Scenario · EUDR
A cocoa importer discovers it can’t prove the origin of its products
The EUDR requires companies placing certain products on the European Union market to prove their origin and manage the deforestation risks associated with their supply chain. Many companies have worked with the same suppliers for years and have never needed to gather or organise information with the level of detail the regulation now demands.
Cocoa from several producers
A Spanish company imports cocoa from several producers in West Africa to distribute it in Europe. For years it has worked with the same suppliers and has never had any trouble placing its products on the market.
However, one of its main clients requests evidence of EUDR compliance and the company discovers that it cannot clearly prove the origin of all the cocoa it buys. The information is scattered across emails, documents sent by suppliers and internal records that had never been organised at this level of detail.
What looked like a well-established business relationship suddenly turns into a race against the clock to track down information, coordinate with suppliers and prove something they had never before needed to justify.
Origin must be proven
The company needs to prove the origin of its products and demonstrate that it meets the EUDR requirements.
If it fails to gather the necessary information, it may face commercial delays, difficulties continuing to supply certain clients and growing internal pressure to solve the problem in a short time.
First we understand the case and define the scope
How we approach it
- 01 We analyse the affected products, suppliers and supply chains to identify exactly what the EUDR requires in each case.
- 02 We define what information must be requested from each supplier and help the company organise its collection in a structured way.
- 03 We review the available traceability, identify possible gaps and organise all the documentation needed to prove the origin of the products.
- 04 We design a due diligence system the company can maintain over time without relying on improvisation or gathering the information at the last minute.
Other scenarios
- FSC The FSC audit is three weeks away and there’s still an open non-conformity.
- Import/Export Four years importing under the wrong tariff heading
- Ecommerce More orders, more sales and the same margin as always
- CITES The timber was bought under its trade name and the species turned out to be CITES-listed