The European Commission published a proposal refining the timetable and compliance rules for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) to ease immediate burdens on smallholders and downstream businesses while preserving the law’s due-diligence core.
The proposal confirms that the EUDR will enter into application for large and medium-sized operators on 30 December 2025, while micro and small enterprises will have an extended transition until 30 June 2026 to ensure operational readiness and to reduce disproportionate burdens on the smallest operators.
The proposal aims to simplify procedures for operators sourcing from jurisdictions assessed as low risk by enabling simplified declarations and by clarifying that first-market entrants and importers are principally responsible for submitting Due Diligence Statements, thereby reducing duplicate reporting for downstream actors. The Commission presents these targeted adjustments as technical and operational rather than a rollback of environmental objectives. Core requirements such as traceability, geolocation of production plots, and proof of legal origin remain mandatory.
For European shippers the revised timetable provides clearer dates and modest procedural relief that should reduce immediate paperwork and improve predictability for customs handling, transport planning, and contractual arrangements. The proposal also acknowledges practical implementation challenges, including the readiness of the IT system that will host the EUDR Information System, and grants limited additional time to address those issues. The text will now be examined by EU Member States and the European Parliament and may be amended during scrutiny. European Shippers’ Council will engage with institutions to ensure the regulation remains environmentally effective and operationally manageable for the logistics sector.
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