Informal discussions on the implementation of the EU's Union database for biofuels (UDB) included a provision requiring proof of sustainability (PoS) documents to be cancelled if a sustainability certification was suspended or withdrawn along the supply chain, market participants have told Argus.
Sustainability could be suspended or withdrawn for critical or major non-compliances during an annual or ad-hoc audit. Any PoS issued during the period of non-compliance would be cancelled retroactively, and the PoS would be cancelled regardless of whether it had already been traded or used for a country's domestic mandate.
These changes would have to be a part of the implementing regulation on sustainability certification (2022/996), which the commission does not expect to be finalised until the end of 2026, according to the UDB public wiki.
The implementing regulation covers more than just the UDB, and has also been the subject of debate for much of this year involving industry associations, the commission and sustainability verification schemes.
But the UDB could become mandatory earlier than end of 2026. In May, the commission was hoping that the delegated act — a second piece of legislation that would extend traceability requirements for the UDB to the point of origin of raw materials and set a date for mandatory usage — would be in place by the end of June. In June, the Expert Group of Renewable Fuels published a draft of the act that was only missing the mandatory usage date. The commission still plans for the delegated act to be finalised before the end of this year.
