Why CMO Holds the Key to Mainstreaming Sustainably Produced Forest Products from Forest Owners
The European Union’s Regulation on Deforestation-free Products marks a significant step in the global effort to combat deforestation and promote sustainable forestry practices. Enacted to ensure that products entering the EU market do not contribute to deforestation, this regulation imposes strict due diligence requirements on companies, affecting the entire forestry sector regardless of the country of origin. By mandating traceability and verification of supply chains, the regulation aims to reduce the environmental impact of forestry operations and promote more responsible land-use practices worldwide. This policy not only influences producers and exporters in deforestation-prone regions but also reshapes the economic and operational landscape for forestry businesses globally, emphasising the importance of sustainability in international trade. This is a complex challenge, but CMO, a leading forestry software and services provider, is making it easier.
CMO offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to meet the diverse needs of smallholders, commercial forestry companies, and the broader supply chain, with a strong focus on compliance with the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR). CMO tailors’ solutions to ensure adherence to all major certification requirements, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSCTM) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) standards, alongside EUDR compliance. Our advanced software platforms streamline these processes, making them more accessible and manageable for businesses.
To optimise your compliance management, CMO has developed Empower, a comprehensive sustainability command centre developed to oversee and enhance your compliance efforts. The principal aim was to create tech for smallholders to plan and control their farming practices. To this end, Empower gives the smallholder full control over their tree plot, with a clear picture of the standing volume of the trees planted and thus when best to harvest them. One of its most notable features is the efficient onboarding of members, which simplifies the integration of new users into the system and ensures that all stakeholders are aligned with sustainability goals from the outset. Additionally, Empower facilitates comprehensive on-site audits, allowing organisations to conduct thorough evaluations of practices and processes to ensure adherence to established standards. The application also includes an Action Log, a vital tool for addressing and closing non-compliances swiftly. This feature not only helps in identifying areas of improvement but also provides a structured approach to managing corrective actions, thereby fostering continuous improvement. Moreover, Empower’s capability to manage stakeholders both nationally and locally ensures that all relevant parties are engaged and informed, promoting a cohesive and coordinated approach to sustainability.
Empower becomes even more powerful when paired with Tracer, a trailblazing tool that excels in mapping supply chains and monitoring volumes and commodity movements in real-time. Together, they create an unbeatable combination for ultimate efficiency and transparency. Tracer captures detailed product information, supplier data, and coordinates throughout the supply chain, providing a complete overview of the entire production and distribution process. This level of detail is crucial for generating accurate and reliable reports, particularly for the EUDR due diligence statements,ensuring full compliance with stringent regulatory requirements. Through these integrated solutions, Empower and Tracer offer a robust framework for managing sustainability and compliance, driving efficiency, and accountability across the supply chain.
Over the past year, CMO has collaborated with Weber & Schaer (W&S) in Germany, the Sabah Rubber Industry Board (SIRB) in Malaysia, and the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) to promote sustainability practices and certification within the rubber industry. This partnership leverages CMO’s Empower software to enhance sustainable practices and ensure compliance with industry standards. Through this collaboration, CMO, W&S, SIRB, and RAOT are making significant strides in advancing the sustainability agenda, underscoring their commitment to responsible and environmentally friendly rubber production.
In Vietnam, CMO has just concluded a successful trial for CMO Tracer in partnership with W&S in June and July 2024. The trial has allowed the first shipment of EUDR-compliant rubber to be sent to the USA. The users appreciated the simplicity of the new application, but also supplied valuable feedback around usability and language optimisation. The application was quickly adopted by the various processing plants that took part in the pilot project.
This multi-faceted approach by CMO highlights the importance of integrating advanced technological solutions with regulatory compliance to foster sustainable practices across industries. By leveraging tools like Empower and Tracer, businesses can navigate complex regulatory landscapes, ensure compliance, and contribute to the global fight against deforestation and environmental degradation.
In conclusion, CMO’s success is based on our obsessive focus on simplicity. We believe that only simple solutions are scalable, and, to that end, we use our unique, in-house developed software applications, which came about because of our deeply entrenched forestry knowledge on the one hand and certification knowledge on the other. In particular, we look forward to scaling our EUDR solution to the benefit of the whole Southern African forest industry – particularly where commercial farmers and smallholders are involved in the supply chain.
Written by Megan Methven
Source: CMO
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