ISCC PLUS & CORSIA · Scheme update
ISCC PLUS and CORSIA: October 2026 updates and what your business must do
Prepare for ISCC PLUS declaration changes on 1 January 2027, replace outdated CORSIA self-declarations and check POME recovery emissions in your GHG calculations.
The ISCC System Update issued on 29 October 2026 addresses three operational issues: PLUS sustainability declarations, CORSIA supplier self-declarations and the treatment of palm oil mill effluent in greenhouse gas calculations. For businesses managing certified supply chains, these changes affect the information issued to customers and the evidence collected from suppliers.
This article explains the PLUS and CORSIA sections of that update, supported by ISCC's current FAQs. It is an independent Get-ISO summary, not an ISCC publication. The publication date above is separate from the effective dates below.
The dates and requirements to act on
- ISCC PLUS — 1 January 2027: outgoing sustainability declarations must meet the mandatory information requirements of SD v4.0. A business may use ISCC's template or its own compliant version.
- ISCC PLUS — audits from 1 January 2027: audits must follow System Document v1.1. Existing certificates based on v3.4.2 have specific transition arrangements; the declaration change still applies.
- ISCC CORSIA — mandatory now: the 29 October update requires economic operators to use the current self-declaration templates. It gives no new future grace period.
- ISCC CORSIA — POME clarification: recovery or collection emissions from POME ponds must be included in the GHG life-cycle analysis. A residue classification does not make every subsequent operation emission-free.
ISCC PLUS: update declaration content, not just the file name
ISCC has added FAQs explaining how SD v4.0 handles Reflection of input characteristics and Extent of input compensation, including certification and recertification scenarios. These fields need to reflect the applicable certificate basis and actual processing arrangements.
Mandatory requirement: from 1 January 2027, a company using its own declaration format must include all mandatory SD v4.0 information. The official spreadsheet is not itself compulsory. See ISCC's FAQ on template use.
Where multiple processing stages take place at one site, ISCC distinguishes compensation that can be followed through the complete process from compensation that cannot be traced through every stage. The multi-stage processing FAQ explains the calculation boundary and when to identify compensation applied upstream.
Practical preparation: map each outgoing declaration field to its source record and responsible person. Test one real receipt-to-dispatch chain before changing the live template. Check spreadsheet controls, customer-specific layouts and staff instructions together.
Existing PLUS certificates: distinguish the audit date from certificate validity
ISCC's v1.1 applicability FAQ confirms that audits conducted from 1 January 2027 must use v1.1. The document version governing the certificate valid when a declaration is issued determines the applicable declaration treatment; the audit date alone does not change that basis.
For a company certified or recertified before that date under v3.4.2, ISCC allows continued operation under that basis until the next recertification. From January, however, SD v4.0 information requirements still apply: reflection information must be declared, the extent field is not required under that legacy basis, and the similar-in-nature criterion does not apply. ISCC also requires an additional-information statement identifying the v3.4.2 basis. Follow the official legacy-certificate FAQ for the exact wording and conditions.
Practical preparation: record your current certificate basis, next audit date and certificate validity dates in one transition plan. Confirm the applicable scenario with your certification body rather than assuming every company switches all requirements on the same day.
Older PLUS stock: preserve the receipt-date evidence
ISCC also addresses material received before 1 January 2027 with SD v3.6, then processed or dispatched afterwards. Its older-stock FAQ provides a specific additional-information statement where upstream characteristic information is unavailable. Receipt timing must be verifiable. If compensation is applied at your own site after the change, the relevant SD v4.0 information must still be completed.
Illustrative preparation example: a processor carries December receipts into January production. Retain the incoming declaration, goods-received date, stock reference and production link together. Do not invent missing upstream data or apply a blanket exemption to all January dispatches.
ISCC CORSIA: replace obsolete supplier self-declarations
The October newsletter makes the current CORSIA self-declaration templates mandatory for farms and plantations, waste and residue suppliers, and used cooking oil suppliers. These templates have been available since 30 September 2025; that availability date is not a new implementation deadline. ISCC has withdrawn the earlier versions.
Practical preparation: download the current versions from the ISCC document library, using your client-section login. Replace obsolete files in supplier packs, shared folders and onboarding systems. Identify affected suppliers and agree any remediation of existing records with your certification body. Preserve the original records and a version-change log; the newsletter does not itself establish a universal retrospective re-signing rule.
POME under CORSIA: check the recovery stage in the GHG boundary
ISCC clarifies that palm oil mill effluent is a processing residue under the ICAO CORSIA framework. Wastes, residues and by-products receive zero emissions at feedstock generation, but emissions from preprocessing needed to prepare them for subsequent processing must be counted. For POME, this includes recovering or collecting oil from ponds.
The CORSIA material list and ISCC HUB now use the designation Palm oil mill effluent (POME).
Practical preparation: review the boundary used in your current GHG calculation. Identify recovery equipment, energy records, recovered quantities and any contractor activity relevant to that stage. A calculation that starts only after recovery needs a documented boundary review. Do not assume ISCC EU terminology or calculation treatment automatically establishes the CORSIA position.
A focused action pack for your next review
Assign an owner and completion date to each applicable change. A useful review pack contains your certificate basis and dates, controlled declaration templates, a sample transaction trail, supplier-form version register and, for POME, the recovery-stage GHG boundary and supporting data. These are Get-ISO preparation steps, not an additional ISCC-prescribed checklist.
For an initial discussion, use our ISCC enquiry checklist and ISCC certification coordination service. Identify PLUS or CORSIA explicitly and describe the affected activity. Detailed commercial records should follow through an agreed secure channel.
Sources and scope of this update
- ISCC System Update — 29 October 2026, sections 2.1, 3.1 and 3.2: the original newsletter reviewed for this article. The CORSIA template and POME clarifications above come from this issue. ISCC's system-updates page provides its public update register.
- ISCC PLUS Sustainability Declaration FAQs, including the individual answers linked above.
- ISCC PLUS v1.1 applicability FAQ, updated 27 October 2026.
- ISCC document library for current scheme documents, material lists and controlled templates. Some downloads require a client login.
Sources checked on 31 October 2026. This article covers the PLUS and CORSIA items in the 29 October newsletter; it is not an exhaustive review of every ISCC change. The scheme documents, system updates and applicable official instructions remain the governing references.
General guidance. Use the applicable standard, scheme documents and agreed engagement criteria. Examples are illustrative and do not establish a certification outcome.