How it works
From the land to the container, in one record.
A farm has a boundary. A lot records what came off it. A shipment carries lots to one buyer, and the buyer files a due diligence statement against what the record holds. TruSource keeps that chain and shows what is missing at every step.
The chain
Four records, one direction.
Everything in TruSource points the same way — from the land to the container. Nothing downstream can claim more than the record upstream holds.
- Step 1
Farm
One area of land with a boundary, or a point where the regulation permits one — under 4 hectares.
- Step 2
Lot
A quantity of one commodity, with the farms it came from and how much each contributed.
- Step 3
Shipment
One or more lots going to one buyer. Allocate more than a lot holds and the database refuses it.
- Step 4
Document
Licences and certificates attached to a farm, a lot, a shipment, or the organisation, with validity dates.
The checks
What runs on every farm and every shipment
Each check returns one of three results: it passes, it fails, or it is not conclusive. The same rules run on the exporter screen and the buyer screen, so both parties read one result rather than two.
Geolocation
The farm has a boundary or a point, a point is only used below 4 hectares, the shape sits inside the country on the record, and it does not cross itself.
Area and overlap
An area too small or too large catches a misplaced decimal point. No two farms in the workspace may claim the same land.
Deforestation
The farm shape goes to FAO Whisp, which screens it against JRC GFC2020 for the land at the 31 December 2020 cutoff and GFW RADD for changes after it. Low risk, loss detected, not conclusive — or not assessed, which is never read as clear.
Documents
TruSource knows which documents each country and each commodity needs. Each one has to be present, clean of malware, and in date — and the missing ones are named, not implied.
Lots and quantities
Every lot on a shipment passes its own checks, and no lot supplies more than it holds.
Statement readiness
A statement reads ready to file or not ready to file, with each reason named and pointed at the party who can fix it.
The exporter
The party with the evidence records it once.
The origin partner — a cooperative, an estate, or a producer — records the farms, the lots, and the shipments, and files the documents. The Overview screen lists what needs attention in order of importance, and every row opens the screen that fixes it.
- Add a farm before its boundary exists; a field agent records the boundary later
- A lot carries the boundary as it was on the day it was recorded, even if the farm is redrawn afterwards
- Every boundary is kept, so anyone can see what a farm was on any date
The buyer
A connection is not access.
An operator asks a person at the exporter to connect, and that person chooses which workspace to connect. The connection lets the buyer ask for evidence. It does not hand over the exporter’s records — the exporter shares specific shipments, for a set period.
- The buyer sees the shipment, its lots, the farms behind them, and the documents — nothing else in the workspace
- Requests for a document are picked from what this consignment actually needs, not typed free-hand
- Sharing can be stopped, but documents used in a filed statement cannot be deleted
The statement
Filing freezes the evidence.
The operator selects the consignments a statement covers, and TruSource calculates the quantity, the commodity, and the geolocations from them. Filing records the exact version of every boundary, document, and deforestation check behind it.
- Suppliers can no longer delete what a filed statement relies on — the EU requires it kept for five years
- If a supplier changes something afterwards, the filed record stays and the change is reported at the top of the statement
- Freeze again to make a new record next to the first; nothing overwrites what you already filed
Export documents
The paperwork comes off the same record.
A consignment already holds the farms, the lots, the quantities, and the buyer. The export documents are generated from it rather than retyped beside it, so the figures on the invoice are the figures on the shipment — including invoices produced in the KRA eTIMS format Kenyan exporters need.
- Invoice, packing list, and certificate of origin, generated from the consignment record
- Invoices in the KRA eTIMS format, ready for you to submit to KRA under your own name
- Change the consignment and the documents follow it; every version is kept
The limit
TruSource does not file for you.
The EU system needs the geolocation of every farm behind a consignment, and TruSource produces that file in GeoJSON. Submitting it is the operator’s act, in the EU system, under the operator’s name — because the legal duty is the operator’s and TruSource will not stand between a company and its own declaration. The same holds for eTIMS: we produce the invoice, you submit it.
- Download GeoJSON from the statement and submit it in the EU system
- TruSource sends nothing to an authority and certifies nothing
- It records evidence and shows what is absent — that is the whole claim
Who does what
Three parties, three sets of screens.
The EU regulation puts the legal duty on the operator. The origin partner holds the evidence. TruSource connects the two — and the field agent supplies the geolocation that everything else rests on.
Origin partner
The exporter. Records farms, lots, and shipments, files documents, and shares a consignment with a buyer.
Operator
The buyer placing goods on the EU market. Connects to suppliers, examines consignments, asks for documents, and makes the due diligence statement.
Field agent
Sees only the farms an admin assigns. Draws the boundary, or records a point and the declared area where the regulation allows it.
FAQ
Questions we hear often
The procedures are published in full.
Every screen, every step, and every limit — read the platform guide before you talk to us, not after.