Which EUDR role applies to your business?

Which EUDR role applies to you?

These definitions follow the changes to Article 2 in Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 as explained in the Commission's current roles and responsibilities guidance.

What puts a product in EUDR scope?

Check three things:

1. The product or commodity appears in Annex I. The HS/CN code lookup helps you find its entry and product restrictions.
2. The business is placing it on the EU market, exporting it, or making it available there.
3. The activity is commercial, rather than private consumption.

A covered product must then meet the legality and deforestation-free conditions before it can be placed on the market or exported. Failing those conditions does not put it outside scope. The wider commodity and regulation scope is covered in the EUDR working reference.

What must an upstream operator do?

An upstream operator is the business that first places a relevant product on the EU market or exports it. It must collect the required information, carry out the applicable risk assessment and mitigation, submit a Due Diligence Statement, retain records, and cooperate with competent authorities.

An operator may appoint an authorised representative, such as our partner Baldwin Global Consulting, to submit the Due Diligence Statement, but the appointment does not remove the operator's responsibility.

If a non-EU business places the product on the EU market, the first EU-based business that makes it available is also treated as an upstream operator. Reselling an imported product therefore does not always make a business a trader.

What changes for a micro or small primary operator?

A micro or small primary operator is an upstream operator established in a low-risk country that directly places or exports products it grew, harvested, obtained or raised in that country. The category covers natural persons and qualifying micro or small undertakings. It still carries out due diligence, but uses the simplified declaration regime with narrower reporting requirements.

A larger undertaking can also qualify if the parts of its balance sheet, turnover and employee count relating to the relevant commodities and products meet the statutory size test. Article 2(15a) sets out this boundary; overall company size alone does not settle it.

What must a trader do?

A trader sells an already-covered relevant product within the EU without changing its Annex I product code. Traders collect and keep specified information about suppliers and buyers for at least five years and must notify buyers and competent authorities if they learn that a product might not comply.

Traders do not carry out due diligence or submit a DDS or simplified declaration. Large traders must also register in the Information System and, if they learn of possible non-compliance, verify that upstream due diligence was carried out and found only negligible risk.

Do not use “small business” as a shortcut for SME status. The classification follows the applicable EU accounting rules and includes micro, small, and medium-sized undertakings.

What is a downstream operator?

A downstream operator places on the EU market or exports relevant products that have already undergone due diligence upstream. This includes making a new relevant product from covered inputs: turning covered cocoa beans into covered chocolate is one example. Exporting already-covered goods without processing them can also be a downstream activity; a change in the Annex I CN or HS code is not required in every case.

Like traders, downstream operators do not carry out due diligence or submit their own DDS or simplified declaration for that transaction. They retain the required supplier and buyer information. The first downstream operator or trader must also collect and keep the upstream DDS reference number or simplified-declaration identifier for at least five years.

What does an authorised representative do?

An authorised representative is established in the EU and receives a written mandate to submit a DDS or simplified declaration for an upstream operator. The mandate covers specified tasks, but responsibility for compliance remains with the upstream operator.

Are customs agents and service providers operators?

Not automatically. A customs representative, freight forwarder, software provider, or other service provider may support an EUDR process without becoming an operator or trader. The role depends on whether the business places, exports, or makes the relevant product available.

The Commission's role-definition guidance addresses this boundary.

Use this checklist before deciding what to file

• Is the product listed in Annex I?
• Is the business placing it on the EU market, exporting it, or making it available?
• Who first placed the relevant product on the EU market?
• Has the product, or every relevant input used to make it, already undergone due diligence upstream?
• Does processing create a new Annex I CN or HS code?
• Is the business acting for itself or under a written mandate?
• Which records and reference numbers must be retained?

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an EUDR operator and a trader?

An upstream operator first places a relevant product on the EU market or exports it and carries out due diligence. A trader sells an already-covered relevant product later in the supply chain without changing its Annex I product code. Traders keep specified supply-chain records but do not submit a due diligence statement.

What is a downstream operator under the EUDR?

A downstream operator places on the market or exports relevant products already covered by upstream due diligence, including products made from covered inputs. It keeps the required supply-chain information but does not carry out due diligence or submit its own due diligence statement for that downstream transaction.

Do downstream operators and traders submit an EUDR due diligence statement?

No. Under the current rules, downstream operators and traders do not carry out due diligence or submit a due diligence statement or simplified declaration. The first downstream operator or trader must collect and retain the upstream reference number or simplified-declaration identifier.

Does an authorised representative take on the operator's responsibility?

No. An authorised representative can perform specified tasks under a written mandate, such as submitting a due diligence statement. The operator remains responsible for its underlying EUDR obligations.

Do customs agents automatically count as EUDR operators?

No. A customs agent or service provider is not automatically an operator or trader. The role depends on whether the business places, exports, or makes the relevant product available.

Can the same company have more than one EUDR role?

Yes. A company may import one product as an upstream operator and trade other products already placed on the market by another operator. Reselling its own unchanged import does not by itself turn that company into a trader for those goods.

Turn the role decision into the right workflow

The simplification changes explain why downstream filing duties differ from older descriptions. Once the role is established, we can help scope the data, review and record-handling workflow it needs.

Discuss the operational handoffs with us.