EU Adjusts Deforestation Rule Scope Ahead of December Application

The European Commission has adopted two measures to support implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation, updating which products fall under the rule and setting out the technical system businesses will use to submit compliance declarations. The changes, announced 13 July 2026, follow a legislative amendment agreed in December 2025 and a simplification package presented in May 2026. They arrive as the regulation prepares to apply from 30 December 2026 for large and medium-sized operators, with smaller operators following in mid-2027.

 

What the Regulation Requires

 

The EU Deforestation Regulation aims to ensure that products sold in or exported from the EU do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation. It covers seven commodities linked to forest loss, cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood, along with derived products made from them. Companies placing these goods on the EU market must demonstrate the products are deforestation-free and were produced in compliance with the laws of their country of origin, a requirement that pushes traceability obligations back through often complex global supply chains.

Even before taking effect, the regulation has already prompted changes in how companies manage supply chain transparency and has opened market opportunities for verified deforestation-free products, according to the Commission, suggesting the rule's influence is being felt ahead of its formal application date.

 

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Which Products Were Added and Removed

 

The Delegated Act adjusts the regulation's Annex I, the list of specific products derived from the seven core commodities that fall under its scope. Following stakeholder consultation, several items were removed, including cattle hides, skins and leather, re-treaded tyres, soybeans for sowing, vulcanised rubber articles, conveyor and transmission belts, and aircraft and motor vehicle seats. At the same time, soluble coffee, certain palm oil derivatives and frozen cattle tongues were added.

That combination of removals and additions reflects a recalibration based on where the regulation's compliance burden was judged proportionate to its deforestation-prevention value, rather than a general loosening of the rule. The underlying list of seven covered commodities has not changed; only the specific derived products captured within those commodity categories has shifted. To give businesses time to adjust, products newly added to scope will not become subject to the regulation until 30 December 2027, a full year after the main application date, while removed products lose their compliance obligations immediately.

The Delegated Act also clarified that samples used for testing and analysis fall outside the regulation's scope entirely, and introduced exemptions for waste, used and secondhand products, packaging material, and products used in manufacturing medicines, addressing categories where full due diligence documentation would have been impractical or served little deforestation-prevention purpose.

 

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Simplifying the Compliance System

 

Alongside the product scope changes, the Commission adopted an Implementing Act establishing the technical rules for the EUDR Information System, the digital platform through which companies submit due diligence statements confirming their products are deforestation-free. The updated system introduces simplified declarations specifically for micro and small primary operators, recognising that the smallest businesses in agricultural and forestry supply chains often lack the compliance infrastructure of large multinational operators, alongside updated technical specifications for the automated interfaces larger companies use to submit data at scale.

The Information System reopened at the end of June following these technical updates, and the Commission plans further functionality additions later in the summer alongside training sessions for companies starting at the end of July. European Commissioner Jessika Roswall framed the combined package as providing the clarity and predictability businesses, member states and international partners need ahead of the regulation's application, following what she described as a completed simplification review.

 

What Happens Next

 

The Delegated Act on product scope now moves to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU for scrutiny before it can formally enter into force, meaning the specific product list changes described here are not yet final. The regulation's guidance documentation, previously available only in English, has now been formally adopted in all EU languages, addressing a practical barrier for smaller operators and partner countries whose primary working language was not English. Whether the phased application timeline and simplified declaration system succeed in easing compliance for smaller operators without weakening the regulation's core deforestation-prevention goal will become clearer once large and medium-sized operators begin operating under the rule at the end of this year.

 

Source: EU Deforestation Regulation