The European Commission postpones application of the EU Deforestation Regulation and other developments

On 2 October 2024, the European Commission (“Commission”) made public its proposal to postpone application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (“EUDR”), by way of an amendment to the EUDR that would postpone (a) its date of entry into application from 30 December 2024 to 30 December 2025 (and till 30 June 2026 for small and micro-enterprises) and (b) benchmarking deadline to 30 June 2025.

On the same day, the Commission also released the long overdue EUDR Draft Guidance Document (“Guidance Document“) and an updated version of the EUDR Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”). The Guidance Document as well as the FAQs provide a useful reference for anyone who must comply with the EUDR by clarifying and elaborating on the key definitions and obligations imposed by the EUDR, whilst discussing the role of certifications and third party verification schemes in risk assessment and risk mitigation.

Finally, the Commission also released updated information on the General Principles on the Benchmarking Methodology, which suggest that a large majority of countries worldwide are expected to be classified as low risk. This is encouraging news for operators since no risk assessment and risk mitigation would need to be performed for products containing or made of commodities originating in low risk countries.

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