EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

EUDR seeks to regulate seven relevant commodities that impact deforestation: cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood. Under the Regulation, any operator or trader who places these commodities or derived products on the EU market, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation.

The Deforestation Regulation repeals the EU Timber Regulation, and currently operators and traders will require to implement the new rules of the Regulation by 30^th December 2025 for large and medium companies (30 June 2026 for micro and small enterprises), for all listed products of the relevant commodities entering the EU or exported from the EU.

The new rules aim to:

• avoid that the listed products Europeans buy, use and consume contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and globally
• reduce carbon emissions caused by EU consumption and production of the relevant commodities by at least 32 million metric tonnes a year
• address all deforestation driven by agricultural expansion to produce the commodities in the scope of the regulation, as well as forest degradation

The regulation affects those importing into or exporting from the EU (including Northern Ireland). Anyone placing a product listed in the Regulation onto the EU market (or exports from it), must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation. This is carried out through due diligence statements, recorded on The Information System of the Deforestation Regulation (Traces).

While the regulation does not directly affect those operating solely in Great Britain, economic operators involved in a supply chain that does export from or import into the EU (or Northern Ireland), will be required to comply with the regulation.

MEDITE SMARTPLY, as an operator, is currently working on the implementation of the regulation internally and is engaging with suppliers to ensure that the required information for compliance is available to our customers when full details are known. As an active member of the European Panel Federation, who attend stakeholder meetings with the EU on EUDR, we are engaging regularly at a committee level to contribute to the latest developments.

We endeavor to update this page and communicate with customers regularly. If you need any support in the meantime, contact details can be found at the bottom of this page.