The new EU guidance document on the EUDR was expected to bring substantial simplifications to the regulation's implementation. Hopes were particularly high regarding the evidence requirements for legality, which under the current EU Timber Regulation are loosely extended to "all relevant laws" — making implementation and verification almost impossible in practice.
Unfortunately, the new guidance document offers no genuine simplifications. When assessing whether commodities and products have been produced lawfully, "only" those rules are now relevant that affect the legal status of the area of production — read in the light of the EUDR's objectives, namely deforestation and forest degradation. Even so, the guidance lists, "among others," the following: land use rights, environmental protection, forest-related rules, third parties' rights, internationally protected labour and human rights, the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as tax, anti-corruption, trade and customs regulations.
A meaningful simplification is therefore not apparent. However, the European Commission plans to establish, by December 2026, a repository in which producer countries can list their relevant legislation — operators will be able to draw on this resource to fulfil their information and due diligence obligations.
According to the wording of the new guidance, operators must be aware of the legislation applicable in each of their sourcing countries and must, as part of their due diligence, collect information, documents and data demonstrating compliance with the respective national laws. They may rely on a broad range of credible sources which, taken as a whole, allow a reasoned conclusion as to the lawfulness of production. They should also be able to plausibly explain both the presence and the absence of specific documents.
For supply chains, production areas and producer countries with a demonstrably negligible risk, no in-depth data collection is required. In particular, operators are not required to systematically collect comprehensive legal documentation for each individual plot of land, obtain individual land titles, or compile exhaustive lists of all potentially relevant laws. Suitable evidence includes official documents issued by state authorities, contracts setting out specific obligations, public and private certifications, judicial decisions as well as management plans and environmental audit reports. Additional sources may include company policies and codes of conduct, voluntary self-declarations by producers regarding legal compliance, social agreements between private actors and rights holders, and specific reports on land rights and conflicts.
All collected information must be analysed and verified — operators must be able to assess the content and reliability of the documents, understand the connections between different pieces of information, and check whether the documents are consistent with one another and with other available information, what exactly each document proves, on which system (e.g. official inspection, independent audit) it is based, and how reliable and valid it is — that is, how likely it is to have been falsified or issued unlawfully.
Relevant Legality Aspects under EUDR Article 2(40)
Land use rights
- Laws governing the cultivation, harvesting and management of land
- Legislation on the transfer of agricultural and forest land
- Legislation on land lease and tenancy agreements
Environmental protection (linked to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions or biodiversity)
- Legislation on protected areas
- Nature protection and ecosystem restoration legislation
- Protection and conservation of wildlife and biodiversity
- Protection of endangered species
- Land development and land-use planning
Forest-related rules (with a direct link to timber harvesting)
- Protection and conservation of forests
- Sustainable forest management
- Anti-deforestation legislation
- Rights to harvest timber within legally gazetted boundaries
Third parties' rights
- Use and tenure rights affected by production
- Traditional land use rights of indigenous peoples and local communities
- Specific rights such as land charges or usufructuary rights
Labour and human rights (protected under international law)
- Rights of persons present in the area of production
- Rights of persons with claims to the production area
- Rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, where reflected in national law
- Rights to land, territories and resources
- Property rights
- Rights arising from treaties and agreements between indigenous peoples and states
Principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) — under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the consent of indigenous peoples is required before:
- Projects affecting their rights to land, territories or resources (e.g. mining, resource extraction)
- Relocation from their lands or territories
- Restitution or other appropriate redress for prior interventions carried out without consent
Tax, anti-corruption, trade and customs regulations
- Applicable laws governing relevant supply chains entering or leaving the EU market — provided they have a specific link to the objectives of the Regulation
- For trade and customs law: only where it specifically concerns the agricultural or forestry production sectors