EUDR

The EU Deforestation Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115), commonly abbreviated EUDR, was adopted on 31 May 2023 and entered into force on 29 June 2023. It replaces the earlier EU Timber Regulation and significantly broadens its scope. The law prohibits placing on the EU market — or exporting from it — seven commodities and their derived products if they were produced on land subject to deforestation or forest degradation after the cut-off date of 31 December 2020.

The seven in-scope commodities are cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood, along with derived products such as leather, chocolate, furniture, tyres, and printed paper. Operators and traders must file a due diligence statement through an EU information system, providing geolocation coordinates of the plots where the commodities were produced, and demonstrating compliance with the producing country's relevant laws (including on land use, labour, and indigenous rights).

The Commission assigns countries a risk tier — low, standard, or high — which determines the intensity of checks; minimum inspection rates rise with risk level. Penalties include fines of at least 4% of EU-wide annual turnover, confiscation of goods, and temporary exclusion from public procurement.

Application was originally set for 30 December 2024 for large operators. In December 2024, after pushback from trading partners including Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, the United States and several EU member states, the Council and Parliament agreed to a one-year postponement, shifting the start date to 30 December 2025 for large operators and 30 June 2026 for micro and small enterprises.

The regulation is significant in international political economy as an example of extraterritorial regulatory power (the "Brussels effect"), exporting EU sustainability standards through market access conditionality. Critics, including the WTO-notified objections of several producer states, argue it imposes disproportionate compliance burdens on smallholders in the Global South.