Guide to Traceability

WWF’s Guide to Traceability—published by WWF's Forests Forward corporate engagement program—supports companies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders to understand, improve, and implement effective traceability for key forest-risk commodities.

Traceability is essential for the responsible sourcing of specific forest and agricultural commodities linked to deforestation, conversion, illegality, and human rights violations, such as timber, palm oil, rubber, soy, cocoa, coffee, and leather/beef. However, traceability can be challenging due to complex global supply chains, mixing of commodities from different origins, and the absence of standardized data collection.

The guide seeks to address these challenges and support responsible, deforestation- and conversion-free sourcing of forest-risk commodities by:

• Clarifying the key elements that traceability tools and systems should incorporate to be as effective as possible, given current knowledge and technology
• Driving the development and enhancement of these tools and systems
• Providing a road map to companies that want to establish effective traceability

Companies play a key role:

• Large, downstream companies such as brands and retailers have an extremely important role to play in driving the development and implementation of effective traceability
• Well-resourced primary suppliers that source raw materials from farms and forests are best positioned to gather and transmit needed data, exercise controls, and support responsible production within their supply areas

Traceability is a means to an end. Leadership companies need to go beyond using and supporting the development of traceability tools and embrace additional approaches that strike at the roots of the problems and advance durable solutions.