Page 54 - FDMAsia Sep/Oct 2026
P. 54
52 MATERIALS SEP/OCT 2026 FDM ASIA | www.fdmasia.com
Getty Images supply chains: 35 percent supported such regulation, 32
percent opposed it, and 32 percent were unsure.
Respondents rated standards for timber purchasing as
important, and confidentiality of business relationships and
data protection were also rated as highly important.
When asked whether blockchain could improve transparency
while supporting data protection, 51 percent indicated
uncertainty, 34 percent indicated potential, and 11 percent
macro-level significance of carbon metrics, 39 percent rejected considered it unsuitable.
their operational necessity. Similar patterns emerged for the suitability of blockchain
Qualitative interview records indicate that these reservations for automated and legally secure contract processing: 60
are primarily associated with the energy consumption profiles percent were uncertain, 29 percent indicated suitability, and
of continuous blockchain validation protocols and the potential 11 percent indicated unsuitability.
administrative burden of auditing energy use across fragmented These distributions suggest that legal-technical use cases
supply chain tiers. are perceived as plausible by a subset of respondents, but that
Certification-related items produced mixed responses in the uncertainty dominates, reflecting limited operational experience
online survey. For the perceived relevance of certification for and unclear expectations regarding legal recognition of records
market access and product quality, 35 percent indicated an and responsibilities.
effect on market access, whereas a similar share indicated no Tracking and tracing are already used in practice, including
effect on product quality, and 27 percent reported uncertainty. within chain-of-custody certification schemes. Respondents
Respondents rated the economic importance of FSC and rated the need for traceability along the timber supply chain
PEFC certification as moderately important. as relatively high, with a wide dispersion across response
Views on blockchain-supported CO₂ certificate trading categories.
were sceptical: 43 percent saw no value, 33 percent saw The perceived value of confidential traceability was
potential, and 21 percent were unsure. Consistent with this, similar, while interest in new traceability methods was lower.
only 19 percent reported having suitable data for carbon Respondents also expressed a need for a confidential and
marketing, while 75 percent expressed uncertainty or indicated secure database along the supply chain.
insufficient data, pointing to a perceived data availability gap When asked about transparency, almost half of respondents
for carbon-related applications. (49%) said they would welcome more transparency based on
For seed traceability, responses were again divided: 35 their work experience, while 23 percent did not, 25 percent
percent did not see added value for their organisation, 33 were unsure, and 3 percent did not answer.
percent were unsure, and 28 percent saw added value. As Views on the economic benefits of tracking and tracing
this survey sample was dominated by forestry and timber were similarly mixed: 31 percent expected financial gains,
stakeholders, application-specific relevance may differ for other 32 percent did not, 33 percent were unsure, and 4 percent
actor groups, which should be considered when interpreting provided no response.
these results. Regarding currently used tracking approaches, the most
Survey responses indicate uncertainty about whether legal frequently reported were logical order with geodata (n=32),
regulation effectively promotes transparency in sustainable colour marks (n=31), QR codes (n=18), and photo-optical log

