In 2025, the AFi invited stakeholders to provide input on proposed updates to the Accountability Framework. This consultation addressed multiple topic areas, including target setting, traceability, supply chain management, verification, and certification.
The Accountability Framework was first published in 2019 as a roadmap for achieving agricultural and forestry supply chains that are protective of forests, other natural ecosystems, and human rights. Since then, hundreds of companies have used the Framework to set goals, take action, and report progress towards responsible supply chains. Thousands more use guidelines, metrics, standards, tools, and standards that have aligned with the Framework.
The AFi is in the process of revising the Accountability Framework to continue to serve as an up-to-date global reference for responsible supply chains. This includes adding detail on key topics where companies and other stakeholders seek additional clarity. It also includes incorporating recent learnings and innovations on good practices, as well as new policy and regulatory developments.
The updated guidance will better support companies and other stakeholders in taking effective and aligned action. It will also help them to address a multiple market, stakeholder, and regulatory mandates in an integrated manner.
Consultation process and timeline
The public consultation period ran for 60 days from January to March 2025. To learn more about the topics included in the consultation, please download the consultation brief. For additional information, watch recordings of webinar in English and Portuguese where an overview of the consultation was presented.
The AFi team has reviewed all stakeholder feedback and is using it to inform the development and revision of several Accountability Framework Operational Guidance documents. As each document is published, we will also provide an accompanying public consultation report that includes a non-attributed summary of the comments received on each topic and how they were addressed in the corresponding guidance document. Please see below for more detail on the status of each guidance document that is informed by the public consultation.
Topics addressed
The public consultation included 11 topics, which are being addressed in five new or updated Accountability Framework Operational Guidance documents:
Supply chain traceability, assessment, and control
The Framework updates will provide additional detail on each of the four forms of traceability and control addressed in the Accountability Framework:
- production unit level traceability and control
- area level traceability and control
- use of certification
- supplier control systems
The AFi expects to publish the Operational Guidance on Supply Chain Traceability, Assessment, and Control in 2026.
Supply chain management
Proposed updates to this existing Operational Guidance include additional detail on responsible procurement, determining appropriate responses to supply chain non-compliance, pathways back to compliance for producers with post-cutoff date deforestation or conversion, and responsible disengagement for persistently non-compliant suppliers.
The Operational Guidance on Supply Chain Management is currently under revision, with the revised document expected in 2026.
Monitoring and verification
Proposed updates to this existing Operational Guidance include additional detail on different forms of verification and their uses to manage supply chain risk, assess compliance, and support reporting and claims. Monitoring guidance will also be updated.
The Operational Guidance on Monitoring and Verification is currently under revision, with the revised document expected in 2026.
Commitments and progress pathways
Input from the public consultation was used in developing the Operational Guidance on Commitments and Progress Pathways, which was published in December 2025. For a summary on consultation feedback on this topic and how it was addressed in the new guidance, click here.
Uses of certification in responsible sourcing
A working draft of this guidance was published in January 2025, and stakeholders were invited to submit feedback on this draft as part of the public consultation. Based on this input and on subsequent feedback received by companies and stakeholders using the working draft, a final version of this document is expected to be published as Operational Guidance in late 2026 or early 2027.
