[Alexia Stumpf]

Consider the following situation of an organization seeking verification under MRV:

• Number of direct suppliers is 6.374 located as follows:

  • Transition Cerrado/Atlantic Forest 86

  • Amazon 145

  • Caatinga 7

  • Cerrado 5.931

  • Atlantic forest 205

The company operates an SAP system to manage its commercial transactions and register suppliers, among other functions. All the suppliers in the Cerrado region have known traceability information.

1. How would you organize the sampling of the verification activities associated with this client?

2. What evidence/check in your view is satisfactory to guarantee the avoidance of double counting?

3. What checks would you make to confirm that no triangulation (selling commodities from other areas as if they were produced in a given region) is occurring?

[Benjamin Sandoval]

According to the ProTerra protocol the samples for the verification shall be the following assuming we don’t have any information about a risk situation.

* Transition Cerrado/Atlantic Forest 86 = 10
* Amazon 145 = 13
* Caatinga 7 =2
* Cerrado 5.931 = 78
* Atlantic forest 205 = 15

To avoid a possibility of double counting the operator shall have in place a solid system of chain of custody to track all the inputs and outputs from the different suppliers with the following characteristics.

List of all the suppliers, including key data such as, geographical location, crop, hectares, yields.

List of all the entrance of inputs, including data such as, supplier, quantity, date, lot if possible, invoice number.

Rate of conversion if there is a process on process for the inputs, based on the data of production and inputs. If possible to show an analysis of industrial efficiency.

List of all the outputs including data such as, quantity, date, lot if possible, invoice number.

The outputs shall not be higher than the inputs, the outputs shall correspond to the processing rate and the inputs volume.

For avoiding triangulation the operator shall be able to demonstrate that there is a system to separate and track the products coming from different regions, based on the chain of custody system, the products shall be separated in lots according to the area of sourcing, on the operator shall show the procedures and facilities to keep the lots separation. The outputs registration shall have enough information to demonstrate that the volumes for each region of sourcing are being respected. If possible an in place check of the storage shall be conducted.

[Alice]

Take aways
• Information around risk would be necessary as For very high-risk and high-risk regions the values indicated in Table 1 of the standard are to be used while for medium-risk regions the values (after applying the table) can be reduce in 15% (rounding upwards), and for low-risk regions the can be reduce 30% (rounding upwards).
• Sampling of supplier conducted per biome and, as above, related risk.
• Include sample size calculation and list of management system documentation /programs that would be checked
o The companies may have developed several programmes, to guide and monitor their raw material suppliers, promoting the understanding and application of sustainability principles to rural activities, with continuous training and sharing of good management practices. In general, the following actions are commonly observed: -Distribution of manuals or booklets on socio-environmental practices and legal aspects, delivered by staff who have close contact with producers. -Projects in the field, through on-site visits, where monitoring and training are carried out on properties/farms. -Adherence to the codes of conduct of purchasing companies, where suppliers commit to socio-environmental policies to be part of the supply base.
o Procedures for collection and use of geospatial data
o The organization must have an internal procedure to ensure that no double counting is occurring. The procedure should be checked to confirm to be adequate to the operations of the organizations. Randon checks should be made to product lots confirming the procedures are working correctly and that no double counting is occurring.
o Actions to minimise triangulation basically may include: 1) The distances between the suppliers’ farms is a criterion that can be analysed. For example, if a supplier has more than one unit and one of them is blocked, the other must be located at a distance that would be make triangulation economically unfeasible due to the cost of transportation). A risk analysis is carried out on a case-by-case basis, using the supplier data for area and average yield. 2) A productivity analysis of the area or region. If the volume is above the area’s estimated productivity ceiling, this may indicate triangulation and generates a blockage.

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