Inbound DDS

​

Overview

For inbound goods (import into the EU), Due Diligence Statements (DDS) may need to be created and submitted via EU TRACES. Polygon One supports both manual and automatic creation, linking, and assignment. The Due Diligence Statements → Inbound page displays two sections:

1. Orders without a DDS reference — Purchase orders that are not yet assigned to a DDS
2. Import Due Diligence Statements — Overview of all created or linked DDS

​

The TRACES marker in the page header

Once the daily check is running, a marker for the state of the TRACES connection sits at the top of the page. Once a day Polygon One checks in the TRACES acceptance environment whether submitting, amending and withdrawing behave as expected. Beside it, it always says when it was last checked. If the check does not run in your environment at all, no marker ever appears — that is not a fault, and it says nothing about your statements.

​

Create a DDS

​

Supplementary Unit (Annex I)

For certain goods, TRACES requires a supplementary unit in addition to the weight in kg (e.g. cubic meters for wood). This obligation applies to articles with an Annex I HS code in import and export DDS.

• The unit (e.g. m³, l) is derived automatically from the HS code and cannot be changed.
• You enter the value per article in the “Suppl. unit” field.
• Articles without a supplementary unit show a ”—” instead.

​

Link an External DDS

If you have already received a DDS from an upstream supplier, you can incorporate it via “Link External DDS”:

1. Enter the reference number and the verification number — both are mandatory.
2. Select the supplier and articles with quantities, and optionally the matching purchase order.
3. The external DDS is integrated into your overview.

​

DDS References Declared by a Supplier

In the invitation form, your suppliers can declare themselves that a share is already covered by an existing due diligence statement issued by another operator — instead of providing geodata. They enter the reference and verification number there, plus the quantity covered per article; if the material comes from several statements (typically one per production lot), they add them one by one. You see those declarations in the article’s compliance detail view (row action “View Details” in Inbound), in the geo section under “Covered by upstream DDS”. The lead-in there reads: “Your supplier declared that this material is covered by an existing Due Diligence Statement. Use these numbers in your own DDS and customs declaration.” Two actions are available per reference:

• “Copy reference number” — copies the reference and verification number.
• “Verify at TRACES” — checks the statement and stores the outcome on the reference (see below). If the verification number is missing, the button is disabled and says why: “TRACES needs both numbers to verify a statement — this reference has no verification number.”

​

What the Status “Covered by upstream DDS” Means

When an article is fully covered by references and carries no plots of its own, its compliance status becomes “Covered by upstream DDS”. The tooltip explains: “The material is covered by an upstream Due Diligence Statement the supplier referenced — no geolocation or legal due diligence is required for it.” The supply-chain view calls the same state “Covered by Upstream DDS”, and the compliance X-ray shortens it to “Covered upstream”. For the supplier this has one visible consequence: in that case the form stops asking them to upload legal documents.

​

Verify a Supplier’s DDS in TRACES

Before relying on a supplier’s DDS, you can check it directly against TRACES:

1. Click “Verify in TRACES” — at the top of the Inbound DDS page, or on the detail page of a linked external DDS (there the numbers are prefilled).
2. Enter the DDS reference number and the verification number you received from your supplier.
3. TRACES returns one of three results:
   • Valid and usable — the statement exists and can still be relied on; its current TRACES status is shown as well
   • Exists, but not usable — the statement exists but can no longer be used (for example, it was withdrawn)
   • Not found at TRACES — no statement matches the numbers you entered

The three badges match the three results: “Valid and usable” (green), “Exists, but not usable” (amber), and “Not found at TRACES” (red). A reference that has never been checked carries no badge at all.

​

Warning on Submit

If one of your lines relies on an upstream reference that TRACES has not confirmed as usable, the create dialog and the DDS detail page tell you so:

“{count} article(s) rely on an upstream DDS reference that TRACES has not confirmed as usable. You can still submit; TRACES will reject a statement that groups an unusable DDS.”

The notice does not block. An unchecked reference is a legitimate line — the decision to submit stays with you. Counted are only lines that have no plots, rely on references, and where none of those references is confirmed “Valid and usable”.

​

How Linked References Are Submitted

On submission, your linked external statements are sent to TRACES as grouped declarations. Two practical consequences:

• A line covered by a reference needs no plots of its own. The blocking notice about missing geo-plots does not count such lines. (The notice text itself still speaks only of plots — reference-covered lines are excluded from the count all the same.)
• Polygon One checks the TRACES limits before sending — a reference number may be at most 14 characters and must not be empty. If a reference breaks that, submission stops with a clear message instead of producing an unexplainable TRACES rejection.

On a DDS detail page, the incorporated statements are listed under “Associated statements (upstream DDS)” — each with its badge and a verify button.

​

Assigning a DDS to Orders

Once a DDS has the status Draft, Validated, or Submitted, you can assign matching purchase orders to it:

1. For an order without a DDS, click “Assign DDS”.
2. The system shows only matching DDS (same supplier, matching articles, sufficient remaining volume).
3. Select the DDS and confirm the assignment.

​

DDS Status

​

Managing a Submitted DDS

On the detail page of a DDS that has been submitted to TRACES (status Submitted or Validated), two additional actions are available:

• Refresh status — queries TRACES for the current state of the statement and updates the status as well as the reference and verification numbers if they changed. Polygon One also refreshes submitted statements automatically in the background, so this is only needed when you want an immediate update.
• Withdraw — withdraws the statement at TRACES with legal effect, after a confirmation dialog. A withdrawn DDS receives the status Withdrawn and can no longer be used; the withdrawal cannot be undone from the application. If the declaration was incorrect, create and submit a new DDS afterwards.

​

Submission Snapshots

For every submission attempt to TRACES, Polygon One stores the exact declaration XML that was sent as a snapshot. In the DDS detail view you will find the “Submission snapshots” section where each snapshot can be downloaded.

• Snapshots are retained for the legally required retention period
• The audit package export bundles the snapshots together with all evidence

​

Automation

Under Settings → EUDR, the DDS workflow section lets you automate DDS processes:

• Auto-Assign Orders to DDS — New EUDR-relevant orders are automatically assigned to matching open DDS statements
• Auto-Create DDS for Orders — If no matching DDS exists, a new one is created automatically
• Block manual DDS for non-compliant articles — Prevents manual creation or submission while an article is non-compliant or still under review
• Default DDS Volume (kg) — Default volume for automatically created DDS statements

​

Volume Tracking

Polygon One automatically tracks the assigned volume against the total volume of the DDS.