# Force 1: Regulatory Pressure Intensifying
**The Shift from Optional to Mandatory**
Agricultural regulations globally are moving from voluntary guidelines to **mandatory requirements** with significant implications for market access. What was "good practice" in 2023 becomes **law** in 2025-2027.
**European Union Requirements**
As UNISOT CEO Stephan Nilsson explains: "In Europe we have a lot of new European regulation that **forces us to do supply chain sustainability, supply chain traceability and also digital product passports**. So anyone that is planning to export or work with or do business with Europe **has to follow all of these European new laws** as well."
**Supply Chain Due Diligence—The Multi-Tier Challenge**
What **EU supply chain due diligence law** requires:
* Verification of **direct suppliers**
* Analysis of **multi-tier supplier networks** (your suppliers' suppliers' suppliers)
* Identification of risks including **child labor, slave labor, environmental violations**
**Without blockchain**: Manual investigation of hundreds or thousands of suppliers across 3-4 tiers = **impossible at scale**
**With blockchain**: Automated supplier network analysis with **immediate risk identification**
**Impact for Agricultural Businesses:**
* **Market access:** Non-compliance restricts ability to sell in European markets
* **Competitive disadvantage:** Companies without traceability infrastructure locked out
* **Cost burden:** Manual compliance becoming **increasingly expensive and complex**
* **Scope expansion:** Regulations affecting **anyone selling to EU market**, not just EU companies
**The Compliance Gap:**
Most of these reports today are just **estimations not very exact** but with this kind of Technology we can make **very specific and exact reports**.
Manual systems cannot achieve the **precision required** for regulatory compliance. Blockchain enables exact tracking of:
* Energy consumption per production step
* Water usage throughout supply chain
* Waste generation at each facility
* Carbon footprint by product batch
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