The European Commission has announced new guidance to ease the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). These updates aim to reduce administrative burdens and offer clearer guidance to EU Member States, businesses, and international stakeholders.
Key simplification measures include allowing large EU companies to reuse due diligence statements when reimporting goods, enabling authorised representatives to submit due diligence on behalf of company groups, and permitting annual due diligence submissions instead of per shipment. Additionally, EU downstream operators can now fulfil obligations by referencing their suppliers’ due diligence statements, reducing duplication.
These changes are claimed to cut administrative costs for EU companies by approximately 30%, while still ensuring regulatory compliance. The simplifications will be reinforced by a Delegated Act, which is now open for public consultation. This Act seeks to offer additional clarity on EUDR’s scope, aiming to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for businesses and regulators.
For the full details of the announcement and documents, please access the links below:
European Commission Press release: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1063
Updated Guidance: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/document/5dc7aa19-e58f-42a3-bbbe-f0eb2e5a1d3a_en
Draft Delegate Act (for public consultation): https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14655-Delegated-Regulation-amending-Annex-I-of-Regulation-EU-2023-1115-EU-Deforestation-Regulation-_en
