Blockchain-powered SmartTrace platform is designed to integrate with EU TRACES system, supporting EUDR due diligence for operators
Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), a Singapore-headquartered palm oil company, has launched limited customer trials for its SmartTrace due diligence platform, as part of a broader programme to support compliance with the incoming European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), set to take effect on 30 December 2025.
SmartTrace was piloted by Verborg Group in Farmsum, the Netherlands, which operates a state-of-the-art tropical oil refinery. A strategic partnership was established in early 2024 between GAR and Verborg Group for the supply of high-quality, traceable and deforestation-free tropical oils in Europe.
GAR’s SmartTrace platform is designed to provide enhanced visibility and security for this due diligence data, enhancing trust and transparency in complex commodity supply chains.
The web-based platform gives operators unprecedented oversight of their entire palm oil supply chain. The system can track each constituent part of a palm oil shipment down to plantation level, giving users an end-to-end view of product sourcing that is authenticated using blockchain technology.
SmartTrace builds on a decade of investment into supply chain traceability from GAR. The company can trace 100% of the palm produced on its estates to plantation level and has extended Traceability to the Plantation (TTP) to 99% of its total palm oil supply chain in Indonesia. Supply of soy, sugar, coconut and sunflower oil are also 100% Traceable to the Mill.
Enhancing Trust in Complex Supply Chains
The trial involved a shipment of 9,500 metric tonnes of palm oil products delivered to Verborg Group’s refinery in late February. This shipment is 100% traceable to the plantations where it was grown in Indonesia and is part of ongoing tests of compliance systems and processes ahead of EUDR implementation.
Goedhart Borgesius, Director of Verborg Group, emphasised the importance of the trial to reassure European buyers about EUDR preparations: “We aim to provide sustainably-produced, high quality and deforestation-free tropical oils. This shipment marks a milestone in our ability to demonstrate these attributes and offer our customers confidence that they are helping to eradicate deforestation risk from the tropical oil supply chain.”
The EUDR mandates that operators importing selected commodities into the EU provide detailed due diligence reports confirming these products are free from deforestation risk and are produced in accordance with local laws.
Addressing Emerging Compliance Needs
Additionally, the system provides critical information and analysis to help buyers comply with upcoming regulations by showing where palm products have been produced and traded.
Companies and traders using the system will be able to produce detailed reports that address vital requirements for EUDR compliance including due diligence and risk mitigation status for deforestation and legality. These reports are tailored to integrate with the EU’s TRACES platform, providing customers with the necessary information to complete their due diligence statements efficiently.
Beyond the EUDR, SmartTrace is also adaptable to other regulatory frameworks and complex data and reporting requirements.
Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) is one of the world’s largest seed-to-shelf agribusinesses which grow oil palms with farmers and produce food and fuel for today and for the future with sustainability at the heart of our operations. GAR now has operations across 14 countries and products are delivered to around 100 countries worldwide, including China, India and the USA as well as various destinations in Europe and the Middle East.
GAR’s downstream refining and specialty product facilities manufacture high-quality products for the global agronomy, food, oleochemical, and bioenergy markets. GAR also has complementary businesses such as soybean-based products in China, sunflower-based products in India, and sugar businesses which leverage our shipping and logistics capabilities.
