EUDR: A clear timeline maintained, and other consumer countries are following suit
10 June 2026
The European Commission published its EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) ‘simplification package’ on 4 May 2026. Despite the troubling review of the Regulation’s scope, it has sent a strong signal to companies that it will be implemented by the end of the year.
The objective of the simplification package was threefold:
- (i) operationalise the EUDR modifications voted on late last year, alongside the second delay;
- (ii) provide the European Parliament and Member States with a simplification review report required as part of last year’s legislative changes;
- (iii) review and amend the EUDR’s commodity scope.
When agreed last year, the review cast further uncertainty on the EUDR. Some considered it an opportunity for still more prevaricating from EU lawmakers, which could have been a fatal blow to the Regulation, jeopardising the many investments made by the private sector and producer countries towards compliance.
In the end, the Commission did not reopen the EUDR; instead it helped stabilise a precarious situation by offering clarifications to the companies’ concerns and confirming implementation by year end.
The review’s main negative point was the suggestion to exclude leather from the EUDR’s scope, despite the Commission agreement that leather has a higher deforestation footprint than that of most commodities covered by the EUDR. Such a move would set a dangerous precedent.
On a more positive note, the European Commission’s simplification review recognises the many efforts made by producer countries to prepare for EUDR implementation. The text notably references a comprehensive study listing such efforts, an indication of the positive impact the EUDR is already having in producer countries.
In parallel, stakeholders in major consumer countries have sent encouraging signals. In the United States, several members of Congress introduced the “Trade Responsibly for Environmental Emissions Act,” aimed at “prohibiting the import of commodities and products derived from lands affected by deforestation or forest degradation”. The proposed law resonates with the EUDR: it would require companies to do due diligence to demonstrate the geolocation of imported goods, together with information that determines production “in accordance with the relevant law regarding deforestation of the country of origin”.
In April, several US Congress members also sent a letter to the EU opposing the recurring attacks from the Trump administration on the EUDR.
Similarly, a significant Chinese beef trade player has pledged to pay a higher price for a share of its imports from Brazil, to ensure it is deforestation-free. This sends a powerful market signal: Chinese importers are now starting to prioritise sustainability over price.
In 2021, the UK passed an Environment Act with comparable intentions to the EUDR, but has since dawdled on publication of essential implementing rules, despite the Government assessment that global ecosystem degradation – forests, mostly – constitutes a fundamental risk to national security (FW 313). Perhaps, at long last, the EUDR’s full entry into force will trigger the rules’ release.
The EUDR has definitely acted as a global catalyst. The above developments offer a glimmer of hope: despite a very challenging geopolitical context and culture wars against effective action on climate change, frontrunners in major consumer countries are willing to follow suit on the EU’s efforts to address its global deforestation and land-grab footprint.
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Categories: News, Forest Watch, EU Regulation on deforestation-free products
