Some of the selected products include:

• Intermediary, semi-finished products, such as yarn and fabrics
• Finished products, such as a pair of jeans, a shirt, shoes or a handbag

The evaluation of inputs, among others, refers to:

• Cotton fibre quality
• Type of leather
• Water

Chemicals

Sustainability hotspots in textile and leather manufacturing processes include:

• Insecticide, pesticide and fertilizer use
• Hazardous and toxic chemical use
• Water consumption and pollution
• Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution
• Energy consumption and efficiency
• Soil and land degradation
• Biodiversity and ecosystems depletion
• Deforestation and habitat loss
• Solid waste
• Animal welfare
• Human rights and labour rights

Samples of a multi-issue sustainability claim:

• Cotton Example: “The fabric of these jeans is made of 65% regenerated cotton yarn coming from the preconsumer waste of our Italian fabric supplier and of 35% virgin cotton sourced from Türkiye. From the yarn up to the finishing of the denim material the processing steps avoid the use of chemicals that are harmful to health and the environment”.
• Leather example: “The leather in this product has been sourced from Denmark and manufactured in Germany, in accordance with Leather Working Group, ISO and ZDHC standards which promote sustainable environmental and responsible chemical use practices.”

The five EPCIS dimensions refer to what, when, where, who and why and include data on sustainability performance:

• What: Object ID (e.g., cotton, yarn, pallet)
• When: Date and time (e.g., date/ time occurrence)
• Where: Location ID (e.g., Italy, Prado)
• Who: Party ID (e.g., weaver)
• Why: Process Type (e.g., weaving yarn to fabric)
• How: Certificate/ Report ID (e.g., certificates)

Traceability event types refer to:

• Transaction (e.g., objects in documents)
• Transformation (e.g., inputs production output)
• Aggregation (e.g., packages on/ from pallet)
• Object (e.g., harvested, moved, recycled)

Each of the traceability event types range from transaction to object event, and provide the collected data: when the event occurred; at which location; what objects (e.g. products/materials) were involved as input or output of a transformation; which business partners (parties) were involved; and under which sustainability conditions production was done. Supply chain visibility can be established when business partners share traceability events, including the related sustainability details. The blockchain platform uses the transaction event and transformation event along with certification evidence.

After appropriate training, business partners use the TT matrix to collect the information related to the 5W model for the relevant business processes, especially identifying transparency data (i.e. the data/documents supporting their claims) and involving their suppliers in order to cover the whole value chain (to the extent possible). In accordance with the assurance models identified within the project (e.g. self-declared, self-assessed, second-party verified, third-party certified), business partners provide one or more documents to substantiate their claim. For example, for claims on country of origin they could use transaction documents (shipping notes, commercial invoices, delivery notes, transportation documents, packing lists) and, for social and environmental claims, they could provide assurance documents (certificates, audit/inspection reports, laboratory test result reports, NGOs/civil society attestations, declarations).

UNECE together with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) developed a user manual to provide guidance to end users for navigating and utilizing the blockchain platform. This manual gives users a general overview of the system, and practical steps on how to register transformation and transaction events, as well as certifications and assessments. It also provides participants with guidelines for connecting an entire supply chain to the system and information on system security aspects. A specific glossary has been developed to familiarize users with the wording and the most common terms of the methodology on the platform.