compliance//3 min read
EUDR explained: what the EU deforestation rules ask of exporters
The EU Deforestation Regulation lets seven commodities into the EU market only if they are deforestation-free, legally produced and covered by a due diligence statement. What that means in practice, and the data it demands from every supply chain.
In short
- EUDR covers cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood, and many products made from them.
- Products must be deforestation-free since 31 December 2020, legal in the country of production, and covered by a due diligence statement.
- Every plot of land the commodity came from must be geolocated: a point for small plots, a polygon for larger ones.
- Exporters outside the EU are not legally bound, but their EU buyers cannot comply without their data.
A practical overview for product and engineering teams, not legal advice. Dates and thresholds in EU rules have changed more than once, so check the official European Commission pages before you rely on a detail.
The EU Deforestation Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 or EUDR, entered into force in June 2023. It replaces the older EU Timber Regulation and goes much further: it covers seven commodities and asks companies to prove, plot by plot, that what they sell did not come from recently deforested land.
What it covers
The seven commodities are cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood. The rules also reach many products made from them, listed by customs code in the regulation's annex: leather, chocolate, furniture, printed paper, tyres and more. If your product's code is in the annex, it is in scope.
The three conditions
- Deforestation-free: produced on land that has not been deforested after 31 December 2020 (and, for wood, harvested without forest degradation after that date).
- Legal: produced in line with the laws of the country of production, from land-use rights and environmental law to labour, tax and human rights obligations.
- Covered by a due diligence statement: submitted to the EU's information system before the goods are placed on the market or exported.
Due diligence in three steps
Step | What it means | Data you need |
|---|---|---|
Information | Collect who produced what, where and when | Supplier details, quantities, product codes, geolocation of every plot, production dates |
Risk assessment | Judge the risk that the product is not compliant | Country risk, satellite evidence, legality documents, supplier history |
Risk mitigation | Reduce any non-negligible risk before selling | Extra documents, audits, independent surveys, or dropping the supplier |
Geolocation is the hard part
The regulation asks for the geolocation of every plot of land where the commodity was produced. For plots up to four hectares a single point is enough; for larger plots you need a polygon of the boundary (cattle is treated differently, by establishment). Coordinates are expected to be precise, to at least six decimal places.
For a cocoa exporter buying from thousands of smallholders through cooperatives and middlemen, that means building and maintaining a map of farms that most supply chains have never had. This is where the real work lies, and where software helps most.
Country benchmarking
The Commission classifies countries, or parts of them, as low, standard or high risk. Products from low-risk countries qualify for simplified due diligence, and the share of shipments checked by authorities rises with the risk level. Classification lowers the burden; it does not remove the need for geolocation and traceability.
When it applies
The application date has been postponed more than once. Following the amendments agreed at the end of 2025, the main obligations apply from 30 December 2026 for large and medium companies and from 30 June 2027 for micro and small companies, with lighter duties for businesses further down the supply chain. The Commission was also asked to review the rules again, so treat these dates as the latest set, not as final.
What it means if you export to the EU
A coffee exporter in India or a rubber processor in Southeast Asia is not an “operator” under EUDR. The EU importer is. In practice, though, the importer cannot file a due diligence statement without your data, so the requests arrive at your door: plot locations, harvest dates, proof of land rights, and a link from every shipment back to the farms it came from.
EUDR is a regulation on paper and a data problem in practice: where did this exact batch come from, and can you prove it?
Getting ready
- To do: Check which of your products' customs codes are in the EUDR annex
- To do: Map your suppliers down to the farm or plot, starting with your largest volumes
- To do: Collect GPS points or polygons for every plot, and keep them updated
- To do: Keep each batch linked to its source plots through processing and blending
- To do: Gather legality evidence: land titles, permits, labour and tax compliance
- To do: Agree with your EU buyers which data they need, in what format, and how often
