Executive Summary
The Vietnamese government has initiated a comprehensive national plan, including a detailed coffee plantation database, to support compliance and sustain its 40% coffee export share to Europe (Kompas: 2024).
Vietnam is reportedly the first to implement the EUDR, reinforcing its role as a pioneer in sustainable coffee production (Vietnam Agriculture: 2024).
The postponement of the EUDR provides Vietnam with crucial time to prepare its coffee exports for compliance, addressing challenges such as fragmented supply chains and complex requirements like electronic proof of geographical coordinates (Vietnam News: 2024).
The European Commission has proposed delaying the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) to December 31, 2025, for large companies and June 30, 2026, for SMEs, giving Vietnamese businesses more time to meet the regulation's due diligence requirements according to the Việt Nam Trade Office in the EU (Vietnam News: 2024).
This delay offers a critical opportunity for Việt Nam’s coffee sector to solidify its leadership in sustainable practices and align with global regulations. As one of the world’s largest coffee exporters, with Europe accounting for approximately 40 percent of its coffee exports, compliance with the EUDR is essential to maintaining this critical trade relationship (Kompas: 2024). Recognizing this, the Vietnamese government has been proactive in its preparations. It’s even reported that Vietnam is the first country to actively implement the EUDR, showcasing its commitment to being a pioneer in sustainable and responsible coffee production (Vietnam Agriculture: 2024).
Just six weeks after the EUDR’s approval in June 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture began supporting coffee-producing provinces through a comprehensive national plan. This included the development of a detailed database of coffee plantation locations and mechanisms for tracking this information effectively. Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture Le Minh Hoang underscored the importance of ensuring producers do not suffer losses during this transition, emphasizing the significance of Europe as Việt Nam’s largest coffee market (Kompas: 2024).
According to the Ministry, regulations like the EUDR are not obstacles but catalysts for accelerating transformation. They view the EUDR as an opportunity to advance agricultural administrative technology and green, sustainable practices across the sector (Kompas: 2024). This proactive approach has positioned Việt Nam as a leader in sustainable coffee production, setting an example for other exporting nations.
The postponement complements these efforts by giving stakeholders additional time to refine compliance measures, address logistical challenges, and fully implement innovative practices. This ensures Việt Nam’s coffee industry not only meets EUDR requirements but also strengthens its foundation for sustainable growth and long-term competitiveness in the global market.
Vietnam's Industry Prepares for EUDR Compliance Amid Regulation Delay
The postponement of the EUDR provides Vietnam crucial time to prepare its coffee exports are compliant with the regulation. According to Deputy President of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, Ngô Sỹ Hoài, as cited in the Vietnam News article, the regulation poses challenges due to its complex requirements, such as providing electronic proof of geographical coordinates. This is especially daunting for Vietnam, where supply chains are fragmented and involve many small-scale producers (Vietnam News: 2024).
However, Hoài sees the EUDR as both a challenge and an opportunity to promote sustainable exports to the EU. Agriculture Trade Counselor Trần Văn Công emphasized the need for intensive training to improve the green export capacity of Vietnamese enterprises, especially SMEs, which dominate the sector. Exporters recommend the Ministry of Industry and Trade issue detailed guidance to help businesses plan ahead. With the right support, the EUDR could drive Vietnam’s agricultural sector towards more sustainable and competitive practices (Vietnam News: 2024).
Adopting Advanced Strategies to Combat Deforestation and Enhance Traceability in Vietnam
The EUDR offers a chance to adopt smarter approaches to deforestation in exporter country including Vietnam. According to World Economic Forum, key strategies include fostering cooperation between producer and consumer countries, providing technical assistance, offering financial support to ease the transition for producers, and strengthening traceability systems to ensure compliance. These steps can help minimize trade disruptions and enable exporters like Vietnam to meet EU requirements. Similar efforts are already underway globally; for example, Brazil's cattle industry is working toward 100% traceability to ensure deforestation-free products for the EU market (World Economic Forum: 2024).
According to Lily Tran, Our Customer Success Lead which based in Vietnam, advanced systems for data collection and traceability are playing a key role in strengthening the coffee supply chain. By utilizing the KoltiTrace system and its FarmXtension tool, businesses are conducting farm-level data mapping across major coffee-producing regions, including Gia Lai, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, and Lam Dong provinces.
This initiative has enabled:
Improved Supply Chain Transparency: Accurate mapping and verification of farming activities to ensure traceability from farm to market.
Compliance with International Standards: Leveraging data to align practices with sustainability and regulatory requirements.
Capacity Building for Producers: Providing tools and support to help farmers adopt sustainable practices, ensuring long-term resilience in the global market.
The case highlights how technology-driven traceability solutions can empower Vietnam’s coffee sector to meet international regulations, foster sustainable growth, and strengthen its global competitiveness.
Transition to Strengthening Traceability and Data Alignment
The EUDR requires businesses to provide key information such as the coordinates of cultivated land, a forest boundary map, satellite-verified data, and traceability to the geographical location of the cultivated plot, including details on producers, productivity, and output. The forestry sector supports this by contributing data on forest management, protection, and international commitments (e.g., FCPF, Glasgow Declaration, VPA/FLEGT) and by providing a forest boundary database for traceability (Vietnam Agriculture: 2024).
Yet, Vietnam faces challenges in aligning its data with EUDR requirements. Experts from the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) estimate Vietnam's forest coverage at 60%, significantly higher than the 42% reported domestically, as the EU includes areas like shade trees and intercropped crops. This discrepancy highlights the need for data adjustments to meet EU standards (Vietnam Agriculture: 2024).
Additionally, ensuring traceability for raw materials remains a challenge, as they often come from diverse sources, making compliance with EUDR's stringent requirements more complex (Vietnam Agriculture: 2024). However, this challenge also presents an opportunity to strengthen traceability systems and improve accountability across supply chains during the delay period.
Our KoltiTrace MIS: A Comprehensive Approach to EUDR Compliance for Vietnam's Coffee Industry
At KOLTIVA, we provide tailored solutions to help Vietnam's coffee exporters navigate the complexities of EUDR compliance with confidence. One key tool is KoltiTrace MIS, a robust management information system designed to enhance traceability, align data with international standards, and support sustainable growth.
Land Use Tracker & Spatial Legality Verification
Automatic deforestation checks based on annually updated Sentinel satellite data and integration with the forthcoming EU deforestation baseline map will occur when accessible. Local protected area maps are integrated to verify producers’ legal compliance. There is also the potential for expansion to offer historical Land Use Change (LUC) emissions information to determine the scope of 3 emissions within your supply chain.
Transactional Traceability
The KoltiTrace platform also provides robust crop production data visualization and transactional traceability from producers to manufacturers for over 52 crop settings. Digital receipts are available on mobile/web apps and can be printed using KoltiTrace IOT for every farm-to-factory transaction.
EUDR Compliance Dashboard
Our EUDR Compliance Dashboard automates flagging for compliant, indicative compliant, and non-compliant plots, as well as intermediaries based on their supply chain. Users can download lists of compliant, indicative compliant, and non-compliant plot and farmer data. The dashboard offers detailed compliance assessments, ranging from high certainty with extensive proof to indicative compliance needing further verification, and non-compliance.
EUDR Due Diligence Statement
The KoltiTrace platform streamlines the automatic generation of due diligence statements for processors and their primary suppliers. By leveraging collected data, we can craft tailored risk assessments, providing substantiating evidence for EUDR Compliance submissions.
EUDR Supply Chain Mapping and Risk Assessment
The KoltiTrace MIS Mobile App empowers processors with supply chain mapping, conducting farm and risk assessments for comprehensive producer compliance. It facilitates recording supply chain linkages among producers, intermediaries, and processors. Need field resources? Koltiva's Boots-on-the-Ground is here to assist.
Achieve EUDR Compliance with KoltiSkills' ComprehensiveOn-the-Ground Expertise
KOLTIVA, a global EUDR compliance provider operating in 65 countries, offers tailored solutions to ensure businesses meet regulatory standards. Our field agents provide on-site supply chain mapping, verification, and capacity-building support.
Through Supply Chain Mapping and Verification, we assess farms, identify risks, and chart smallholders using the KoltiTrace application for a comprehensive supply chain overview.
Our Training and Coaching services raise awareness of sustainable practices via group training and personalized coaching, addressing specific producer challenges using data-driven insights. In Land Legality and Certification, we assist producers in obtaining legal compliance documents and achieving certifications like Rainforest Alliance, FairTrade, and FSC.
For Product Traceability, we digitize operations across the supply chain, ensuring product segregation, quality control, and traceability from seed to table to meet international standards.
KoltiVerify MIS
KoltiVerify is a solution for verifying business supply chain data to ensure quality, completeness, and compliance with EUDR. Key features include:
Seamless Data Integration: Integrates data from any ERP system or manual input.
Data Verification: Ensures accuracy and compliance with EUDR standards.
EUDR Analysis Reports: Provides reports for each processor and plot with a robust flagging system.
Issue Mitigation: Identifies and resolves high-risk data inaccuracies.
KoltiVerify helps businesses strengthen traceability, mitigate risks, and achieve compliance efficiently.
By acting now, you can turn challenges into opportunities, secure your market position, and lead the way in creating a resilient and sustainable coffee industry for the future. Let’s build a stronger, more competitive foundation together.
Writer: Kumara Anggita, Content Writer
Editor: Bobby Hermawan, Head of Digital Marketing
About Writer:
Kumara Anggita, serving as Koltiva's dedicated Content Writer, brings a wealth of experience from her six-year tenure in journalism in the fields of humanities and lifestyle, as well as her role as a writer in the tech industry. Her deep-rooted passion for gender equality and sustainability spurred her to enhance her reporting and storytelling skills through the EmPower Media Bootcamp by UN Women. Now, Kumara utilizes her platform to advocate for sustainable practices and gender equality through her compelling writing.
Resources
The Viet Coffee Co. (n.d.). The History of Vietnamese Coffee. Retrieved from https://thevietcoffeeco.co.nz/the-history-of-vietnamese-coffee/
Vietnam News. (2024). EC’s proposal to delay EUDR implementation by one year gives more time for preparation. Vietnam News.Retrieved from https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1665352/ec-s-proposal-to-delay-eudr-implementation-by-one-year-give-more-time-for-preparation.html
Vicofa. (2024). Câu chuyện cuối tuần: Các tay đầu cơ tài chính đã vắng, nhà kinh doanh xuất nhập khẩu. Vicofa. Retrieved from http://www.vicofa.org.vn/08/12/2024-cau-chuyen-cuoi-tuan-cac-tay-dau-co-tai-chinh-da-vang-nha-kinh-doanh-xuat-nhap-khau-bid2642.html
World Economic Forum. (2024). The delay to EU deforestation rules must help people transition. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/10/the-delay-to-eu-deforestation-rules-must-help-people-transition/
Vietnam Agriculture. (2024). Complete technical issues, early adaptation to EUDR. Vietnam Agriculture. Retrieved from https://vietnamagriculture.nongnghiep.vn/complete-technical-issues-early-adaptation-to-eudr-d394606.html
Vietnam Agriculture. (2024). Vietnamese coffee meets standards, market remains hot despite EUDR’s postponement. Retrieved from https://vietnamagriculture.nongnghiep.vn/vietnamese-coffee-meets-standards-market-remains-hot-despite-eudrs-postponement-d406368.html
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