What is the EUDR and Its Impacts?

Discover the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), its impacts and how we can help.

What is the EUDR?

The EUDR promotes the consumption of deforestation-free products to vastly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while assisting the fight against global biodiversity loss. It provides assurance that the EU will not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation.

Organizations marketing, importing or exporting to or from the EU any items in the following list, including derived products, must be EUDR compliant. This guarantees that their commodities are not associated with deforestation, forest degradation or breaches in local environmental or social legislation in the country of production.

What does the EUDR cover?

The EUDR covers:

1. Cattle – live cattle, meat and leather
2. Cocoa – cocoa beans, paste, butter, powder and chocolate products
3. Coffee – roasted, unroasted and decaffeinated coffee, and substitutes containing any proportion of coffee
4. Oil palm – nuts, kernels, palm oil, glycerol and palm oil-derived fatty acids
5. Rubber – natural rubber, gums and all articles of vulcanized rubber, whether hard or not, including tires and clothing
6. Soya – soya beans, meal oil and residues, including oilcake
7. Wood – logs, processed wood, wooden furniture, paper and packaging

What are the benefits of EUDR compliance?

We can enable you to:

• Decrease reputational and legal risks
• Meet and exceed consumer demands for ethical, environmentally friendly and legal products
• Enhance supply chain sustainability and traceability
• Secure your supply
• Contribute to global efforts to combat deforestation and climate change, and promote responsible land use

Who is responsible and what are the consequences?

The primary responsibility for EUDR compliance lies with the organization placing the commodity on the EU market or exporting it. This organization must follow due diligence, transparently and informatively, along the supply chain.

Consequences for noncompliance include hefty fines, the confiscation of products/revenue and temporary exclusion from the market.

When does the EUDR come into force?

The EUDR is set to come into force on December 30, 2024, covering commodities produced on land not subject to deforestation after December 31, 2020. However, the enforcement date could be pushed back to December 30, 2025, for larger operators and traders, and June 30, 2026, for micro- and small enterprises.

Why choose SGS EUDR services?

Combining our decades of forestry, food industry, supply chain, sustainability and training expertise, we offer a range of key services:

• A rigorous gap analysis of your EUDR due diligence system, including a checklist and report, highlighting any noncompliance or areas for improvement to smooth your compliance journey
• Comprehensive EUDR due diligence system verification, including a confirmation statement, so you can verify and demonstrate continuous EUDR compliance
• An online introductory EUDR training course outlining the regulation and its requirements
• Auditing and certification against forestry, agriculture and food sector voluntary certifications, such as FSCTM, PEFC, RSPO, RTRS, UTZ, FSSC, IFS and BRCGS, to help you demonstrate EUDR compliance and enhance your brand’s reputation

Contact us today to ensure effective EUDR compliance.