ProTerra Monitoring and Verification (MRV) Standard and the European Regulation on Deforestation-free Commodities (EUDR)
Based on currently available information, the ProTerra MRV Standard v1.0 has been benchmarked against the EU Regulation on deforestation-free commodities[1] (EUDR) in January 2025.
Although several articles of the Regulation do not apply to voluntary standards as they relate to obligations of member states and competent authorities, administrative matters, or internal responsibilities of organisations, ProTerra MRV observes full adherence to the said Regulations for all the articles considered applicable.
ProTerra MRV is a relevant tool to support organisations in achieving and maintaining compliance with the EUDR. More than a tool, the ProTerra MRV Standard provides a systematic approach to assessing and verifying an organisation’s due diligence practices and supports reporting on supply chain due diligence and deforestation-free aspects. It is based on the implementation of a management system and its compliance with sustainability requirements associated with the organisation´s supply chain.
A summary of the results and applicability of the different EUDR articles is presented in Table 1.
ProTerra MRV enables organisations to understand their supply chain risks and compliance gaps, helping them to prepare for the due diligence process. Secondly, it is a relevant risk mitigation tool and requires economic operators to map their supply chain, assess risks, minimise and/or mitigate the negative impacts of the relevant risks that the economic operator can control, define and adopt a risk management plan to strive to minimise and/or mitigate the negative impacts, and implement risk prevention measures while promoting forest-positive outcomes (refer to indicator 3.3 of ProTerra MRV).
Risk mitigation is also achieved through the requirement of preparing and implementing a Corrective Action Plan (refer to 3.7 of ProTerra MRV), for any non-compliance identified. ProTerra MRV verification audits are conducted by qualified third parties who objectively assess the organisation’s management system and supplier‘s operations, including documentation review, checks of satellite imagery for information on potential deforestation, on-site inspection, and interviews with relevant personnel and stakeholders as required. Compliance with ProTerra´s MRV requirements by suppliers serves as evidence that the economic operator´s management system is working correctly and that there is no systemic non-compliance on the part of the supplier. Lots of commodities and/or related products from a non-compliant supplier must be clearly identified. This information should be communicated to the next step of the supply chain in which the economic operator is involved (please refer to the management system requirement 3.12).
In some respects, ProTerra´s MRV requirements go beyond the requirements of the EUDR, in particular by requiring that:
- The protection of vegetated areas beyond the definition of forest, such as native grasslands, wetlands, swamps, peatlands, savannahs, steep slopes and riparian areas;
- Promotion of forest-positive outcomes, including as applicable: protecting and restoring forest ecosystems; working with farmers, cooperatives and local communities; supporting landscape and jurisdictional initiatives to help address the root causes of deforestation; and promoting and supporting international initiatives on deforestation and capacity-building.
- Establishing and maintaining an operational grievance mechanism, in consultation and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including early warning systems for deforestation risks, human rights issues and complaints.
- Consistently using operating procedures to maintain full segregation of each lot of ProTerra MRV verified products from other materials from the point of receipt to the point of transfer to the next level in the supply chain.
- No land conversion takes place where there is an unresolved land use claim by traditional land users without the agreement of both parties.
- In the event of a dispute over land use rights, a thorough, participatory and documented assessment of the community’s rights shall be carried out and the recommendations of the assessment shall be followed.
Table 2 details the adherence between ProTerra V5 and the applicable articles of the EUDR.