The Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free products (EUDR) aims to bring down greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.
The Regulation is a key part of the Commission’s plan to tackle deforestation.
Together with cooperation initiatives, financial support and improved access to data and monitoring, the EUDR will reduce the EU’s global footprint and support the transition to sustainable, deforestation-free value chains worldwide.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 sets out binding rules for European Union (EU) operators, downstream operators and traders that make available cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy and wood, along with certain derived products, on the EU market or export them from the EU, with the aim of:
- minimising the EU’s contribution to global deforestation and forest degradation;
- reducing the EU’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss.
Compliance requirements
Companies marketing the products listed above must demonstrate that they meet the following requirements:
• they are “deforestation-free” (Art. 2, para. 13)—meaning they originate from land that has not been subject to deforestation after 31 December 2020 and, in the case of products containing wood, the wood was harvested without causing forest degradation in the forest of origin after 31 December 2020;
• they have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production;
• they are covered by a Due Diligence Statement (DDS) issued by the operator.
How to exercise due diligence
In accordance with Art. 8 of the EUDR Regulation, the operator must:
• collect all information necessary to complete the Due Diligence Statement for entry into the EUDR Information System portal. This information includes (Art. 9 EUDR Regulation): a description of the relevant products;
- quantity of the relevant products;
- country of production;
- geolocation of all plots of land where the relevant raw materials contained in the relevant product were produced;
- date or period of production;
- identification details of suppliers and recipients, including names, addresses, and contact information;
- conclusive and verifiable information demonstrating that the relevant products are deforestation-free;
- conclusive and verifiable information demonstrating that the relevant raw materials were produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production.
• Verify the aforementioned information and conduct an assessment of the risk of non-compliance.
• Devise risk mitigation measures—where applicable—designed to render such risk null or negligible.
The operator is required to retain all documentation relating to due diligence for at least five years.
A simplified due diligence statement is permitted if the operator has ascertained that all raw materials and products covered by the EUDR were produced in countries classified as low-risk in accordance with Article 29 of the EUDR.
From when does the EUDR apply?
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 has been in force since 29 June 2023.
Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/3234 postponed by one year the date of application of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, and amending Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 further postponed its application by an additional year.
Operators, downstream operators and traders that are not micro- or small enterprises will have to comply with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 from 30 December 2026, and micro- and small enterprises from 30 June 2027.
The full text of the regulations is available at this link:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02023R1115-20251226