EUDR for Exporters: EU Deforestation Rules from 30 December 2026, Geolocation and Buyer Data

What the EUDR requires

Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 replaces the EU Timber Regulation and covers seven commodities, cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood, and the products made from them that are listed by HS code in its Annex I, such as chocolate, palm oil, natural rubber products, wooden furniture, paper and leather. A relevant product may be placed on the EU market, made available on it or exported from it only if three conditions are met:

• Deforestation-free: the commodity was produced on land that was not subject to deforestation after the cut-off date of 31 December 2020, and wood was harvested without forest degradation after that date.
• Legal: it was produced in line with the relevant laws of the country of production, such as those on land use rights, environmental protection, forest management, labour and human rights, third parties' rights, tax, anti-corruption and trade and customs.
• Covered by a due diligence statement submitted in the EU Information System before the product is placed on the market or exported.

New dates and the December 2025 changes

The EUDR was due to apply from 30 December 2024 and was postponed by a year in 2024. Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, published in December 2025, postponed it again and simplified it:

• From 30 December 2026: large and medium operators, downstream operators and traders of all sizes, and micro and small enterprises for products that were already covered by the EU Timber Regulation.
• From 30 June 2027: natural persons and micro and small enterprises for the other products.
• Only the operator that first places a product on the EU market submits the due diligence statement. Operators and traders further down the supply chain do not file statements; they register in the Information System and collect and keep the reference number of the first statement.
• Micro and small primary operators, such as farmers, submit a single simplified declaration instead of recurring statements.
• In its simplification review of 4 May 2026, the Commission confirmed these dates and did not propose further changes to the Regulation itself. It proposed adjusting the product list through a delegated act, for example adding soluble coffee and some palm oil derivatives and removing leather and retreaded tyres, with exemptions for samples, waste, used products and packaging. Check the current Annex I for your HS code.

Geolocation and the data your EU buyer will ask for

The due diligence statement must include the geolocation of all plots of land where the commodity was produced: latitude and longitude coordinates, and for plots of more than four hectares a polygon that marks the perimeter. Your EU buyer, as the operator, also needs:

• The product description, HS code and quantity (net mass, volume or number of units).
• The country of production and, for each plot, the date or period of production.
• The names and addresses of the suppliers and of the businesses the product was supplied to.
• Information showing that the product is deforestation-free and was produced legally, such as land titles or use rights, permits and certificates.
• For products from countries classified as low risk under the Commission's country benchmarking (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1093), the operator may apply simplified due diligence, but it still needs the geolocation and the other information.

How the statement reaches customs

Relevant products entering or leaving the EU are checked against their due diligence statements: the customs declaration must give the reference number of the statement in the Information System. If the buyer cannot submit a statement because data is missing, the goods cannot be released for free circulation. Send the geolocation and the other information to your buyer well before shipment, and put the HS code, the net quantity and the country of production on the commercial invoice and packing list so that they match the statement.

Practical steps for exporters outside the EU

• Map your supply chain back to the farms, plantations or forest plots, and collect their coordinates and polygons.
• Keep evidence of the land's status since 31 December 2020, for example satellite imagery or monitoring reports, and of legal production.
• Segregate EUDR-compliant goods from other goods, so that each lot can be traced to its plots.
• Agree with each EU buyer the data format, who submits the statement and the deadline before shipment.
• Check the HS code of every product against Annex I, including processed products such as chocolate, instant coffee, furniture or tyres.