Sustainability and compliance guide: EUDR, CBAM, REACH and traceability
Selling a raw material today takes more than price and quality: who the counterparty is, where the goods come from, how much carbon they embody and which chemical rules they meet must all be documented. This guide summarises the key obligations – from know-your-customer checks to deforestation and carbon rules, chemical registration and labelling, recycled content and food contact – for suppliers selling into Europe and manufacturers building international supply chains.
Updated October 14, 2026
In this guide
- Know your customer / know your business (KYC / KYB)
- Sanctions and export-control screening
- Traceability (supply-chain transparency)
- EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)
- FSC and PEFC forest certification (chain of custody)
- Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
- Carbon footprint (product carbon footprint and Scopes 1-2-3) (PCF)
- REACH and KKDİK (chemical registration)
- GHS / CLP classification and labelling (pictograms, H and P statements)
- Dangerous goods transport (UN number, IMDG, ADR, IATA)
- Recycled content (PCR / PIR)
- Food-contact compliance (EU 10/2011, FDA)
- Bioplastic: bio-based vs. compostable
Know your customer / know your business (KYC / KYB)
The process of verifying, before doing business, that a counterparty really exists, who its officers and ultimate beneficial owners are, and whether it is subject to sanctions or adverse media. Tools include tax and trade-registry records, signature authorisations, licences, bank references and site visits or video verification. Banks perform KYC under anti-money-laundering law; for trading parties it is the first line of defence against fraud. The platform’s “Verified company” badge is based on this kind of document check.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Sanctions and export-control screening
Checking whether the buyer, seller, banks, vessel and end user appear on UN, EU, US (OFAC) or UK (OFSI) sanctions lists, and whether the goods are going to sanctioned countries or prohibited uses. Banks may freeze payments that carry sanctions risk, and breaches lead to heavy fines and account closures. Because sanctions change often, screening should be repeated for every deal, watching for evasion signs such as ship renaming or switched-off AIS.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Traceability (supply-chain transparency)
The ability to document, at every stage from source – mine, farm, forest or refinery – to end user, who processed a raw material, where, and from which lot. It is becoming mandatory in raw material trade because of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), OECD guidance on conflict minerals and recycled-content claims such as ISCC or GRS. Geolocation data, mass balance and digital product passports are key concepts here.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 requires that soy, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, cattle, rubber and wood – and products made from them such as leather, chocolate, furniture, paper and tyres – placed on the EU market were not produced on land deforested after 31 December 2020 and comply with the producing country’s laws. The operator submits a due-diligence statement including the geolocation of the production plots, and countries are classed as low, standard or high risk. For suppliers selling these commodities into the EU, plot-level traceability is now a commercial precondition.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
FSC and PEFC forest certification (chain of custody)
Two global schemes that certify sustainable forest management (FM) and the unbroken tracking of certified wood through the supply chain (chain of custody, CoC). Buyers of timber, plywood, pulp, paper, board and wooden packaging should see the claim – “FSC 100 %”, “FSC Mix” or “PEFC certified” – and the seller’s valid CoC code (e.g. FSC-C123456) on the invoice; the code can be checked in the FSC and PEFC databases. Certification alone is not sufficient for EUDR compliance but supports plot-level traceability data.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
The European Union’s mechanism that charges imports of iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity for the carbon emissions embedded in their production, at a price linked to the EU ETS. The 2023–2025 transitional phase required reporting only; from 2026 authorised declarants must buy CBAM certificates. Suppliers selling these products into the EU now need verified installation-level emissions data to stay competitive.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Carbon footprint (product carbon footprint and Scopes 1-2-3) (PCF)
The total greenhouse-gas emissions caused by a product over its life cycle – usually from raw-material extraction to the factory gate (“cradle-to-gate”) – expressed in kg CO₂e and calculated under ISO 14067 and the GHG Protocol. At company level, Scope 1 covers direct emissions, Scope 2 purchased energy and Scope 3 the supply chain; most of a manufacturer’s Scope 3 comes from the raw materials it buys. That is why CBAM, CSRD reporting and brand targets now drive buyers to ask raw-material suppliers for verified product carbon footprints (PCF) and EPDs.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
REACH and KKDİK (chemical registration)
EU Regulation 1907/2006, which requires every substance manufactured in or imported into the EU above 1 tonne a year to be registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – “no data, no market”. A non-EU supplier can register through an Only Representative; otherwise the obligation falls on the importer. Türkiye’s equivalent is the KKDİK Regulation, and Korea (K-REACH), China and the UK (UK REACH) run similar systems. Buyers should ask for the registration number and whether the substance contains SVHCs (substances of very high concern).
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
GHS / CLP classification and labelling (pictograms, H and P statements)
The UN Globally Harmonized System (GHS) classifies the physical, health and environmental hazards of chemicals by the same criteria worldwide; in the EU it is applied through the CLP Regulation. Labels carry the relevant red-bordered pictograms (nine in total), the signal word “Danger” or “Warning”, hazard (H) statements such as H314 “causes severe skin burns” and precautionary (P) statements. The classification is given in section 2 of the SDS, must match the package label, and labels must be in the language of the destination country.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Dangerous goods transport (UN number, IMDG, ADR, IATA)
Flammable, corrosive, toxic, oxidising or environmentally hazardous substances are governed by mode-specific rules: the IMDG Code at sea, ADR by road, RID by rail and IATA DGR by air. Each substance is identified by a four-digit UN number (e.g. UN1823 sodium hydroxide, solid), a hazard class (1–9) and a packing group (I–III), all given in section 14 of the SDS. UN-approved packaging, class labels, a dangerous goods declaration and trained staff are compulsory; freight and insurance cost more than for general cargo, and some ships and ports refuse certain classes.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Recycled content (PCR / PIR)
PCR (post-consumer recycled) material comes from packaging and products that have reached consumers and become waste; PIR (post-industrial recycled) comes from production scrap and trimmings. Rules such as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and brand pledges are setting minimum PCR shares in packaging. Recycled-content claims should be verified with certification such as GRS, RecyClass, EuCertPlast or ISCC PLUS (mass balance); food-contact rPET additionally needs an approved super-clean process.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Food-contact compliance (EU 10/2011, FDA)
Evidence that plastics used for food packaging and equipment do not transfer substances into food above permitted limits. In the EU the framework Regulation 1935/2004 and, for plastics, Regulation 10/2011 apply – a positive list of substances plus overall and specific migration limits; in the USA, FDA 21 CFR Part 177. Buyers should request the supplier’s declaration of compliance (DoC) covering additives and, where needed, migration test reports; recycled plastics are also subject to Regulation (EU) 2022/1616.
Full entry and related terms in the glossary →
Bioplastic: bio-based vs. compostable
The term covers two different properties. Bio-based plastics take their carbon from renewable sources such as sugar cane, corn or vegetable oil (e.g. bio-PE, bio-PET); they may be chemically identical to fossil versions and need not biodegrade. Compostable plastics – PLA, PBAT, PHA, starch blends – break down within a set time under industrial composting according to EN 13432 or ASTM D6400, and some are fossil-based. When buying, ask separately for the bio-based content (ASTM D6866) and the compostability certificate (TÜV OK compost, BPI).