The European Union has completed the legislative process to delay and simplify its landmark deforestation law, formally resetting the implementation timeline for one of the bloc’s most far-reaching trade and environmental regulations.
On Thursday, the European Council adopted amendments to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), confirming a one-year postponement of its application and introducing targeted simplifications to its compliance framework. The move follows approval earlier this week by the European Parliament, marking the final step required for the revised regulation to take effect.
Once published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the updated rules will enter into force three days later.
A flagship regulation reset
The EUDR was first proposed by the European Commission in November 2021 and adopted in 2023 as part of the EU’s broader effort to sever links between European consumption and global deforestation. The regulation effectively bans deforestation-linked products from being placed on or exported from EU markets and imposes stringent due diligence requirements on companies trading key commodities.
Under the revised timeline now formally adopted, the regulation will apply from the end of 2026 for large companies, with micro and small operators required to comply from mid-2027. This replaces the earlier plan for the law to begin applying at the end of 2025 following an initial one-year delay agreed last December.
The decision reflects sustained concerns from member states, companies and trading partners over readiness, particularly the capacity of EU information systems to manage the volume and complexity of data required under the original framework.
What the law still requires
Despite the delay, the core substance of the EUDR remains unchanged. Companies placing or exporting covered products — including palm oil, beef, timber, cocoa, coffee, rubber and soy, as well as certain derived products such as leather, furniture and tyres — must still demonstrate that goods were produced on land not subject to deforestation or forest degradation after 2020 and that production complied with applicable laws in the country of origin.
Mandatory due diligence obligations, including traceability to the plot of land where commodities were produced, continue to sit at the heart of the regulation.
Targeted simplifications to ease compliance
What has changed is how those obligations are operationalised. The revised EUDR places responsibility for submitting due diligence statements exclusively on operators that first place covered products on the EU market. Downstream actors, such as retailers or manufacturers, will no longer be required to file their own submissions, instead retaining reference numbers linked to upstream declarations.
For micro and small primary operators, compliance is further streamlined through a one-off declaration in the EUDR IT system, replacing the previous requirement for repeated submissions. Certain printed products, including books, newspapers and printed images, have also been removed from the regulation’s scope on the basis of limited deforestation risk.
These adjustments are intended to reduce administrative duplication while preserving traceability at the point of market entry.
A built-in review before enforcement
As part of the final compromise, EU co-legislators introduced a new obligation for the Commission to review the regulation’s administrative burden and practical impact by 30 April 2026 — before the revised application dates take effect. The review may be accompanied by further legislative proposals, opening the door to additional simplifications.
For governments and companies alike, this creates a period of regulatory recalibration rather than closure, with the EUDR’s final operational form still subject to scrutiny.
Implications beyond Europe
The EUDR has been closely watched by exporting countries and global commodity markets, given its extraterritorial reach and its use of market access as a lever to influence land-use practices abroad. By extending the implementation timeline while reaffirming the regulation’s objectives, the EU is signalling that deforestation-free supply chains remain a strategic priority — but one that must be reconciled with administrative feasibility and geopolitical realities.
With the revised regulation now set for publication, companies operating across global supply chains have gained time to prepare. The direction of travel, however, remains unchanged: access to EU markets will increasingly depend on demonstrable compliance with deforestation-free standards.
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