Make due diligence statements operational: evidence in, reference number out, shipment released.
Focus: operator responsibility, simplified declaration edge cases, evidence structure, retention, and downstream handoff of DDS references.
Structured answer sets in this page tree.
Cited legal and guidance references.
Under EUDR, the due diligence statement is not a reporting afterthought. It is the operational gate that allows relevant products to be placed on the market or exported. Operators submit a DDS unless the Regulation gives them access to the simplified declaration route. Your job is to build an evidence pipeline that produces a defensible submission, stores the right artifacts for years, and makes DDS reference numbers or declaration identifiers flow downstream reliably.
A DDS is the formal mechanism by which operators take responsibility for compliance for relevant products they intend to place on the market or export. Treat it as a hard gate in your process: no reference number, no ship.
Design the gate so it is enforceable in ERP/logistics systems, not just in policy.
Operators may mandate an authorised representative to submit the DDS or simplified declaration on their behalf, but the operator retains responsibility for Article 3 compliance.
Micro or small primary operators follow the simplified declaration route in Article 4a, while other operators still need the full DDS route. If you delegate submission, you still need the evidence and the internal approvals.
Due diligence includes information collection, risk assessment, and risk mitigation. Build your evidence pack around that structure so it's easy to defend.
Geolocation and legality evidence are common blockers-design them as first-class artifacts.
SSOT can take EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): Deforestation-Free Products and Due Diligence DDS and Evidence Pack from reusing this material inside a governed evidence system to a reusable workflow inside Sorena. Teams working on EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): Deforestation-Free Products and Due Diligence can keep owners, evidence, and next steps aligned without copying this guide into separate documents.
Start from EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): Deforestation-Free Products and Due Diligence DDS and Evidence Pack and keep documents, evidence, and control records in one governed system.
Review your current process, evidence gaps, and next steps for EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): Deforestation-Free Products and Due Diligence DDS and Evidence Pack.
Operators must keep a record of due diligence statements for five years and communicate DDS reference numbers or declaration identifiers further down the supply chain.
Downstream operators and traders must keep the Article 5 information set for at least five years as well. Make this deterministic: downstream recipients should receive structured identifiers, not screenshots or PDFs.
Retention is not just storage-it's retrieval. Your evidence pack must be queryable by lot, shipment, supplier, and production site.
Build a 'competent authority request drill': can you produce the evidence within hours, not weeks?