Building a common understanding of the Chain of Custody
On December 13th, Ana Laura Andreani, RTRS Technical Unit Manager, participated in the ISEAL-organized webinar titled “Chain of Custody – building a common understanding, enabling corporate action.” The event featured Jean-André Bonnardel, Global Supply Chain Lead at Quantis, and Ruth Nussbaum, Executive Director, Global and Europe at Proforest, and was moderated by Josh Taylor, Traceability Manager at ISEAL.
Together, they discussed the evolving role of Chain of Custody (CoC) in corporate sustainability and highlighted the importance of consistent definitions across CoC models to achieve ambitious sustainability goals and drive effective corporate action in light of mandatory due diligence requirements.
Ruth reflects on the concept of segregation: “What segregation allows is a focus on the physical infrastructure needed to separate certified from uncertified volumes. However, it does not address uncertified volumes—they remain unchanged. Moreover, buyers of segregated volumes often feel absolved of responsibility. Instead of shifting to full segregation, we should critically re-examine this approach and ask ourselves whether it serves more to satisfy consumer sentiment or to drive meaningful change on the ground. Perhaps controlled mixed mass balance could be a more effective alternative in achieving these goals.”
Ana Laura introduced the work carried out by the Association in relation to the EUDR guidelines and expressed: “RTRS, having recently revised its CoC standards, aims to offer a model that provides a flexible solution to meet market needs. It’s essentially the concept of controlled mass balance, where part of the volume is certified, but all of the volume—RTRS certified & non-certified—is aligned to the EUDR due diligence requirements.”
In addition, Ana Laura highlights the impact we aim to achieve in the field and explains how the RTRS Credit System serves as a valuable incentive for producers, not only for those products that are not exported to Europe, within the context of the EUDR. “The RTRS credit system functions as a mechanism of incentives for producers and promotes responsible soy production. In this regard, it provides a solution that complements the EUDR requirements, while maintaining a focus on sustainability beyond legal compliance”, explained Ana Laura.
Jean-André emphasizes the importance of aligning chain of custody systems with decarbonization goals by leveraging their capacity to track environmental attributes. “These systems achieve a balance between robust traceability and practical flexibility, ensuring credibility while minimizing the risk of reduced transparency,” he stated.
This webinar was part of the ISEAL public consultation of their revised “Chain of Custody models and definitions guidance”. We invite you to relive the webinar here: https://youtu.be/h4n-Ml635ow?si=7Y9bKr6c93a7qR1Z
RTRS, as the global and multisectoral roundtable for soy, is honored to be invited to participate in these relevant discussions and celebrates the opportunities for connection and dialogue among the various stakeholders that these webinars represent.
