EU: Commission publishes new guidance and draft Delegated Act to simplify due diligence requirements under Deforestation Regulation

On 15 April 2025, the European Commission published new guidance documents and a draft Delegated Act on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which will start to apply on 31 December 2025 for large in-scope companies and 30 June 2026 for small and micro enterprises. 

Updated guidance and FAQs

As outlined in the Commission’s press release, the updated guidance and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide companies, EU Member States' authorities and third countries with additional simplified measures and clarifications on how to demonstrate that their products are deforestation-free. 

Both documents reflect input from Member States, partner countries, businesses, and industry. According to the Commission, these measures will in the aggregate result in an estimated 30% reduction in administrative costs and burden for companies. 

With the new guidance documents, the Commission has introduced a number of simplification measures, for example:

• Reuse of statements for re-imports: Large companies can reuse their existing due diligence statements (DDS) when re-importing goods that were previously on the EU market.
• Group companies: Authorised representatives can submit DDS for company group members, but individual operators and traders still hold legal responsibility for compliance.
• Annual submission: Companies can submit DDS annually rather than for each shipment or batch, covering relevant commodities or products not yet harvested or manufactured. The earliest submission is allowed once due diligence is conducted and all necessary information is available.
• Simplified obligations: Clarification on “ascertaining” due diligence enables large downstream companies to benefit from simplified obligations. These include only collecting reference numbers from suppliers' DDS for their own DDS submissions.

In addition, the guidance documents clarify the service providers’ exemption: service providers (such as freight forwarders, shipping agents, and customs representatives) who do not own the products they handle are exempt from the Regulation, unless they place or export products on the market. The guidance documents also provide clarity on geolocation information access along the supply chain in DDS submitted in the Information System.

Finally, the guidance documents delve into specifics, such as packing materials, harvesting rights, the scope of the “legality requirement” for the country of production, rentals, mixed goods, access to geolocation data, “feed used for livestock” and specific responsibilities for compliance of companies with onsite stands or shops established besides a main business.

Draft Delegated Act 

The Commission has also published a draft Delegated Act for public consultation until 13 May, focusing on clarifications and scope adjustments requested by stakeholders. 

The draft Delegated Act includes targeted fixes to the list of in-scope products in Annex I to the EUDR, in particular on the following:

• Exclusion of relevant products without relevant commodities: The inclusion of “ex” in front of several HS Code entries clarifies that products in Annex I to the EUDR are regulated only if produced using a relevant commodity.
• Exclusion of waste: Waste, as well as second-hand and used products, do not fall within the Regulation's scope.
• Product samples: Samples of products and those used for examination, analysis, and testing are excluded from the Regulation.
• Packing materials: Packing materials and containers placed on the EU market or exported as independent products fall within the EUDR scope, while those supporting other products do not.
• Exclusion of correspondence: Items of correspondence and accessory materials are not covered by the Regulation’s scope.

Once the Commission has adopted the Delegated Act, the European Parliament and Council will have some time (usually two months, which can be extended by a further two months) to formally object to the Delegated Act. 

Neither the European Parliament nor the Council can amend the text – they only have the power to veto it. If no objections are raised, the Delegated Act will then be adopted and published in the Official Journal of the EU.

The Commission is also currently finalising the country benchmarking system through an Implementing Act, which it says will be adopted no later than 30 June 2025, following discussions with Member States.

Further reading 

For more information on the EUDR, see our previous blog posts:

• Deforestation Regulation: EU imposes new due diligence duties on operators and traders
• EU Deforestation Regulation: Commission publishes guidance and proposes 12-month delay to application date
• EU Deforestation Regulation: final green light for the one-year postponement