Voluntary certification schemes and labels are used as a means to improve the sustainability of biomass feedstock

production and biobased products. To ensure the viability of certification, it is important to understand its socioeconomic

implications for certificate holders. Existing literature focuses on the economic impacts of certification

within specific contexts (e.g., specific feedstock, regions, supply chain elements), and rarely addresses the

social impacts. The present systematic literature review analyses the findings of 75 scientific articles covering the

socioeconomic impacts of certification on producers of biobased feedstock (i.e. palm oil, maize, natural rubber,

soybean, sugar cane, wood, and raw cotton) and related supply chains. The socioeconomic impacts are aggregated

into 7 economic outcome categories (direct costs, indirect costs, revenues, income, productivity, price

premiums, market access) and 5 social ones (health, education, poverty reduction, labour conditions, well-

being). The results show that the economic impacts of certification are generally positive, with economic benefits

compensating for the increased costs faced by companies after certification. Smallholders and companies

located in low-income countries are more likely to experience negative economic impacts after certification

because they have less access to resources for financing high upfront costs or legal documents on certification

requirements, and face proportionally higher certification costs. The social impacts have been less investigated

than the economic ones, and the results showed more mixed findings, although still mostly positive. Looking

across the supply chain, both economic and social impacts were found to be investigated more for feedstock

producers compared to other actors in the supply chains. New policy should focus on mitigating the negative

impacts on vulnerable groups to improve their participation in certification programmes.