207 can provide a robust institutional architecture without necessarily ensuring alignment with broader sustainability thresholds. Therefore, companies that rely on VSS must distinguish between operational compliance and substantive sustainability performance. The dualperspective framework offers a structured tool to support this distinction and identify areas where deeper regulatory integration may be necessary. From a methodological point of view, the study illustrates how integrating operational requirements with regulatory sustainability paradigms allows for a more differentiated assessment of VSS. Future applications of the tool in other standards will enable comparisons to be made and indicators to be refined at the criteria level, further enhancing transparency and harmonization in mineral supply chains. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This article was supported by the MaDiTraCe project, which is funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program of the European Union [Grant number 101091502/Topic: HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01]. REFERENCES Abbott, K. W., & Snidal, D. (2008). The Governance Triangle: Regulatory Standards Institutions and The Shadow of the State. Princeton University Press. Bartley, T. (2011). Certification as a mode of social regulation. In Handbook on the Politics of Regulation (S. 441–456). Edward Elgar. Bennett, E. A. (2016). Constructing Private Governance: The Rise and Evolution of Forest, Coffee, and Fisheries Certification. By Graeme Auld. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014. 352p. $30.00. Perspectives on Politics, 14(2), 591–592. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592716000888 Cashore, B. (2002). Legitimacy and the Privatization of Environmental Governance: How Non–State Market–Driven (NSMD) Governance Systems Gain Rule–Making Authority. Governance, 15(4), 503–529. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0491.00199 Daly, H. E. (1997). Beyond growth: The economics of sustainable development. Beacon press. Ekins, P., Simon, S., Deutsch, L., Folke, C., & De Groot, R. (2003). A framework for the practical application of the concepts of critical natural capital and strong sustainability. Ecological Economics, 44(2–3), 165–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00272-0
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