The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, prohibits placing seven commodities and their derived products on the EU market — or exporting them from it — unless they can be shown to be deforestation-free, legally produced, and traceable to the geolocation of the plot of land where they were grown. It is among the most operationally demanding traceability laws ever written, and it shifts the burden of proof onto operators and traders.
What EUDR covers
Seven commodities are in scope: cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood. So are the many products derived from them — leather, chocolate, furniture, paper and printed products, tyres, and a long list of others. If your product contains or is made from any of these, it is worth checking the precise scope against the regulation's annex rather than assuming.
The three tests every shipment must pass
- Deforestation-free: the commodity was not produced on land that was deforested or forest-degraded after 31 December 2020.
- Legal: it was produced in accordance with the relevant laws of the country of production (land use, environment, labour, trade and more).
- Traceable: its origin can be tied to the geolocation of the specific plot(s) of land it came from.
Plot-level geolocation: the core challenge
EUDR requires the geographic coordinates — polygons for larger plots — of every parcel of land a commodity originated from, then a chain of traceability connecting those plots through aggregation, processing and trading to the finished product you place on the market. For supply chains built on thousands of smallholders, assembling and verifying that traceability is the real work, and the main reason to start early rather than wait for the deadline.
Due diligence and the Due Diligence Statement
In-scope operators must run a due diligence process — collecting information including geolocation, assessing the risk of non-compliance, and mitigating that risk until it is negligible — and then submit a Due Diligence Statement (DDS) through the EU's central Information System. The DDS carries a reference number that moves down the chain, so downstream buyers can rely on it. No DDS, no compliant placement on the market.
Who is affected, and when
Any operator or trader placing in-scope goods on the EU market, or exporting them from it, is affected — regardless of where the company is based. Non-EU producers feel it immediately, because their EU customers cannot legally buy without the underlying data. Application dates have been adjusted during implementation, with larger operators in scope first and micro and small enterprises following later; confirm the current confirmed dates for your category against the Commission's EUDR guidance, because the practical point — that data collection takes far longer than the paperwork — does not change.
How to prepare, and the strategic upside
- Map your in-scope commodities, products and supply chains, and quantify the traceability gap.
- Build geolocation collection and chain-of-custody traceability back to the land of production.
- Stand up the risk assessment, mitigation and record-keeping the regulation requires.
- Establish your DDS submission process and a repeatable supplier-onboarding programme.
Readiness is fast becoming a condition of keeping EU customers. Operators who build traceability early protect market access and become the preferred supplier for EU buyers who need the data — turning a compliance burden into a commercial moat. The supply-chain visibility you build also serves overlapping due-diligence duties such as the CSDDD.
Sources & further reading
This article is general information, not legal, financial or compliance advice. The regulations and standards referenced here evolve; verify the current position with the issuing body, or ask us. Published June 2026.