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The Council of the European Union has formally adopted a targeted revision of the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR), aiming to simplify its implementation and provide additional time for businesses and authorities to prepare for compliance.
Under the revised rules, the application of the regulation will be postponed for all operators until 30 December 2026, with an additional six-month grace period for micro and small enterprises. The decision responds to concerns raised by EU member states, third countries, traders, and industry stakeholders regarding the administrative burden and the readiness of the EU’s digital information system required for the regulation’s effective enforcement.
The revision introduces streamlined due diligence requirements, making compliance more manageable while fully preserving the regulation’s core objective: preventing deforestation and forest degradation linked to products placed on or exported from the EU market.
To further reduce administrative complexity, the Council agreed to remove certain printed products—including books, newspapers, and printed images—from the scope of the regulation. These items were deemed to pose a minimal risk of contributing to deforestation, making their inclusion unnecessary.
As part of the amendment, the European Commission is now required to conduct a comprehensive simplification review of the regulation and submit a report by 30 April 2026. The review will assess the regulation’s impact and administrative burden, with particular attention to small and micro operators. Where appropriate, the report may be accompanied by a new legislative proposal to further simplify the framework.
Following its formal adoption, the revised regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force three days after publication.
The Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products entered into force in June 2023. It aims to ensure that certain high-risk commodities—such as cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya, and wood, along with their derived products—placed on or exported from the EU market are not linked to deforestation or forest degradation.
Originally, the main provisions of the EUDR were scheduled to apply from 30 December 2024. However, following widespread concerns over preparedness, an initial one-year postponement was adopted in December 2024, shifting the application date to 30 December 2025.
The newly adopted amendment, proposed by the European Commission in October 2025, addresses ongoing implementation challenges, particularly the need to ensure the effective functioning of the EU information system and to ease compliance requirements for smaller operators.
With this latest revision, EU institutions aim to strike a balance between maintaining strong environmental protections and ensuring practical, workable rules for businesses across the supply chain.
