Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
We herewith inform you about the latest updates and adjustemnts in the ISCC System.
1. ISCC Terms of Use
ISCC has revised its Terms of Use. The amended Terms of Use come into effect on 01 February 2017 and are now available as download on the ISCC website. To ensure an efficient review of the adjustments, a version of the Terms of Use is available on the ISCC website in which the adjustments have been highlighted. The Terms of Use are accepted by signature of the system user, and are the basis of the system usage agreement between ISCC and the system user. During the certification audit of a system user the certification body verifies if the Terms of Use valid at the time of the audit are present and signed. The signed Terms of Use are a prerequisite for the successful completion of an audit and hence for obtaining a certificate.
2. ISCC EU: Transitional Period for New Requirements Ends on 01 January 2017
As already communicated in the ISCC system update of 24 October 2016, ISCC EU system users must implement the changes resulting from the re-recognition by 01 January 2017 the latest. Please be aware, that this includes the requirement that the entire chain of custody must be certified, including so-called “paper traders” for which a certification was previously not mandatory.
Exception for GHG changes:
The adjusted methodology for actual GHG emission values (see overview on the changes under ISCC EU) results from the Commission’s “Note on the conducting and verifying actual calculations of GHG emission savings”. This Note was provided to ISCC and two other voluntary schemes on 17 July 2016. The initial version of this Note is available on the Commission’s transparency website. According to the cover letter of this Note, the principles from the Note “should be implemented by all voluntary schemes that have been recognised at the latest by July 2016. The changes should be applied by the operators participating in the scheme at the latest by end of 2016”.
It is still not clear if it is ensured that all recognized voluntary schemes will implement these principles in a harmonized way by the end of 2016. To ensure the continuous flow of sustainable material throughout the supply chain and to avoid market and trade distortions the adjustments resulting from the GHG Note are not obligatory to implement until further notice.
3. ISCC EU: New Audit Procedures
ISCC has updated the ISCC EU audit procedures to reflect the adjusted requirements resulting from the re-recognition of ISCC EU.
The application of the new audit procedures (version 3.0) will become mandatory to use during audits as from 01 January 2017.
ISCC has included all new requirements that have become relevant with the re-recognition of ISCC EU and that have to be implemented by the system users by 01 January 2017 (see above). As also communicated, the implementation date of 01 January 2017 does not apply for the GHG requirements until further notice. This means that the GHG requirements in the new audit procedures are for the time being still the same as in the current version of the ISCC audit procedures.
ISCC has improved the structure of the audit procedures to facilitate the audit process and to eliminate redundancies in the requirements to be verified during audits. With the new structure, only three audit procedures are available:
- Audit procedure „Farms/plantations”
- Audit procedure “Points of origins (waste and residues)”
- Audit procedure „Chain of custody“ for all other scopes
The audit procedure „Farms/plantations“ has to be applied for individual certifications of farms or plantations and sample audits of farms/plantations in the framework of the certification of a First Gathering Point or Central Office.
The audit procedure „Points of origin (waste and residues)“ has to be applied for individual certifications of points of origin and for sample audits of points of origins in the framework of the certification of a Collecting Point.
The audit procedure „Chain of custody“ has to be applied for audits of First Gathering Points, Central Offices, Collecting Points, Processing Units, Logistic Centres, individually certified storage facilities (Warehouses), and Traders, as well as for sample audits of storage facilities and dependent collecting points.
For sample audits, one procedure has to be completed for each audit.
The audit procedures are available as downloads in the client section of the ISCC website.
4. ISCC EU: Reminder: Acceptance of Schemes with Expired Recognition
Out of seven voluntary schemes that were due for re-recognition in August 2016, ISCC EU was among the first three schemes to be re-recognized. Besides ISCC, the RSB EU scheme and the 2BSvs scheme have been re-recognized by the Commission. The remaining four voluntary schemes Bonsucro EU, RSBA, Greenergy, RTRS have not been re-recognised yet as stated on the Commission’s transparency platform. In a letter from 02 August 2016, the Commission recommended “to the voluntary schemes to continue accepting evidence from those … schemes” even in case of a gap between the recognition periods. ISCC followed the recommendation by the European Commission. However, this exception from the Commission was valid until 02 November 2016 the latest.
This means, ISCC EU certified system users cannot accept deliveries from suppliers that are certified under schemes for which the recognition has expired.
5. Updated ISCC List of Materials
The ISCC List of Materials has been updated. On table two (intermediate and final products), fatty acids (certified as co-products), esterified fatty acids and shea butter have been added.
The latest version of the list (dated 28 December 2016) is available in the client section of the ISCC website.
6. ISCC is registered as System Administrator by the ARR in Poland
On 29 November 2016 ISCC was registered as a certification system administrator by the Polish Agricultural Market Agency (ARR) (see also ISCC Newsletter from 30 November 2016). This follows a Polish legal requirement for certification schemes active on the Polish market to obtain an entry in the registry of recognised certification system administrators until 01 January 2017. ISCC is the first non-Polish certification scheme that has been registered with the ARR.
With this registration ISCC is fulfilling all formal and legal requirements for certification schemes to continue certification in Poland in 2017 and beyond.