How should an ISCC PLUS System User (re-)certified before 1 January 2027 manage Sustainability Declarations and bookkeeping after 1 January 2027?

If a company is (re-)certified before 1 January 2027 based on ISCC PLUS System Document v3.4.2, it may continue to operate according to those requirements until its next recertification (according to the standalone ISCC PLUS System Documents).

However, starting from 1 January 2027, the company must:

• Use Sustainability Declaration v4.0 template(s) (Excel or PDF); or

• Ensure its own Sustainability Declaration template contains all mandatory SD v4.0 requirements.

This means in cases where compensation of input characteristics is applied, ‘Reflection of input characteristics’ information shall be correctly declared in the outgoing Sustainability Declaration(s).

Since the company remains certified under ISCC PLUS System Document v3.4.2:

• The “similar-in-nature” criterion does not apply.

• “Extent of input compensation” does not need to be provided.

• Information on “Reflection of Input Characteristics” must be declared.

• The following shall be added into the “Additional Information” provision of the Sustainability Declaration: “The issuer of this Sustainability Declaration is currently certified based on the System Documents v3.4.2”.

From the next recertification audit in 2027, the company must fully comply with the applicable requirements according to ISCC PLUS System Documents v1.1; starting from the validity date of the certificate issued.