Improved communication and information-exchange between voluntary schemes in case of certification-related issues

In response to the European biodiesel market being flooded with vast quantities of Chinese biodiesel with partially doubtful declarations of origin and feedstock, the voluntary schemes ISCC, 2BSvs, KZR INiG, RSB and REDcert have agreed to improve their already established communication channels for exchanging certification-related information.

As all schemes already provide a publicly available and up-to-date list of certificates indicating the status and scope of an economic operator’s certification – including the certification history under the particular scheme – there will be now a systematic and immediate exchange of suspended and withdrawn certificates between those schemes. The sharing of this information will contribute to the common goal of preventing economic operators from ‘scheme hopping’ as a result of suspended or withdrawn certificates. The exchange of such information allows all voluntary scheme to cross-check new applicants’ background, and in particular, their certification history and any related incidents before they are accepted/contracted under a scheme.

The voluntary schemes have also agreed to establish a regular platform for collaboration, where system updates and continuous improvement processes can be discussed and harmonised in a mutual and proactive way.