In an interview with Green Savers, Paulo Gomes explains that many companies already have traceability systems, but there are still difficulties in collecting and sharing information among suppliers, producers and other stakeholders. The use of common standards can facilitate this process, allowing different systems to communicate with each other and data to be linked to products from origin to final destination.
The official argues that traceability should not serve merely to meet legal requirements. The information collected can help companies identify risks, assess suppliers and make more informed purchasing decisions. But there is an essential step: use the data to correct problems and prevent environmental impacts. As he notes, “traceability creates evidence and the ability to intervene; the reduction of impact depends on actions taken based on that evidence.”
The European Union Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) places new requirements on companies regarding the origin of raw materials and the demonstration that they are not associated with deforestation. In practice, how prepared are supply chains today to respond to these requirements?
Value chains still show varying levels of readiness to respond to the EUDR requirements. While many companies already have traceability mechanisms implemented, the big challenge lies in the ability to collect, structure and share reliable information across the entire supply chain, from the origin of raw materials to the final product.
The EUDR thus represents an opportunity for companies to rethink their processes, clarify responsibilities and reinforce collaboration with their suppliers.
In this context, data normalization and the use of GS1 standards assume a fundamental role, allowing unequivocal identification of products, operators, and logistics units, as well as ensuring information sharing through standardized models. In this way, it promotes more efficient and interoperable communication among all stakeholders in the supply chain.
What information is necessary to know and preserve along the chain so that a company can demonstrate the origin of a product and comply with EUDR requirements?
To meet the EUDR requirements, it is essential to ensure traceability of the products covered, knowing the origin of the raw materials, namely the country of production, the geolocation of lands, the quantities and production periods, as well as the participants in the supply chain. In addition, it is necessary to assess deforestation risks and non-compliance with applicable laws in the countries of origin and, when necessary, implement mitigation measures. This information is essential for the submission process of the respective Due Diligence Declaration (DDS).
Traceability depends on the quality of data collected at different points in the chain. How to ensure that these data are complete, reliable and comparable, especially when many suppliers and different countries are involved?
The first step is to define a common data model: what should be collected, by whom, at what time and with what validation rules. Then, it is essential to use unique identifiers and formats, validate data at the source, control mandatory fields and maintain mechanisms for updating and auditing. Technology helps automate capture and detect inconsistencies, but it does not replace information management nor the accountability of each participant. Solutions like Sync PT demonstrate the value of centralizing, updating and synchronizing product data between partners. In international supply chains, GS1 global standards are particularly relevant because they make information comparable, regardless of country, language or platform used.
What role can the GS1 global standards play in linking the different stakeholders in a supply chain, from producer to importer?
GS1 standards play an essential role because they create a common language to identify, capture and share information that is available to the different stakeholders in the value chain. The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) identifies products, the GLN (Global Location Number) identifies entities and locations, and the SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) identifies logistics units. These identifiers, combined with batch or serial data and data carriers such as GS1 DataMatrix or GS1-128, help capture information automatically and link it to the product’s physical journey. In practice, this enables a stronger link between product, batch, origin, location, operator and logistics movement, creating a common basis for traceability and data sharing among trading partners.
Beyond the standards, GS1 Portugal provides support resources, usage guides and traceability services that help organizations apply these best practices consistently and tailored to their context.
Digitization is often presented as a response to the challenges of traceability. Which technologies are today really making a difference and where do limitations still exist?
The technologies with the greatest impact are those that solve concrete needs for identification, capture and sharing. Barcodes and GS1 2D codes allow automatic data capture, and master data platforms help keep product information up to date. Additionally, data-sharing models such as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and GDSN (Global Data Synchronization Network) support structured information exchange. Limitations arise when base data is incomplete, systems are not interoperable or suppliers have limited digital capacity. Without consistent identifiers, common rules and validation, digitization can simply transfer the same flaws to a technological platform.
For a small or medium-sized enterprise, implementing traceability systems can represent a significant investment. How can we prevent the transition to more transparent supply chains from creating an additional barrier for these companies?
The transition must be proportional, phased and supported by solutions that do not require each company to build a system from scratch. An SME can start by mapping the products and suppliers covered, identifying the critical data and correcting gaps before moving to more complex integrations. The use of GS1 global standards reduces costs because they avoid different formats for each customer and allow reusing the same information across multiple commercial relationships. Training, accessible tools, technical support and collaboration models with associations, major customers and technology providers are also important. Transparency should not depend on the size of the company, but on clear requirements and an ecosystem that facilitates participation by all.
The EUDR requires much more precise information about the origin of certain raw materials. Could this change alter how companies choose and manage their suppliers?
Yes, the ability to provide complete, verifiable and timely data will carry more weight in supplier selection and evaluation. Companies will tend to incorporate traceability requirements into contracts, segment suppliers by risk, and monitor the quality of the information received more regularly. This can foster more stable and collaborative relationships with partners capable of demonstrating origin and compliance of raw materials. At the same time, it will be important to avoid automatic exclusions: when gaps exist, the priority should be to assess risk and support process improvement, especially with small producers.
To what extent can traceability stop being merely a compliance tool and begin to influence purchasing, procurement and product development decisions?
When the company can relate origin, batch, supplier and logistic path, traceability becomes a management tool. It allows comparing suppliers, anticipating supply risks, identifying geographic dependencies, responding more quickly to incidents and considering environmental criteria at the point of purchase. In product development, it can support choosing alternative raw materials, changes in composition or packaging, and more informed portfolio decisions. The value lies in turning operational data into a cross-cutting view of the chain, useful not only to prove compliance but also to improve resilience, efficiency and sustainability.
And what about the consumer: are we heading toward a scenario where it will be possible to know, in a simple way, where the raw materials of a product come from and what its environmental impact is?
The EUDR has a relevant relationship with the consumer, although it does not impose direct obligations on them. Its main objective is to ensure that certain products placed on the European Union market, or exported from it, are not associated with deforestation or forest degradation and that they comply with applicable legal requirements.
Nesse contexto, it is expected that consumers will have access to more information about origin, journey and traceability of raw materials, which could make purchasing choices more informed and conscious. More than an obligation for the consumer, the EUDR creates conditions to strengthen trust in products available on the market, ensuring they meet increasingly demanding sustainability and compliance criteria.
At the same time, implementing traceability systems and verification mechanisms required by the regulation may impact the operating costs of companies, which, in some cases, could be reflected in prices or the availability of certain products. Still, the responsibility for complying with the EUDR falls on operators and traders in the value chain, not on the final consumer.
In the medium term, we are moving toward a scenario where information about the origin and impact of products will become increasingly accessible. However, the real challenge will not merely be to provide more data, but to ensure that this information is reliable, comparable and presented simply, so that it can effectively support more informed consumer decisions.
There is also the risk of having more and more data available, but little capacity to interpret it. How to transform information about the supply chain into transparency that is truly useful for the consumer?
The EUDR is, first and foremost, an instrument of due diligence, traceability and forest protection, and not a consumer information system. Companies can, however, use the collected data to comply with the regulation and create more transparent communication.
The decisive issue is to move from documentary transparency to understandable transparency: it is not enough that the data exist or can be consulted; they must allow the consumer to form an informed opinion, without confusing legal compliance with global sustainability.
One of the major challenges of the EUDR will probably be ensuring traceability in global and complex supply chains. Where do you identify today the biggest obstacles?
The biggest obstacles are at the early links of the chain, where production may be fragmented among many small producers, and in stages where raw materials from different origins are aggregated or transformed. Added to this are the diversity of systems, formats and levels of digital maturity, the difficulty of maintaining the link between geolocation, batch and transaction, and the need to validate information received from multiple intermediaries. There are also challenges of interoperability, capacity building and trust in data sharing. The longer the chain, the greater the risk of losing information, so it is essential to record events and identifiers consistently from origin.
How to deal with producers or suppliers who operate in contexts where data collection and sharing is more limited?
The answer must combine demand with capacity-building, i.e., it is important to request the necessary information, but also ensure that these producers and suppliers have the means to collect and share. The ideal is to start with a core data set, with simple guidelines and tools adapted to the company’s context, including solutions that work even when there are limitations.
Cooperation among all is fundamental and helps in the identification, validation of documents and training. Traceability will only be truly inclusive if the more capable participants help create conditions for data to be collected directly from the origin.
Interoperability between systems is another challenge of value chain digitalization. What is still missing for different platforms and companies to communicate with each other more easily?
One of the main challenges is not only the technology but the way information is structured and shared among the different stakeholders in the value chain. Many companies use different systems and platforms, which do not always communicate with each other, hindering information exchange. In this context, adopting global standards and standardized data models is essential to ensure all stakeholders speak the same language, regardless of the systems they use.
More than developing new platforms, it is necessary to promote collaboration between companies and the use of a common language, enabling simpler, more efficient and interoperable information sharing across the entire value chain.
What role should be assigned to companies, to governments and to organizations that develop standards to ensure that traceability is not limited to a few more advanced supply chains?
Responsibilities are complementary. Companies are responsible for investing in improving their processes and sharing information along the value chain. Governments should create conditions that encourage digitization and facilitate the adoption of solutions, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Organizations that provide standards, such as GS1, should offer global, accessible, and interoperable standards that allow all companies, regardless of size or digital maturity, to communicate using a common language.
The aim is to ensure that traceability is not an exclusive advantage of the most advanced chains, but a capability accessible to the entire market.
Traceability, by itself, does not prevent deforestation. What is necessary to do with the collected data so that it effectively contributes to reducing the environmental impacts of supply chains?
The data must support decisions. This implies verifying geolocation and documentation, cross-checking information against risk criteria, identifying non-compliance situations and applying mitigation measures before placing the product on the market. The analysis should also reveal patterns: origins more exposed, suppliers in need of support or points in the chain where information is lost. From there, companies can review purchases, collaborate to improve productive practices and monitor outcomes over time. Traceability creates evidence and the capacity to intervene; the reduction of impact depends on actions taken based on that evidence.
What changes do you expect the EUDR to bring to European value chains in the coming years, beyond compliance with the regulation itself?
The EUDR highlights the need to strengthen collaboration among all participants in the supply chain and to invest in more structured information management and sharing processes.
Organizations that are better prepared are usually those that take advantage of this process to structure and standardize their data, reinforcing transparency, efficiency and the ability to respond to current and future market demands.
In an increasingly digital and demanding context, the availability of reliable, structured and shareable data will assume growing importance across the entire supply chain.
Are we facing a transformation that is essentially regulatory, or could greater transparency about product origin become a competitive advantage for companies?
Regulation is the starting point, but the true transformation can go far beyond mere compliance. Companies that have reliable, structured and easily shareable data are better prepared to respond to customers’ and authorities’ demands, reduce errors, mitigate risks and credibly demonstrate the commitments they make. This translates into stronger business relationships, greater access to markets and increased capacity to adapt to new requirements.
When compliance becomes the minimum requirement, the real differentiator will be the ability to use the information to optimize operations, anticipate challenges and build trust. Transparency becomes a competitive advantage when it is backed by verifiable data and integrated into business management, and not when it is limited to a statement of intent.
Looking to the future, how do you imagine a truly traceable supply chain: what information should be possible to track from the origin of a raw material to the product that reaches the consumer?
In a truly traceable value chain, each participant should be able to identify and track the origin of the raw materials and the products, the production locations, the batches, the transformations performed, the entities involved, the logistic units, and the main movement events. To these elements, all relevant regulatory documentation and declarations should be attached, ensuring the integrity of the information even when products are aggregated, split or transformed.
Not all information needs to be accessible to all stakeholders. Companies, authorities and consumers have different needs and different access levels to data. The essential is to ensure an interoperable, reliable and verifiable information base that tracks the product along the entire value chain and allows presenting the information appropriate to each user at the right time.
