The EU Deforestation Regulation covers commodities like cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya, and wood, plus many products derived from them. If you place these on the EU market, or export them from it, you have to show they are deforestation-free and legally produced.
Deforestation-free means the land was not deforested after 31 December 2020. That date is fixed. Your evidence has to tie the commodity back to land that meets it.
Compliance is filed as a Due Diligence Statement, or DDS. It carries the geolocation of the plots the commodity came from, the quantity, the supplier chain, and a statement that due diligence was done and the risk is negligible.
The DDS needs coordinates for the plots of land, not just a supplier name. For most operators the real work is collecting, checking, and holding that geolocation evidence across a supplier base that was never set up to provide it.
Operators and traders both carry obligations, and large companies face an earlier application date than small and micro enterprises. Work out which category you fall into first. It changes both the timing and how much of the due diligence you can lean on from upstream.
The EUDR timeline has been pushed back more than once. Under the December 2025 revision, Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, it applies from 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators and traders, and from 30 June 2027 for micro and small enterprises. It has moved before. Confirm the current dates against the official EU source before you commit a rollout.
From requirement to a checkable workflow
The regulation tells you what to prove. The operational problem is collecting evidence, validating it, and submitting the DDS without the process breaking at volume.
This is an operational reference, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations and the current application dates against the official EU source.
Share a compliance workflow