European Commission gives positive technical assessment for ISCC EU under RED III

The International Sustainability and Carbon Certification System GmbH announced May 5 that, at the end of April, the European Commission has given a positive technical assessment for its updated ISCC EU system documents.  

The revisions were made to reflect the legal requirements of Directive (EU) 2023/2413, commonly referred to as the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III).  

Recognition covers key fuel categories  

ISCC has received the positive technical assessment under RED III for the following scopes: 

• Biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels. 

• Renewable fuels of nonbiological origin (RFNBOs), and recycled carbon fuels (RCFs). 

  
  
  
  
  
  

• Coprocessed fuels. 

“We expect the technical assessment of the ISCC EU forest-biomass criteria under the RED III to follow soon,” ISCC stated. “Currently, further validation by the European Commission is still pending.”  

Documents, timeline  

The revised ISCC EU system documents, each including a detailed summary of changes, are available on ISCC’s website under “ISCC EU.” 

The new requirements will take effect May 21.  

From that date, all ISCC EU audits, whether certification or surveillance, must follow the updated requirements.  

If one holds an ISCC EU certificate issued until May 20, 2025, based on the previous ISCC EU system documents, the certificate will remain valid until its expiration date.  

In that case, ISCC said there is no need to undergo an immediate recertification audit.  

ISCC will upload all updated ISCC EU audit procedures, the certificate template, templates for sustainability declarations and proofs of sustainability by May 21. 

“This recognition marks an important milestone in strengthening credible certification under the evolving EU regulatory landscape,” ISCC stated. 

“Thank you to all our system users, cooperating certification bodies, auditors, members of the ISCC association and further partners for your continued trust and collaboration,” the organization added.

More technical, in-depth information on the ISCC EU recognition under RED III can be found here.