Deforestation Regulation Readiness

Yes. Compared to sharing information via email, text messages, share drives, etc. Interu offers a far higher degree of security. This is thanks to the underlying core technology which uses several mechanisms (including Proofmesh), to enhance security without compromising scalability or sustainability. Practically speaking for users, they experience enhanced security via unique digital identities, managed via public and private keys. 

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Certification is a useful tool, especially at forest / farm level, to demonstrate meeting certain standards. However, most regulations don’t foresee certification as a ‘green lane’, therefore it should be viewed as one element in a company’s toolkit when looking at traceability and due diligence.

Interu does not intend to be a new standard or certificate; it is a platform where all traceability efforts - including certification - can be logged, shared with those who request to see due diligence (auditors, customers, enforcement) and linking all parts of a supply chain together. In this sense it is ‘standard agnostic’ and supports all product and company certification and verification efforts. 

Interu is a digital platform that facilitates the collection, secure storage, checking and sharing of due diligence information. ‘Ground truth’ verification is typically conducted by users themselves or via reputable third parties (certification bodies, verifiers), using Interu to perform document checks and endorsing claims made about supply chains. Interu itself does not perform field verification.

No. We realise that some organisations might not have the capacity or the means to upload their data to Interu, therefore, we allow downstream members to upload data on behalf of their upstream suppliers. This ensures that full traceability data is available for due diligence and auditing purposes.

Businesses importing the covered commodities into the EU must conduct rigorous due diligence to demonstrate that their products are deforestation-free and legally compliant with the country of origin's laws.

Interu was purposefully designed to be flexible to all regulations now and in the future and delivers business efficiencies (saving time, improving accuracy) as well as compliance benefits. Our users are based in many different jurisdictions and whilst we have made sure that Interu is compatible with regulations such as the EU Deforestation Regulation, Japan Clean Wood Act, the EU Battery Directive and the UK Environment Act, etc., it seeks to deliver more than just compliance.

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Interu is a product of iov42. iov42 is a technology company specialising in digital identity, trust, and data integrity. Our purpose built technology helps organisations, governments and societies coordinate confidently by enabling proven, transparent and secure transactions in a decentralised and immutable manner. Launched in February 2024, iov42's traceability product, Interu, demonstrates how the fundamentals of this technology can be applied to enhance traceability across a range of commodities, countries, and use cases.

We recognise that for many users, having to disclose geolocation information about the source of the product is a new step in due diligence. For suppliers, they are able to include geolocation (single GPS coordinates or a polygon) in their pack of information that they share with you for each shipment. If, as a user, it falls on you to perform checks of geolocation information, you are able to view the geocoordinates in a map form within Interu and check this against public datasets. Otherwise, you are able to request 3rd party expert analysis reports on geolocation which can be saved within Interu, demonstrating that you performed specific checks on them at a particular point in time. 

While the regulation is EU-centric, its effects are global, affecting supply chains worldwide. Producers, exporters, and importers in non-EU countries must align their operations with EUDR standards.

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Different traceability systems suit different user needs. Our aim is to compliment other traceability systems, by offering the below unique advantages:

• 3rd party endorsements—reputable providers who can verify claims made about products and organisations. For instance, standards certifiers, scientific testing, earth observation providers. 
• Underlying benefits of iov42’s distributed ledger technology— immutability (tamperproof), notarisation (time stamp of activity) and decentralisation (no single one point of failure / no one organisation controls and manages the system).
• Security and privacy—elevated beyond typical file sharing systems or sharing traceability information via email, messages, etc. iov42’s underlying distributed ledger technology provides enhanced security to give users peace of mind that their sensitive commercial information is secure. 
• Volume tracking—being able to link products and inputs through every single step of the supply chain and providing visibility on the manufacturing processes which happen at each step. This allows users to manage the risk of mixing within supply chains.
• Sharing—we spotted a weakness in other traceability systems when it came to gathering and linking information between upstream and downstream participants. Often they were excellent at providing internal traceability within one organisation, but struggled with adoption when it came to collecting information from elsewhere in the supply chain. We have focussed specifically on creating sharing between organisations.

Interu has been designed to store an unlimited range of data and information, including:

• Any relevant documentation required for a shipment to be exported from a producer country. For instance, packing lists, bills of lading, harvest permits, CoC / FMU certificates. 
• Third party endorsements of claims – certification claims, or claims about origin, species, logging permits, etc. 
• Geo-location (which can be endorsed by a third party)
• Science-based testing analysis (to prove species, origin, etc.)

The purpose of Interu is to collect a range of data and information as trust points related to trading between participants, secure them in one place, and then allow them to be shared privately.

The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is a legislative framework aimed at curbing deforestation and forest degradation by ensuring that products entering the EU market have not contributed to these issues.

The EUDR encourages the development of sector-specific guidelines and provides for the recognition of third-party certification schemes to aid businesses in compliance efforts.

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Currently, Interu is only available on desktop. We do, however, have a mobile app for users to log in with and digitally sign actions.

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Stakeholders are urged to assess their supply chains, engage with suppliers, and seek expert guidance to navigate the complexities of EUDR compliance effectively.

Reflecting the diversity of our users, there are two ways data is entered into Interu. This is via manual upload or through an  integration with users’ existing traceability systems via API.

In the future we will include email upload, whereby data can be uploaded directly via emails from users / suppliers and are looking to integrate with Cloud Storage providers such as Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox etc. 

Data can also be entered by participants on behalf of other organisations. This could be 3rd party verifiers performing due diligence that can upload information on behalf of users, or downstream participants who can upload information on behalf of their suppliers.

Yes. Interu captures and visually displays all of this information within its simple to use interface. Furthermore, it allows you to pass on chosen information to your customers to build trust in your supply chains. 

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Yes, Interu is a progression of Timber Chain. It is the result of several years of participation from a range of industries but with a focus on high risk commodities. By introducing decentralisation to traditionally siloed industries, accountability, authenticity and integrity can thrive. A powerful combination that puts trust back into your supply chain.

Beyond legal compliance, aligning with EUDR reflects a commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility, enhancing brand value and consumer trust.

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The regulation introduces a phased implementation, with compliance requirements becoming progressively stringent. Early understanding and preparation are crucial for uninterrupted market access.

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Depending on where your suppliers are in their traceability journey, they may need more or less support than others when it comes to onboarding to Interu. Onboarding can be as simple as sharing a link with your suppliers for them to sign-up, where they will be able to access user guides, ‘how to’ videos, etc. and be able to contact iov42 customer support in case they get stuck. For suppliers who may need more support, iov42 can arrange bespoke onboarding support, helping them to set themselves up and walking through the process either in person or remotely. 

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Regardless of the regulation, we recognise that users face an increasing burden of responsibility when it comes to proving traceability and risk mitigation along supply chains. Interu aims to save users time and improve accuracy when it comes to due diligence. It does this by:

• Focussing on making sharing of information between organisations easier and more secure
• Organises information and makes it easy and logical to find 
• Catches missing documentation. 

The underlying iov42 technology helps with compliance by timestamping checks (proving that a specific individual checked a specific document / assessed risk to be negligible at a certain point in time), and the fact that it is immutable means that tampering with information or changing information is fully visible.

Interu can be used in industries where there is a need, or requirement, to show enhanced clarity, transparency and credibility from source to buyer (or importer) across supply chains.

Interu ensures that proof of information being shared between organisations in and across supply chains is valid and trustworthy. Interu does this efficiently via iov42’s purpose built technology, which utilises decentralisation, immutability, accountability, security, privacy and authenticity at its core.

Safeguarding food integrity through enhanced halal traceability

In May 2013, iov42 partnered with Prime Certification Services (UK) Limited to improve and enhance the traceability of the Halal market (a project awarded to iov42 by Blockchain Connected and funded by the  Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government). iov42’s collaboration with Prime UK saw the building of a platform that used improved verification and accountability to establish trust (in claims of halal) through secure storing and sharing of halal meat proof points. See link to blog. 

Traceability of the steel supply chain

In December 2022, iov42 collaborated with Tata Steel UK on a project aimed at improving proof and traceability of steel products through their life cycle via the introduction of digital product passports. iov42’s unique model captured accountability via the digital recording (and proof) of the receipt for every steel delivery. See link to blog.

Non-compliance with EUDR can result in substantial fines, reputational damage, and potential exclusion from the EU market, underscoring the importance of early action.

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Yes and no.

Yes—you are able to see which of your suppliers directly use Interu to share documentation with you, and you are able to interact with them within the platform (e.g., to ask them to digitally sign something, to request specific information).

No—you are unable to see the names or any information about other users who are not directly involved in your supply chain.

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Yes, you can share whatever level of information you want. However, depending on which regulation your customers / auditors are complying with, they may require that this information is shared with them for compliance purposes. 

If there is highly sensitive information that you do not want to share, Interu has a mechanism that allows you to share the original document without the sensitive information in. 3rd party verifiers can check the original document and endorse that it’s authentic, allowing you to share it with customers in a way which builds trust, even without the sensitive information in it. 

Yes! You can create supply chains at an organisational level, a shipment level, a product level and even down to an item level. Interu automates a lot of the creation of supply chain maps by saving previously shared organisation level information—this saves users time and effort. 

Interu enables authorised users to enter in supply chain information (e.g on forests, sawmills, materials flowing through supply chain, etc) related to specific shipments. Interu saves users time, and delivers efficiency gains, by requiring users to create multiple participants or organisations (e.g forests and sawmills) just once for storing on Interu. Users can thereafter easily create multiple supply chains (which each involve the same forests, sawmills, etc) associated with different buyers.

Interu has been designed to help make due diligence and risk assessment as easy as possible for users. It acts as a platform to collect, organise, store and share due diligence information through. Whilst Interu has some automated checks in place, due diligence itself must be conducted.

Our aim is to be flexible to user preferences, so we can integrate with any earth observation analysis with a viable API. Interu has a live integration with Orbify, enabling seamless creation of and access to deforestation analysis reports. 

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Interu has been designed to aid users’ efforts to gather and organise due diligence/supply chain information and help users make data driven decisions around compliance. However, the responsibility to conduct risk assessments, and implement risk mitigation measures where necessary lies fully with the user.  

Interu allows users to visualise their supply chain map, and both conduct gap analysis of their suppliers and (at a glance) risk assessment, observing which geographies the product flows through in the supply chain. This overview can be used to determine any further risk assessment or mitigation measures a user may  want to take. For instance, the user may purchase timber from a European exporter, but when looking at the supply chain map the user realises that part of the manufacturing process takes place in a higher risk country. 

The first step in assessing risk at a shipment level is to ensure that you have authentic supply chain data that you can trust. Interu helps to gather, secure and share this data across supply chains and organises it in a way that makes assessing it for risk easier for users. Notarisation (time stamping) allows users to capture mitigation efforts in an auditable way, and Interu can integrate with  risk assessment tools, enabling users to apply their preferred risk assessment frameworks / toolkits. 

Data entered into Interu is securely stored within AWS data centres located within Europe.

Interu is standard agnostic, and is also suited for non-certified materials. This means that even organisations that are not pursuing certification, but still would like to demonstrate the soundness of their operations (by providing all of the necessary information to their customers and authorities) can use Interu to trace their products.

Interu has been designed to ensure that data, information and documents (such as invoices, export licences, harvesting permits, etc.) logged onto the platform by participants can be endorsed by relevant third parties. This mechanism helps prevent the challenge of ‘rubbish in → rubbish out’ and adds extra trust that claims and documentation are authentic. Interu itself does not verify documentation. We are working with numerous standards bodies to link to their databases to automate certificate checks within Interu. 

Interu does not establish or issue certification or accreditation. It is not a new standard, and is not a certification body. It is a vehicle on which to manage due diligence or supply chain information, making work easier for those in compliance and sourcing functions.

Interu allows its users to edit already recorded data. Each change is reflected in the history of the record, with “old” information still being available for checking against the records on the immutable ledger.

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Any user who wants to demonstrate commitment to ending deforestation and build more trust into their supply chain transactions is ideally placed to benefit from Interu. Typically, users fall into 4 camps:

1. Users who want to collect information in order to perform due diligence on suppliers and shipments
2. Users who want to share information with their customers, giving them an edge in the marketplace
3. Users who provide 3rd party expertise such as satellite imagery analysis, on the ground verification, scientific testing, to Interu participants
4. Users, such as competent authorities and auditors, who want to check due diligence on shipments

In terms of roles within supply chains, Interu is designed to be used by any direct participant—from the forest / farm level, to cooperatives, traders, processors, retailers, etc.—as well as third parties conducting audits, verification, enforcement checks, etc.

Yes. Users can look at our API (Application Programming Interface) that allows different systems to exchange information to determine ease of interoperability.

From our understanding as of 1Q 2024, FSC’s tool (blockchain beta project) has been designed to be used by FSC members only, enabling FSC to monitor claims made about certificates for wood / paper products and allow license holders to attain clarity and visibility on certificate claims made by their suppliers. 

Thus, non-FSC certified timber (i.e PEFC, or non-certified), and commodities which FSC does not certify, would not be able to use the system. In comparison, Interu’s users and clients typically require a much broader scope (e.g., they may purchase material or products that have been marked by different standards, or they do not want complexity from using different tools for different commodities). 

We are of the same mindset as FSC that blockchain has the potential to radically transform traceability for good and we want the positive benefits of that to extend to more than only FSC members!  iov42 believes that users themselves should have control over who has permission to see their data rather than one central organisation. 

Interu can be localised to specific languages depending on user needs, but is not currently readily available. Please contact us if there is a particular language you need the tool to be translated into. 

iov42’s core platform is a permissioned DLT (distributed ledger technology) solution, which means that its users determine who has access to their information (and which information as well).

The data stored on Interu is protected by a set of permissions that the users can either grant or restrict. For example, the shipment data only becomes available to the importer once the exporter has established a connection with them and has explicitly shared the shipment data with them.

Additionally, the data on the immutable ledger is stored in hashed form, which means that it cannot be made use of unless the person checking it has the original (unhashed) data available to be able to hash it and compare it to the hash stored on the immutable ledger.

Interu is currently automating ‘flagging’ capabilities to help make due diligence easier for users. Users will be able to define their own checklists for suppliers, and if information is missing it will be flagged so that suppliers can add the missing documents. There will be other smart checks, including: checking of certification / shipment dates (e.g., flagging if there are errors such as shipments arriving at a facility before they left the previous facility); volume checks (making sure volume transformations and conversions are logical and not ‘out of bounds’). In the future we want to also use AI to automate a lot of the due diligence at scale. 

EUDR applies to a range of commodities known to have significant impacts on deforestation, including timber, palm oil, soy, and derived products such as paper and furniture.