Agri-Food Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing Criteria

The 'Agri-Food Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing Criteria', published by the Climate Bonds Initiative on April 12, 2024, provides a framework for certifying agri-food entities that can prove their commodity sourcing is free from deforestation and natural ecosystem conversion. The criteria are designed to align with and expand upon the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), extending requirements to all natural ecosystems and applying them at the entity level globally.

• To be eligible for certification, an Agri-Food Entity must generate at least 50% of its revenue from agri-food supply chains. This includes traders, processors, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, but excludes entities at the producer (farmer or grower) level.
• The criteria establish a cut-off date of December 31, 2020; any deforestation or conversion of natural ecosystems occurring after this date renders the production unit non-compliant. This includes forest degradation and peatland drainage or burning.
• Traceability requirements vary by risk level: commodities from high-risk origins and specific commodities (cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, pulp and paper, and soy) regardless of origin must be geolocated to the original production land plot. Low-risk commodities must be traced to the country of origin or primary processing facility. By January 1, 2030, all sourced agri-food commodities must be traced to the geolocated plot of production.
• Certification requires a materiality threshold where compliant activities must represent at least 90% of an entity's agri-food net procurement spend. Additionally, any individual commodity contributing 1% or more of the total agri-food net procurement spend is considered in scope.
• Entities must implement due diligence and monitoring systems. For high-risk origins, these systems must provide evidence of traceability and freedom from deforestation/conversion since the cut-off date and include active monitoring of geolocated plots. Low-risk origins require simplified due diligence to ensure they are not mixed with high-risk or unknown sources.
• Certification is contingent upon the existence of producer-level human rights and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) safeguards. These must recognize principles such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), the International Bill of Human Rights, and UN and OECD guidelines.
• Verification is conducted annually by approved verifiers using random sampling. For high-risk commodities, at least 10% of procured volume and 10% of total suppliers must be verified. For entities with livestock, at least 25% of samples must consist of livestock supply chains, including the geolocation of feed commodities.

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2024). Agri-Food Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing Criteria. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/criteria-doc-agri-food-dcf-sourcing-120424.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Agri-Food Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing Criteria. 2024. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/criteria-doc-agri-food-dcf-sourcing-120424.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Agri-Food Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing Criteria |date=12 April 2024 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/criteria-doc-agri-food-dcf-sourcing-120424.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2024agrifood, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Agri-Food Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Sourcing Criteria}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/criteria-doc-agri-food-dcf-sourcing-120424.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }