Deforestation regulation
The update from December 2025 and April 2026 as well as from September 2026 of the EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains (EUDR) presents new challenges particularly for first-time placers on the market. After the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), this is the next major task that regulates the supply chain from environmental and social perspectives. In this area you can view the current status.
To the relevant legal articles
Webinars
What is the deforestation regulation (EUDR)?
The EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) is intended to ensure that certain raw materials and products manufactured from them are deforestation-free and produced in accordance with the legal requirements of the producing countries. It was adopted on 29 June 2023 and most recently simplified in April 2026. The regulation obliges companies, before placing products on or exporting them from the Union market, to submit a due diligence statement that guarantees traceability back to the production area.
Numerous products manufactured from selected raw materials in accordance with Annex I of the regulation are affected. Products are considered EUDR-compliant if they are demonstrably deforestation-free and do not originate from areas that were deforested after 31/12/2020.
The objective of the EUDR remains unchanged: protection of the world’s forests, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the promotion of sustainable supply chains within the EU.
Developments regarding the deforestation regulation since December 2025
- Start of application: A one-year extension of the start of application – medium-sized and large companies: 30 December 2026, micro and small companies: 30 June 2027. New product categories have time until 30 December 2027.
- Shift of obligations: The obligation to submit the due diligence statement (DDS) applies exclusively to the operator who places the product on the EU market for the first time (as a rule the importer or primary producer). The obligation to record and retain reference numbers applies only to the first downstream market participant. There is no obligation to determine one’s own downstream market position in the supply chain. Only first placers on the market must proactively determine their role. First downstream market participants learn of their position passively, by being provided with DDS.
- Small and micro companies: Facilitation for small primary producers: in order to have permanently declared due diligence, a simplified one-off declaration procedure with an identifier is intended to suffice, in which address information is sufficient instead of geodata,
- Scope of application: Certain products (e.g. books and leather goods) are excluded from the scope of application. But individual product groups have also been added, e.g. instant coffee.
Which raw materials or derived products are affected?
Relevant raw materials
The regulation currently covers the raw materials listed below. This list is regularly reviewed and revised where necessary in order to take changing patterns of deforestation into account: Oil palm, soya, wood, cattle, cocoa, coffee, rubber
Relevant derived products
Products that are specifically affected contain these raw materials. Here are some examples:
- Cattle: live animals, meat, slaughter by-products
- Cocoa: raw or roasted cocoa beans, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, chocolate
- Oil palm: palm oil, palm kernel oil
- Rubber: rubber tyres, clothing and clothing accessories for all purposes made of soft rubber (e.g. gloves)
- Wood: charcoal, structural timber, roundwood
Negative example, products that contain the raw material but are not included in Annex 1 in order to maintain proportionality:
- Coffee: sweets with coffee powder
- Cattle: beef tongues
After the 2026 update, the EUDR will no longer apply to:
- Cattle: bovine hides, skins and leather, retreaded tyres,
- Soya: soya beans for sowing,
- Rubber: products made of vulcanised rubber, conveyor and drive belts as well as seats for aircraft and motor vehicles are removed from the scope of the regulation.
- Samples and products used for testing
- In some cases there are exemptions for second-hand goods as well as for medicinal products
After the 2026 update, the EUDR will also apply to:
- Palm oil: soaps (certain palm oil derivatives)
- Coffee: instant coffee
- Cattle: frozen beef tongues
Relevant raw materials and products may only be placed on the market or made available on the market and exported if all three of the following requirements are met:
- They are deforestation-free.
- They were produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production (human rights, labour law, anti-corruption laws, nature conservation laws etc.).
- A due diligence statement (DDS) is available and this is communicated to the first downstream market participant.
Obligations for first placer on the market (importers and primary producers)
All those who are neither small nor medium-sized enterprises (non-SMEs), who produce and trade EUDR-relevant goods, must register on the EUDR portal TRACES NT.
Before relevant products are exported, placed on the market or made available on the market, first placers on the market must also:
1. Collect information, data and documents for the creation of a DDS
This includes the following information for a DDS:
Precise description, quantities of the products, indication of the leading relevant product that is contained or was used for the manufacture, addresses of companies from which products were obtained, geolocation of all plots of land that were used for production.
2. Assess the risk of the information and documents for conformity.
Relevant products may only be placed on the market or exported if the risk assessment shows no or only a negligible risk that the products are not compliant.
For this purpose, for example, the following criteria must be taken into account:
- Risk of the producer country (according to classification by the EU Commission)
- Presence and cooperation of indigenous peoples as well as the spread of deforestation or forest degradation near the associated plots of land
- Source, reliability and validity of the collected information
- Concerns regarding the producer country (corruption, lack of law enforcement, compliance with human rights etc.)
- Complexity of the supply chain and processing stage of the relevant products
- Risk of circumvention of the EUDR or risk of mixing with products that originated with the help of deforestation
Affected companies must document the risk assessment and review it at least once a year and make it available on request. The risk assessment must be traceable.
3. If applicable, initiate risk mitigation measures.
If the risk assessment shows that there is a non-negligible risk, the market participant must initiate risk mitigation measures (audits, request for additional documents).
Due diligence statements in accordance with Annex II of the Regulation must be transmitted to the competent authorities before placing on the market or export.
By submitting the due diligence statement, the market participant assumes responsibility for ensuring that the products are deforestation-free in accordance with the Regulation.
Fulfilment of the due diligence obligation further up the supply chain releases subsequent market participants from the obligation to declare due diligence themselves, unless there are specific indications of non-compliance!
The due diligence regulations must be reviewed at least once a year for up-to-dateness and the records relating to this must be kept for at least five years. The EUDR does not specify in which format the DDS is to be passed on.
For EUDR-relevant goods, the due diligence statement (DDS) must be passed on to the first company to which the goods are delivered. This also applies if the goods are initially received by an internal company, e.g. for sales. The sales company is then considered the first downstream market participant and the end customer is considered a secondary downstream market participant.
Obligations for first downstream market participants and traders
First downstream market participants learn about their position in the supply chain by receiving DDS from first placer on the market – whether these are primary producers or importers. If producers mix goods for which DDS have already been declared with goods that are being placed on the market for the first time, due diligence must be declared for the partial quantity in which the new goods are contained (see obligations above). A received DDS must be kept for five years. First downstream market participants make received DDS available to the competent authority within a plausible period of time in the event of reasonable concerns. The EUDR update does not provide for any further obligations regarding the system or storage of the DDS.
Obligations for secondary downstream market participants and traders
Secondary downstream market participants and traders who receive EUDR-relevant goods to which no DDS is attached have no further obligations. As long as they have no reason to suspect that they are first downstream market participants, e.g. because they purchase from an import company, they do not have to declare due diligence. Only in the case of reasonable suspicion must they obtain the DDS along the supply chain. In the event of reasonable suspicion, risk mitigation measures may be necessary. Further information.