Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
We herewith inform you about updates and clarifications in the ISCC System. Please share this information with all relevant members of staff.
1. Update of the ISCC Website
On 20 April, the ISCC website has been updated, including new sections, improved usability, a new look and enhanced features. This redesigned version captures the essence of our values, our team, and our commitment to our System Users, cooperating Certification Bodies and association members, highlighting our innovative solutions and offerings. We invite you to take a look and navigate through the new pages.
1.1. Update of the ISCC Seals
ISCC has updated the ISCC seals that are on certificates. The new certificate templates can be found in the Certification Body section of the ISCC client section (login required). The new templates/seals can be used as of now and must be used mandatorily for certificates issued from 1 June 2023 onwards. Certificates that feature the old seals are still valid until the end of the indicated validity period. Please remember the ISCC seals must only be used by ISCC and by the certification bodies when issuing certificates.
1.2. Update of the ISCC Corporate Logo
Together with the ISCC website and the ISCC seals the ISCC corporate logo has also been updated. The ISCC corporate logo is available for ISCC system users holding a valid ISCC certificate, valid licensees, members of the ISCC association and certification bodies. It may be used for all off-product applications, e.g. on marketing materials, websites, sustainability reports, sustainability declarations, corporate materials and in email signatures (never on products). We kindly ask you to replace the old corporate logo with the new one wherever it is used by your organization. It is available for download in the ISCC client section (login required).
2. Clarifications
2.1. Hydrogen Emission Factor in the Annex of ISCC EU System Document 205
We are informing system users that the emission factor for hydrogen in the annex of the ISCC EU System document 205 “Greenhouse Gas Emissions” (v.4.0) may only be used if it is applicable to the hydrogen production pathway that is used by the system user. The hydrogen emission factor given in the document may be too low for most fossil energy based production routes.
We also would like to remind auditors that during GHG audits, they shall check if the chosen emission factors are appropriate for the applied production pathways in place. System Users are referred to the procedure for sourcing alternative emission factors detailed in system document 205, p. 21.
2.2. Certificates Having to Reflect Actual Material Flows and Business Activities for ISCC PLUS Processing Units
For ISCC PLUS the same rules as were specified in the System Update of 18 April 2023, chapter five apply regarding reflection of actual material flows on certificates except for material annexes of certificates of Processing Units. For Processing Units certified under ISCC PLUS, materials which will potentially be processed or produced at the audited site can be indicated on the material annex of certificates. Precondition to indicate a material on the ISCC PLUS certificate annex of a Processing Unit is that it is chemically/ technically possible, and it is actually aimed at processing the indicated incoming material or producing the indicated outgoing intermediate or final product during the validity of the upcoming certification period.
For ISCC PLUS certificates scopes must reflect the actual business activity of a System User as was specified in the last ISCC System Update from 18 April 2023. However, the certificate of a Processing Unit certified under ISCC PLUS does not have to be removed by the CB for the upcoming certificate if it is detected in an audit that no material was processed in the previous certification period.
We would like to once more point out that for any desired change of the certificate the Certification Body can adjust the scope during the validity period of a certificate. The adjusted certificate has to be provided to ISCC together with the audit procedures and any other relevant documents confirming the compliance of the System User with the respective requirements (see ISCC EU 201 – System Basics).
2.3. Use of NUTS2 Values
To determine the GHG emissions from cultivation the RED II allows, next to the actual calculation or the application of default values, the use of typical values that represent the average value in a specific area. Those typical values have to be reported to the European Commission by Member States or third countries and can be used if the Commission recognizes them to be accurate. Those typical values are often referred to as NUTS2 values, as they describe the emissions from the cultivation of agricultural raw materials of the areas on a Member Stated territory classified as level 2 in the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (see Art. 31(2) RED II).
We herewith clarify that First Gathering Points, Central Offices for farms/plantations or individually certified farms/plantations can use and forward the NUTS2 values on their Sustainability Declarations in the unit g CO2eq/dry-ton of feedstock as they are published in the NUTS2 overview table on the website of the European Commission. Please also see ISCC EU Document 205 „Greenhouse Gas Emissions“ on forwarding NUTS2 values.
3. ISCC Documents
3.1. ISCC EU, PLUS and CORSIA Material Lists now Publicly Available
The ISCC EU, PLUS and CORSIA Material Lists are now publicly available in the ISCC documents section on the ISCC website. They can no longer be found in the ISCC client section.
3.2. New Templates for Proof of Sustainability and Sustainability Declaration under ISCC EU
The ISCC EU templates for the Sustainability Declaration (SD) as well as the Proof of Sustainability (PoS) for biofuels and the PoS for co-digested biomass fuels have been updated. The SD and PoS for biofuels now have an additional field to specifiy the NUTS2 region of origin. The PoS for co-digested biomass now better captures the GHG calculation requirements of the REDII Annex VI method and allows for more feedstocks to be added on the template. The updated templates are available in the client section of the ISCC website (login required).
3.3. Updated ISCC PLUS Certificate Template: FSS Add-On
The ISCC PLUS certificate template that is mandatory as of 1 June was updated. It now also features the FSS Add-on “202-04: Food Security Standard”. The ISCC Food Security Add-On further highlights the importance of social sustainability in agricultural production. It provides certification that demonstrates compliance with national due diligence and internationally recognized principles. The updated ISCC PLUS certificate template is available for Certification Bodies in the client section of the ISCC website (login required).
4. Public Consultation: ISCC Carbon Footprint Certification Module
With the ISCC Carbon Footprint Certification module ISCC aims to certify production processes incorporating decarbonization measures to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions during the production. This will lead to products with certified reduced product carbon footprints. To improve comparability and reproducibility of the GHG calculation results, specific requirements will be defined for individual setups with defined scope and system boundaries. The module will be able to be used as a stand-alone module and as a supplement to ISCC PLUS.
The framework document in public consultation on the ISCC website until 4 July 2023 gives an introduction to the ISCC Carbon Footprint Certification module and introduces in a first step a certification approach for product carbon footprints of products, whose production process includes Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The ISCC Carbon Footprint Certification module will be further developed by ISCC and its stakeholders to include additional certification approaches to determine GHG emission reductions for additional specific production setups. We highly appreciate your feedback!