EU Deforestation Regulation

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.

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. 

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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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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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 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.

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

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.

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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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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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. 

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

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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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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.

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. 

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.

Interu grew out of Timber Chain, the traceability solution we launched in 2020 for the EU Timber Regulation. It was built for the EUDR and other new regulations, and it helps organisations collect, verify and share supply chain data securely. Unlike traditional traceability tools, it offers:

• Flexibility without the build cost: the platform adapts to how your business works, so you don’t have to build your own system or settle for a generic one.
• AI as a co-pilot, not an autopilot: AI translates and classifies documents and removes duplicates. The person responsible still approves every due diligence statement.
• Privacy by design: permissioned access means only the right people see your data. A redaction tool lets you share just what compliance needs and keep commercially sensitive details hidden.
• Built-in integrations: Interu connects to your ERP via API and to EU TRACES, and works with satellite analysis from Orbify.
• Easier supplier sharing: suppliers get simple tools to share their data, in place of spreadsheets and forms they fill in and send back. Adoption goes up and your due diligence moves faster.

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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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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.

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.

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.

Yes. Compared to sharing information via email, text messages, share drives, etc. Interu offers a far higher degree of security.

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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. 

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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Founded in Austria in 2016, iov42 was born out of a bold vision: to unlock the potential of secure, transparent, and trustworthy data sharing across the world’s most complex industries.

Interu is a product by the team at iov42. It enables organisations to track forest risk commodities across their supply chains and meet sustainability targets and regulations. By doing so, we are helping combat deforestation and the illicit trade in commodity supplies. Designed for scalability, Interu supports an ever growing number of supply chains and organisations, with the flexibility to onboard other industries and products seamlessly.

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Interu is currently available in a number of languages - the list of which is ever-growing. Please contact us if there is a particular language you need the tool to be translated into. 

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’).

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. 

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 operator) across supply chains.

Interu ensures that proof of information being shared between organisations in and across supply chains is valid and trustworthy.

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

Interu is not built on iov42's Distributed Ledger Technology, but instead by the team who understands how complex data should be handled securely.

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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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.

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

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. 

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.

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 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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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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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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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.