EU Deforestation Regulation enforcement FAQ

Member States designate competent authorities to check whether operators, downstream operators and traders comply with the EUDR. For an in-scope product, the practical enforcement file should show that the product is deforestation-free, was produced in accordance with relevant legislation in the country of production, and is covered by the required due diligence statement or simplified declaration.

For operators, enforcement readiness starts before placing on the EU market or exporting: exercise due diligence, submit the required statement through the information system when due diligence shows no or negligible risk, keep the due diligence statement record for five years, and pass the reference number or declaration identifier down the supply chain where required.

The EUDR itself is binding EU law. Commission guidance can explain how the Commission reads and applies the Regulation, but it does not replace, add to, or amend the legal duties. National law controls the procedure and the particular penalty imposed within Article 25's EU framework.

Competent authorities use annual risk-based plans. Selection criteria include the commodity, supply-chain length and complexity, mixing, processing stage, proximity of plots to forests, country risk, prior non-compliance, circumvention risk, information-system data, monitoring data, a substantiated concern, and other relevant information.

The annual minimum check objectives are 1% of covered operators, non-SME downstream operators, and non-SME traders for low-risk production origins; 3% for standard-risk origins; and 9% for high-risk origins. For high-risk origins, checks must also cover 9% of the quantity of each relevant product. Authorities calculate these objectives separately for each relevant commodity from the preceding year's actors and, where applicable, quantities.

Checks normally occur without prior warning. For operators, an authority examines the due diligence system and product-specific evidence. It may also inspect goods, use anatomical, chemical, or DNA analysis to test species or origin, use Earth-observation data to assess deforestation-free status, and conduct field audits where appropriate. Checks on downstream operators and traders focus on the Article 5 information and registration duties.

Answer a competent authority request with the underlying due diligence file. The statement reference alone is insufficient. Connect the product to the commodity, country and place of production, supplier, risk assessment outcome, mitigation where needed, and final no-risk or negligible-risk conclusion.

Downstream operators and traders have a separate evidence burden. They must collect and keep the supply-chain information required by Article 5, including supplier details and relevant due diligence statement reference numbers or declaration identifiers, and provide that information to competent authorities upon request.

Treat the request as a product-specific evidence exercise. Preserve the current version of the relevant evidence file, identify the affected due diligence statement or declaration identifier, and assemble the records that prove the product met Article 3 before it was placed, made available, or exported.

If relevant new information indicates that a product already placed or made available may not comply, Article 5(5) requires downstream operators and traders to inform the competent authorities of the affected Member States and their downstream business recipients immediately. For exports, the downstream operator informs the competent authority of the Member State that is the country of production. Operators have their own immediate notification duty under Article 4(5). Record the affected product lots, recipients, notification time and evidence supplied.

Article 24 allows competent authorities to require proportionate corrective action, including fixing formal non-compliance, preventing placement or export, immediate withdrawal or recall, donation where appropriate, or disposal. Article 23 also provides for immediate interim measures such as seizure or suspension when potential non-compliance is detected.

Member States set and apply penalties. Article 25 requires effective, proportionate, and dissuasive regimes that include fines, confiscation of products and revenues, temporary exclusion from public procurement and funding, and, for serious or repeated infringements, temporary market prohibitions and loss of simplified due diligence. For a legal person, the maximum fine must be at least 4% of the total annual Union-wide turnover in the financial year preceding the fining decision and may need to exceed the economic benefit gained.