ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA), a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., is collaborating with Space Intelligence, a nature mapping data provider, to introduce the ICE Commodity Traceability Service (ICE CoT). This is a new technology platform designed to streamline the trade of physical cocoa and coffee by automating the submission, storage, validation, and sharing of due diligence information required under the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The EUDR aims to minimise the EU’s contribution to global deforestation by ensuring that specified goods entering or sold in the EU are “deforestation-free” and lawfully produced. Given that Europe is the largest market for cocoa and coffee globally, the regulation has significant implications for supply chains.
The partnership will see Space Intelligence’s geospatial mapping integrated into ICE CoT, identifying areas in cocoa and coffee-producing countries that have been deforested since December 31, 2020, and are ineligible for EUDR-compliant production. This data will be combined with ICE CoT’s farm and physical flow validation methods, leveraging geolocation and traceability information to support compliance across the supply chain.
The platform’s pilot phase began in June 2024, focusing on the validation of cocoa and coffee farm geolocation data to allow companies to upload farm plot coordinates and conduct a series of validation checks on the data. IBA also plans to pilot the validation of physical flow data, including the movement, merging, or splitting of cocoa and coffee parcels along the supply chain, alongside lawful production data.
IBA aims to launch ICE CoT by the end of 2024, subject to further testing, system and data availability, and any regulatory requirements.
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