Reviewed 18 August 2026 · next review 17 November 2026
What is the EU Deforestation Regulation?
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 bars seven commodities and the products made from them from the EU market unless they are deforestation-free, produced lawfully in the country of production, and covered by due diligence.
Last updated · Written and reviewed by Jonatan Tensetti · Tensetti Tools
The three conditions
Every relevant product placed on, made available on, or exported from the EU market has to satisfy all three conditions at once. Deforestation-free means the commodity was not produced on land deforested after 31 December 2020, and for wood that the harvest did not cause forest degradation after that date. Legality is judged against the law of the country of production, including land use, environmental, labour, tax and trade rules. Due diligence is the process by which you establish both, and the due diligence statement is the record that you did.
The seven commodities
Cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood — plus a defined list of products derived from them, from leather and chocolate to furniture, paper, tyres and printed books. The derived list is what surprises people: a company that has never bought a commodity in its life can be in scope because of the packaging or the pallet. See the commodity and product group list.
Roles decide what you owe
| Role | Who it fits | Core duty |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | You first place a relevant product on the EU market, or export it from the EU. | Perform due diligence, and submit a due diligence statement before placing or exporting. |
| Micro or small upstream primary operator | A qualifying small first-placer meeting the simplified conditions. | A one-off simplified declaration rather than an ordinary statement per consignment. |
| Downstream operator | You place a product on the market that has already been placed by someone upstream. | Generally no own statement under the December 2025 simplifications; collect and keep supplier information, and retain the upstream reference where you are the first downstream actor. |
| Trader | You make a relevant product available without being the first placer. | Keep supplier and buyer information for at least five years. Large traders also register and have a verification duty when they learn a product may not comply. |
A single company can hold more than one role — importing one line, distributing another. Work the roles out per product line, not per company. The role guide walks through the distinctions.
When it applies
Large and medium enterprises are covered from 30 December 2026. Most micro and small enterprises follow on 30 June 2027, with one important exception: micro and small businesses already covered by the earlier EU Timber Regulation start on 30 December 2026 as well. Check which date applies to you.
What due diligence involves
- Information. Product description, quantity, country of production, geolocation of the plots, supplier and buyer details, production dates, and evidence of legality.
- Risk assessment. Judge the risk that the product is non-compliant, using the country benchmark, the complexity of the supply chain and the quality of your evidence.
- Risk mitigation. Where risk is more than negligible, gather more information, audit, or change supplier — until risk is negligible.
- Statement. Where you are an operator, submit the statement in the Information System and keep the reference number moving down the chain.
Where teams get stuck
Rarely on the regulation text. Usually on geolocation data that suppliers do not hold in a usable format, on lot definitions that do not survive contact with a mixed shipment, and on the discovery that a product line has two different roles depending on who signs the invoice. Those are data problems, and they take longer to fix than paperwork.
Primary sources
Reviewed 18 August 2026. Always confirm against the current official text.
- Deforestation Regulation implementation — European Commission. Application dates, implementation overview and current resources.
- Roles and responsibilities — European Commission. Current operator, downstream operator and trader descriptions.
- Understand due diligence — European Commission. Information requirements, risk assessment and mitigation workflow.
- EUDR Information System — European Commission. Production and test environments, accounts and system resources.
- Consolidated Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 — EUR-Lex. Current consolidated legal text, including Article 9 information requirements.
- EUDR Guidance Document (2026) — European Commission. Non-binding implementation guidance.
No account, no supplier documents, no evidence uploads. Answers stay in your browser.
This is a self-service readiness and documentation tool based on the information you provide and the sources listed for assessment version 1.0.0. It is not legal advice, an audit, certification, conformity assessment or an official filing. It does not submit a due diligence statement, validate Annex I classification or geolocation, certify deforestation-free status or determine negligible risk. Verify material decisions with the relevant authority or a qualified adviser.