EUDR

What it means

The EUDR is the EU Deforestation Regulation. It prohibits placing on the EU market or exporting from it certain commodities and products made from them if they come from land deforested after 31 December 2020 or were not produced in line with the laws of the country of origin. It covers wood, cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, cattle and rubber.

Products made from these commodities are covered too, such as furniture, paper and cardboard, wooden pallets, chocolate, leather goods or tyres. The exact list is set by an annex to the regulation using customs codes, so the first step is to find out whether the company deals with such goods at all.

The key obligation is due diligence: collecting information on origin, including the geolocation of the plots where the commodity was produced, assessing the risk and filing a statement in the EU information system before placing goods on the market. After several postponements the regulation applies in stages, first to large and medium companies, later to small ones.

How it works in practice

Slovak companies need to determine their role. An operator that first places goods on the EU market, such as a coffee importer or a manufacturer using domestic wood, bears the main obligations. A trader reselling goods within the EU must mainly keep information on suppliers and customers and the statement reference number.

In practice this means asking suppliers for new data, amending contracts and purchasing terms and setting up records that link each delivery to the reference number of the due diligence statement. Wooden pallets and packaging are often forgotten, although they may also fall under the regulation.

The EUDR fits into a wider sustainability framework: CSDDD for due diligence across the chain, digital product passports and ESG reporting. Companies that already run supplier audits can build the EUDR requirements into existing procedures.

What to watch out for

The biggest risk is assuming the regulation concerns only large importers. Even a small company importing coffee, cocoa or wood from outside the EU, or manufacturing from domestic wood, can be an operator with full obligations. Breaches carry fines, confiscation of goods and exclusion from public procurement.

The second risk is imprecise geolocation. Plot data must be specific and verifiable, not just the name of a country or region. If the supplier does not provide it, the company may not place the goods on the market. New contracts should therefore oblige suppliers to provide the data and set out the consequences if they do not.