The EC is calling its recommendation a “phasing-in” period for the EUDR rather than a delay. Regardless, it pushes back its implementation for large businesses from December 30 this year to December 30, 2025, with SMEs now not having to comply until July 2026. The proposal will next have to be adopted by the European Parliament and Council.
The EC is supplementing this proposed push-back with “additional [EUDR] guidance documents and a stronger international co-operation framework to support global stakeholders, Member States and third countries in their preparations for the implementation of the Regulation”.
The EU has faced criticism for not providing sufficient information on compliance with and administration of the EUDR and a lack of support for overseas commodity suppliers, particularly in developing countries, to meet its requirements.
The EUDR affects seven so-called forest and eco-system risk products, besides timber. They are palm oil, soya, cattle/beef, rubber, cocoa and coffee. It rules that suppliers of these commodities to the EU market, and exporters of them from the EU, will have to undertake due diligence to ensure they are not implicated in deforestation or forest degradation. Another requirement is that they are backed by geolocation co-ordinates of the plot of land from which they originate.
The EUDR also entails benchmarking of supplier countries as high, standard or low risk of production of their commodities resulting in deforestation and forest degradation. The level of due diligence required on their exports to the EU will vary accordingly. A widespread complaint among stakeholders is that this is process is yet to be undertaken.
The EC says it is now stepping up co-operation on benchmarking with international trading partners and also that relatively few countries will be designated high risk.
“The Commission is publishing today the principles of the methodology it will apply to the exercise, serving to classify countries as low, standard, or high risk, aiming to facilitate operators’ due diligence processes and enable competent authorities to effectively monitor and enforce compliance,” it states. “Following the methodology applied, a large majority of countries worldwide will be classified as ‘low risk’. This will give the opportunity to focus collective efforts where deforestation challenges are more acute.”
Additional support for small holder suppliers from the EU on compliance is also promised.
The EC also says that the information system where businesses will upload due diligence statements, which critics say should have been ready earlier, will now be ready to “start accepting registrations in early November and for full operation in December”.
“Given the EUDR’s novel character, the swift calendar, and the variety of international stakeholders involved, the Commission considers that a 12-month additional time to phase in [the Regulation] is a balanced solution to support operators around the world in securing a smooth implementation from the start,” said the EC. “With this step, the Commission aims to provide certainty about the way forward and to ensure the success of the EUDR, which is paramount to address the EU’s contribution to the pressing global issue of deforestation. The extension proposal in no way puts into question the objectives or the substance of the law, as agreed by the EU co-legislators.
In response to the EC proposal, Silvia Melegari of the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries, of which TDUK is a member and which just six days ago issued a further statement calling for an EUDR delay, said:
“We are happy to see that the EU Commission has taken into account the concerns expressed by the wood industries and all commodity sectors in the EUDR’s scope by providing additional time to comply with its requirements. Many clarifications are also being given in EUDR [guidance] material, which is good. And while timber harvested today must have geolocation information if it will be sold in the EU from December 30, 2025, the [industry] has an extra year to sell everything that does not have this information.”
