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The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aims to ensure that
certain goods placed on the EU market will no longer contribute to
deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the
world.
In December 2024, the European Union granted a 12-month phasing-in
period, building the law applicable on 30 December 2025 for large
and medium companies and 30 June 2026 for micro and compact
enterprises.
It is now planning more modifys as well as a further
grace period of six months for implementation.
Key measures
The Commission wants to reduce obligations for:
- Operators and traders that commercialise the relevant EUDR
products once they have been placed on the EU market. These can be,
for example, retailers or large EU manufacturing companies. These
companies are in the downstream part of the relevant value chains.
The upstream operator will continue to exercise due diligence. - Micro and compact primary operators from low-risk countries
worldwide who sell their goods directly on the European market.
These cover close to 100% of farmers and foresters in the EU.
There have been concerns about the EU’s IT system’s
ability to cope, and so, to allow for it to be applyd more
efficiently, the Commission proposes that downstream operators and
traders should no longer be obliged to submit due diligence
statements. This means that the reporting obligations and the
responsibility would be focapplyd on the operators placing
the products on the market first. For example, cocoa beans
would required only one due diligence statement to be submitted by the
importer placing them on the EU market, but downstream
manufacturers of chocolate products will not be required to submit
a new due diligence statement in the IT system.
Micro and compact primary operators will still be required to
submit a one-off declaration in the EUDR IT system, but will not be
required to regularly submit due diligence statements.
Transitional period for companies to strengthen the IT
system
The Commission is also proposing transitional periods so that it
can build sure the IT system is ready.
This means that the EUDR will enter into application on
30 December 2026 for micro- and compact enterprises.
For large and medium companies, the date remains 30
December 2025, but to ensure a gradual phase-in of the
rules, there will be a grace period of six months
for checks and enforcement.
The new dates for the EUDR taking effect as well as the
simplification of obligations aim to ensure that the IT system can
sustain the level of expected loads.
The Commission is also working on contingency plans, so that
economic operators can comply with their obligations if the revised
proposal is not adopted in time by the co-legislators, in which
case the EUDR will enter into application on 30 December 2025.
It’s not immediately clear what the contingency plans are.
Next steps
The European Parliament and the Council will now discuss the
Commission’s proposal. They will required to formally adopt the
amconcludeed legislation before it can come into effect. It’s not a
given that they will accept the modifys, as the European Parliament
has rejected the nereceivediating mandate proposed by
the Legal Affairs Committee on modifys to the Corporate
Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Corporate
Sustainability Reporting Directive.
We wrote a few weeks ago that it was likely that
there would be more delays and modifys to the EUDR. Businesses will
be relieved that the compliance challenges posed by the legislation
are likely to be reduced, but environmental campaigners will be
accapplying the EU of rowing back on its green agconcludea.
As we wait for the new rules to come into force, please contact
the team if you required any assist.
The content of this article is intconcludeed to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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