BUREAU VERITAS, KAYRROS AND OPTEL JOIN FORCES TO HELP COMPANIES REDUCE SUPPLY CHAIN-INDUCED DEFORESTATION

Bureau Veritas, Kayrros, a leading environmental intelligence services company, and OPTEL, one of the world's leading suppliers of traceability systems, announced at COP 28 in Dubai the signing of a strategic partnership to provide companies with a solution to help them combat deforestation. The partnership is designed to help companies comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which aims to combat deforestation caused by the import of certain products. 

Deforestation is one of the major environmental emergencies on the COP 28 agenda. As an aggravating factor in global warming, drastically limiting deforestation is a major challenge for the coming years. From 2024, the EUDR European regulation will require companies to ensure full traceability of products, and to verify that goods sold on the European market - or exported from the EU - have not participated in deforestation or forest degradation. 

Bureau Veritas, Kayrros and OPTEL are aware of the operational challenge this represents for companies and have joined forces to implement innovative solutions. This partnership aims to go further than the single use case of deforestation, by addressing all industries with traceability and supply control needs. 

The joint offering is based on the complementary skills of the three companies: verification of production conditions and reliability of information by Bureau Veritas, thanks to its international network of auditors; tracking of deforestation or forest degradation over time, thanks to satellite data and the reconstitution of biomes (a set of ecosystems) provided by Kayrros; transparency on the origin of the commodities concerned, thanks to OPTEL's traceability system.

Hinda Gharbi, Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas, commented:
"The range of solutions developed with OPTEL and Kayrros will enable our customers to better control their imported products from deforested land or land subject to forest degradation. The need for transparency and information throughout the supply chain is critical and concerns many markets. I am convinced that this partnership, which is fully aligned with Bureau Veritas strategy to take sustainability to the next level, will provide a concrete and effective response.”

Antoine Rostand, Co-founder and President of Kayrros, stated:
"We are delighted to form this partnership with Bureau Veritas and OPTEL, bringing together our expertise and experience in our respective fields to support the fight against deforestation. We will be able to help companies comply with the regulations set by the EU and help consumers understand whether the products they buy are contributing to forest degradation. Kayrros, Bureau Veritas, and OPTEL share a commitment to providing innovative solutions to the sustainability challenges that organizations are facing today."

Florent Bouguin, EVP and Chief Technology Officer at OPTEL, said:
"OPTEL's traceability systems have been developed and deployed over the years to enable companies to make their supply chains more sustainable. We are delighted to announce our collaboration with two major partners who will complement our expertise, enabling us to offer a turnkey solution to customers to comply with EUDR regulations.”

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