment, along with searching for certificates issued by the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies that materials used in a product sourced from forests were produced sustainably. Brands will also be able to automatically benchmark country-level risks, conduct detailed risk assessments, and instantly verify compliance with geospatial analysis satellite images at shipment level for precise evaluation, TrusTrace said.

TrusTrace CEO and co-founder Shameek Ghosh said:

“For businesses, navigating the complexities of EUDR is daunting; they are under immense pressure to produce granular traceability data, which makes compliance practices challenging since they need to integrate new processes into existing frameworks. This is where our new Deforestation Compliance Solution comes into play. It is designed to seamlessly integrate into the existing processes, ensuring that EU-bound products in the brand’s supply chain are compliant with EUDR requirements.”