EU Deforestation Regulation Operator, trader, and downstream roles

Start with an Annex I product, then identify what the entity does with that product. The phrase placing on the market means first making an individual relevant product available on the EU market in a commercial activity. For a product made in the EU, the first person to supply it for distribution, consumption, or use on the EU market is normally the operator. For a product entering the EU, the person who places it under the customs procedure for release for free circulation is normally the operator. A person exporting a relevant product is an operator unless the downstream-operator definition applies.

Use the downstream-operator category only when the new relevant product is made using relevant products that are all already covered by a due diligence statement or simplified declaration. If any relevant input is not covered, the specific transaction does not meet that definition and needs an operator analysis. A person that only supplies an already-placed relevant product in the course of a commercial activity is a trader if it is not the operator or downstream operator.

For a product imported from outside the EU, the person acting as importer when it is released for free circulation is generally the operator. If that importer is not established in the EU, Article 7 also makes the first EU-established person to make the product available subject to operator obligations. A private consumer importing directly for personal use is not an operator, and customs warehousing, transit, temporary admission, and other procedures short of release for free circulation do not by themselves place a product on the market.

The Commission's July 2026 guidance confirms that one natural or legal person may hold several roles at the same time for different relevant products. The guidance is non-binding and does not replace the Regulation. Record the role at product and transaction level, including whether the product was produced in the EU, imported for free circulation, transformed into a new Annex I product, supplied onward, or exported.

An operator must exercise due diligence before placing or exporting the relevant product. Unless the separate Article 4a regime for a micro or small primary operator applies, the operator must submit a due diligence statement through the EUDR information system before the transaction. Submission is allowed only after due diligence shows no or only a negligible risk that the product does not comply with Article 3. The operator remains responsible for compliance even when an authorised representative submits the statement.

Downstream operators and traders do not submit a new due diligence statement or have a general duty to redo the upstream operator's due diligence. Article 5 instead requires them to hold specified supply-chain information before placing, making available, or exporting. This includes the supplier's identity and, only when that supplier is an operator, the associated due diligence statement reference numbers or declaration identifiers. They must also record the downstream operators or traders to whom they supply the product.

Size changes some Article 5 duties, not the role definition. A non-SME downstream operator or non-SME trader must register in the information system before the covered transaction. All downstream operators and traders, including SMEs, must collect and retain the Article 5(3) information and assist competent-authority checks.

Yes, subject to the Article 5 information and new-risk rules. A downstream operator or trader does not submit another statement if it holds the information required by Article 5(3). It still has to retain that information for five years from its own placing, making available, or export and provide it to the competent authority on request.

If a downstream operator or trader learns that a product it has already placed or made available may not comply, Article 5(5) requires immediate notice to the relevant Member State authorities and to downstream operators and traders it supplied. For exports, the adopted text says that the downstream operator informs the competent authority of the Member State that is the country of production; because that wording may be difficult to apply where production occurred outside the EU, confirm the reporting destination with the competent authority rather than guessing.

Before a transaction, non-SME downstream operators and non-SME traders have an additional rule. If they receive relevant information indicating non-compliance, they must immediately inform the authorities in the Member States where they intend to place or make the product available or from which they intend to export it. If there is a substantiated concern, they must verify that due diligence was exercised and that no or only a negligible risk was found; they cannot proceed until that verification reaches that result.

Keep enough evidence to reproduce the role decision for each product flow. For an operator, retain all due diligence documentation for at least five years and keep each due diligence statement record for five years from submission. Communicate the associated statement reference numbers or declaration identifiers to downstream operators and traders further down the supply chain.

A downstream operator or trader must keep the Article 5(3) information for at least five years from its own placing, making available, or export. Keep required supplier and business-recipient identities, operator statement references or declaration identifiers, and the date and product flow to which each record belongs. Also retain notices, authority correspondence, and any non-SME verification record needed to show how new risk information was handled.