EUDR 101: EU Deforestation Regulation explained for importers

What is the EU Deforestation Regulation (2023/1115), who is in scope and what due diligence is required?

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR, Regulation 2023/1115) prohibits placing products linked to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020 on the EU market. It is one of the most significant regulatory shifts of the decade for importers and producers.

Which products are in scope?

EUDR covers seven commodities and their derivatives: cattle (leather, beef, gelatin), cocoa and derivatives, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy, and timber (including paper and furniture). If a finished product contains any of these — even a small percentage — it falls in scope.

Three mandatory pillars

Every operator must prove there is no deforestation risk per shipment. The regulation requires three steps:

1. Information collection — Geolocation coordinates (latitude/longitude) of the plot where the commodity was produced or harvested, plus production date, supplier identity and volume per shipment.

2. Risk assessment — Analyze deforestation risk based on country classification (high/standard/low risk per EU decision), historical patterns in the region, and presence of vulnerable populations.

3. Risk mitigation — If the risk is non-negligible: extra controls, independent audits, or rejection of the shipment.

Deadline and penalties

EUDR enters into force in phases:

30 December 2025 — Large and medium enterprises
30 June 2026 — Small enterprises and micro-entities (after the one-year extension announced late 2024)

Penalties can reach 4% of EU annual turnover, plus confiscation and temporary export bans. All due diligence statements (DDS) are filed in the EU's TRACES NT central database.

Overlap with preferential origin

EUDR compliance is largely separate from preferential origin determination, but the documentation overlaps:

Supplier declarations often already contain geolocation info for origin evidence
Batch logs and production certificates serve both dossiers
The difference: EUDR requires plot-level traceability; preferential origin usually stops at country-level

Teams with a mature LTSD workflow already have ~60% of EUDR data in hand. Teams working on Excel start from scratch for both.

What PSRA automates

PSRA's LTSD module stores supplier declarations including plot geolocation when available. The EUDR module (in development) generates the TRACES NT declaration directly from the evidence chain already in place for preferential origin.

Want to know your current supply chain's EUDR readiness? Book a 30-minute audit session.

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Related definitions

Audit trail: An audit trail records who did what, based on which source data, and with what decision logic.
BOM: A BOM is the bill of materials: the structured composition of a product.
Supplier declaration: A supplier declaration captures the origin information a supplier provides for supplied goods.
Customs declaration: A customs declaration is the formal notification to customs declaring goods for import, export, or transit, available in five procedure types.