European Commission Takes Action to Simplify the Implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation
CoffeeNetwork (New York) - Today, the Commission is providing further simplifications and reducing the administrative burden to facilitate the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). In this context, it has published new guidance documents in view of the Regulation's entry into application at the end of this year for Member States, operators and traders. With these clarifications and simplifications, the Commission is also replying to feedback from its international partners.
With today's simplifications, the Commission is delivering on its commitment to the European Parliament and the Council, while guaranteeing regulatory certainty within the boundaries of the Regulation.
The updated guidance and Frequently Asked Questions will provide companies, EU Member States' authorities and partner countries with additional simplified measures and clarifications on how to demonstrate that their products are deforestation-free. Both documents reflect the input from Member States, partner countries, businesses, and industry. This will also guarantee harmonized implementation of the law across the EU.
The simplifications introduced will be further complemented by a Delegated Act, published also today for public consultation. The Act provides further clarifications and simplification on the scope of EUDR, addressing stakeholders' request for guidance on specific categories of products. This will also avoid unnecessary administrative costs for economic operators and authorities.
Finally, the Commission is currently finalizing the country benchmarking system through an Implementing Act. It will be adopted no later than 30 June 2025 following discussions with Member States.
Together, all these measures will lead to a currently estimated 30% reduction of administrative costs and burden for companies. This will ensure a simple, fair and cost-efficient implementation of this key piece of legislation. The EUDR has already led to positive developments and action on the ground to fight deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss.
With today's new guidance documents, the Commission has introduced a number of simplification measures, for example:
- Large companies can reuse existing due diligence statements when goods, previously on the EU market, are reimported. This means that less information needs to be submitted in the IT system;
- An authorized representative can now submit a due diligence statement on behalf of members of company groups;
- Companies will be allowed to submit due diligence statements annually instead of for every shipment or batch placed on the EU market;
- Clarification of ‘ascertaining' that due diligence has been carried out, so that large companies downstream benefit from simplified obligations (a minimal legal obligation of collecting reference numbers of Due Diligence Statement (DDS) from their suppliers and using those references for their own DDS submissions now applies).
All the updated measures are expected to significantly reduce the number of due diligence statements that companies need to file, replying to key industry demands. The goal of these simplifications for due diligence statements is to ensure easy and efficient data entry for all users.
The Commission has strengthened dialogue with third countries, businesses, civil society and global partners to facilitate implementation and support preparation through dedicated meetings and online trainings since 2024 in line with our Strategic Framework for Cooperation and Engagement.
The Commission will continue responding to feedback from stakeholders, EU Member States and partner countries to assist traders and operators with implementation on the ground and provide further guidance, as necessary.
In 2024, the Commission already held over 300 dedicated meetings on the EUDR with stakeholders, including global partners, to facilitate implementation. To support preparation, the Commission has already offered over 50 webinars with 15,500 places for online trainings on the use of the Information System open to all interested stakeholders, supported by online videos in multiple languages and a training system for familiarization.
The Commission also scaled up support to global partners under its Team Europe Initiative on Deforestation-free Value chains (EUR 86 million) to support partner countries transitioning to sustainable, deforestation-free, and legal value chains.
The EU Deforestation Regulation aims to ensure that key goods in the EU market do not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation both in the EU and globally. Deforestation and forest degradation are significant drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss. Even before it enters into application, the Regulation has brought more transparency in supply chains, prompted positive changes in both the public and private sectors and opened new market opportunities for deforestation-free products in the EU.
Last year's versions of the FAQ and guidance already incorporated industry feedback, introducing solutions that effectively reduced bureaucracy for companies while maintaining the Regulation's goals. Today's updates further simplify the application of the rules for businesses.
The EUDR Information System opened on 4 December 2024 and is available in all EU languages. Operators can already submit and manage their Due Diligence Statements. In addition, submission and management of due diligence statements are facilitated by the Application Programming Interface (API) introduced in the Information System.
The EU is increasing its support for producer countries, including through a dedicated Team Europe Initiative focused on deforestation-free supply chains and specific programmes. It is also collaborating with major consumer countries to promote a global shift towards sustainable agricultural supply chains.
Alexis Rubinstein
