EUDR evidence provenance turns a value in a system into a fact another person can review. The chain should identify the exact source, confirmation state, applied checks, later corrections, and exports that used the value, while surviving extraction, normalization, supplier updates, and human review.
A practical preparation workflow
- 1
Preserve the original source and assign an immutable version.
- 2
Map extracted candidates and confirmed facts to precise source references.
- 3
Carry those references through checks, decisions, and the Filing Pack.
Treat extraction as a proposal, not a fact
Document and spreadsheet data can reduce retyping, but imported values can still misread codes, dates, quantities, and names. Keep each suggested value linked to its source, then require a person to confirm material facts.
Use references that survive normalization
When a file is normalized or converted, keep both the original location and the normalized object identifier. A GeoJSON feature, for example, should remain connected to its source KML placemark or spreadsheet row.
- Documents: file version, page, region, and extracted field.
- Spreadsheets: workbook, sheet, row, column, and cell.
- Geometry: source file, feature, part, CRS evidence, and normalized feature ID.
Show impact before changing a confirmed fact
A correction may affect plot checks, DDS mapping, risk inputs, issues, and prior exports. The system should expose those dependencies and rerun affected results into a new version.
Use a minimum audit-trail checklist
A reviewer should be able to start from a DDS value and work back to the evidence without relying on memory or a file name alone. At minimum, keep:
- The original file, its immutable version, and the precise page, row, cell, or feature.
- The imported value, its confirmation state, and the person who reviewed it.
- Every correction, with its reason and the earlier value left intact.
- The checks, decisions, and Filing Pack versions that used the value.
What to check
- Original source identity and version
- Page, row, cell, feature, or object reference
- Candidate, confirmed, corrected, or superseded state
- Downstream checks and exports using the fact
Provenance shows where a claim came from; it does not prove that the underlying source is truthful or legally sufficient.
Questions teams ask
Is a file name a sufficient source reference?
No. File names can repeat or change. Use an immutable file version plus a precise location or object reference.
Can a normalized file replace the original?
No. Keep the original evidence and record how the normalized derivative was produced.
Does provenance prove the source is correct?
No. It makes the claim reviewable; authenticity and sufficiency still require judgment and, where appropriate, independent verification.