The DDS reference number is the thread that ties a customs declaration, a trader's records, and an audit trail back to one exercise of due diligence. Misusing it, by referencing an old statement for products it never covered, is one of the fastest ways to turn routine paperwork into a compliance finding. This page explains when the number is issued and when it may lawfully be reused.
A practical preparation workflow
- 1
Receive the reference number from the Information System after submission.
- 2
Record the number, submitter, timestamp, and covered product scope in the case.
- 3
For later shipments, check the reuse conditions before referencing the number.
What the reference number is
When the Information System accepts a due diligence statement, it issues a reference number that uniquely identifies that statement. The number is what customs sees, what downstream actors cite, and what a competent authority revokes if the statement fails review. Treat it as the case's public identifier, and keep it linked in your records to the exact evidence versions and reviewer decisions behind the filing.
Where the number is used
The reference number connects the customs declaration for the covered product to its due diligence statement. Importers need it at import; exporters need the system's confirmation before export. Traders making products available on the market record the reference numbers of the statements behind the goods they handle, which is how a trader demonstrates reliance on the upstream operator's due diligence instead of repeating it.
Referencing an earlier DDS for subsequent shipments
The regulation allows an operator to reference an already-submitted DDS for later shipments instead of filing a new statement, under conditions: the due diligence must have been carried out less than one year before, the products and the plots they rely on must be the same, and there must be no reason to believe circumstances changed. In practice the check is factual: same product and CN scope, same plot set, same suppliers, no new deforestation or legality signals, and a still-defensible risk conclusion. If any of those moved, file a new statement.
How traders rely on upstream numbers
Non-operator traders do not re-run the operator's due diligence. Their obligation is informational: record who supplied the products and the reference numbers of the relevant statements, and pass those numbers down the chain on request. Micro and small traders have a lighter information set but the same principle, reliance documented rather than diligence duplicated. Losing the linkage between goods and numbers is the common failure, especially when stock from multiple operators mixes in one warehouse.
Revocation and what it breaks
A competent authority can reject or revoke a reference number when the statement fails review. Revocation does not stay contained: customs holds the covered goods, traders holding stock that relied on the number face questions, and the operator must correct and resubmit. The mitigation is boring and effective: keep the evidence behind each number frozen, dated, and reproducible, so a review can be answered with documents rather than reconstructions.
What to check
- Same operator and same products
- Due diligence less than one year old
- No changed plot, supplier, or risk facts
- Number stored with the evidence versions
Reuse conditions are legal tests; this page summarizes them for planning and does not decide individual cases.
Questions teams ask
Can I reuse one DDS for multiple shipments?
Yes, for the same products relying on the same plots, when the due diligence is less than one year old and no circumstances changed; otherwise submit a new statement.
Do traders submit their own DDS?
Generally not; traders record and pass on the reference numbers of the statements behind the products they make available on the market.
Where does the reference number appear?
In the customs declaration for imports and exports, and in the records of traders handling the covered products downstream.
What if a reference number is revoked?
The operator must rectify and resubmit, goods can be held, and downstream reliance on that number stops being defensible until resolved.