EU Deforestation Regulation: The final countdown to application on 30 December 2026

While the seven originally covered commodities remain unchanged, the list of in-scope “relevant products” contained within Annex I has been revised. Amendments adopted in December 2025 removed printed books, newspapers and other products of the printing industry under HS Chapter 49. Further amendments adopted in July 2026 removed additional products including cattle hides, skins and leather, retreaded tyres and certain rubber articles. Targeted exclusions for samples and products used for analysis, examination or testing have also been introduced.

On the other hand, from 30 December 2027, additional products will enter scope, including soluble coffee, frozen cattle tongues and additional palm oil derivatives, capturing certain oleochemicals and soaps.

Many businesses will have spent time assessing which of their products are in and out of scope prior to the postponement of the original 2024 deadline.  These assessments should be revisited and updated where necessary to reflect the final scope.

The December 2025 amendments introduced a new category of “downstream operator” and streamlined significantly the requirements applicable to those entities, as well as entities qualifying as “traders”.  Following those simplifications, only “operators” (often referred to as “upstream operators”) must exercise due diligence and submit a due diligence statement (DDS) before placing relevant products on the EU/NI market or exporting them. Operators that qualify as “micro or small primary operators” (MSPOs) are subject to simplified declaration requirements. Downstream operators and traders do not need to submit their own DDSs or repeat the upstream due diligence exercise, but still have traceability and other compliance obligations. 

These changes mean that businesses should revisit any assessments previously made as to their “operator” status to determine whether they would now be considered a “downstream operator” under the simplified approach. Importantly, an entity can be considered a “downstream operator” where it re-imports a relevant product into the EU and the relevant product (or all relevant products therein) have previously been placed on the EU market and therefore subject to due diligence, provided that it is able to evidence the prior placing on the market. 

Upstream operators should register and familiarise themselves with the process needed to submit DDSs (or the one-off simplified declaration for qualifying MSPOs) through the updated Information System before the applicable deadline. The Commission's Information System pages provide training dates, user manuals and access to the separate training and live environments. 

Note, downstream operators and traders (that are not SMEs) still need to have registered in the Information System prior to supplying relevant products or exporting them after 30 December 2026, even though they are no longer required to submit DDSs via the Information System.

Non-SME upstream operators must report publicly each year, including online, on their due diligence system and the steps taken to meet their EUDR obligations. Businesses should establish processes now for collecting the required information, reviewing the report and approving publication. 

The first report will be in respect of actions taken in 2027 (and so will need to be published in 2028) and it can be incorporated into other ESG reporting (e.g. the CSRD report if one will be published to cover the relevant period).

Businesses should identify which records they need to retain and be able to make available to competent authorities. The EUDR requires relevant due diligence and traceability records to be kept for at least five years. While downstream operators and traders are not required to undertake due diligence, and therefore keep records of due diligence, they are still required to keep certain supplier and business-customer details.  Further, where businesses rely on re-import or transitional arrangements, they should retain evidence of the goods having previously been placed on the EU / NI market.  For example, if a business wants to be treated as a “downstream operator” in respect of goods exported to Great Britain from the EU and then subsequently re-imported into NI or Ireland, it needs to be able to evidence that the goods were previously placed on the EU / NI market. 

Teams handling customs procedures need to be aware of EUDR implications. Businesses need to ensure that practical/operational procedures are put in place so that DDS reference numbers are available to customs teams for timely inclusion on customs declarations and/or that appropriate TARIC codes and conventional DDS reference numbers are identified where they will need to be used.  

The Commission has confirmed two conventional DDS reference numbers that may be used:

• 22EU2222222222 which can be used in customs declarations where an in-scope product is  re-imported into the EU and the original DDS reference number(s) are not available.  The re-importer will need to be able to demonstrate that the relevant product (or the relevant products from which it has been made) have previously been placed on the EU market (and therefore have already been subject to due diligence under EUDR).  
• 99EU9999999999 which can be used in customs declaration for transitional products, where the product (or the relevant products from which it is made) were placed on the market during the transitional period prior to EUDR becoming applicable, and so are not subject to EUDR due diligence requirements. 

The Commission published updated TARIC codes in September 2026. Businesses should check the latest version before finalising customs instructions.

Businesses should consider whether to incorporate EUDR provisions in upstream and downstream contracts, including as part of future reviews of contractual terms.  Key points to consider are adequacy of compliance with laws/compliance with EUDR clauses and requirements to provide information/evidence to enable or facilitate EUDR compliance.  Businesses should also bear in mind the UK government’s plans to adopt a similar deforestation regime for the Great Britain market in due course. 

Businesses should ensure existing internal investigations toolkits and protocols are adequate to deal with any suspected EUDR non-compliances and regulatory investigations.