EUDR update: the European Commission proposes to delay the application start

8 October 2024 EU Deforestation Regulation

On 2 October, the European Commission announced a proposal for an additional 12 months to prepare for the start of application of the EUDR. Along with it, the Commission published the EUDR guidelines and updated the FAQ document, together with some other relevant implementation material.

What is new? 

The postponement of the application date is not yet approved, as it still needs to pass the votes of the European Parliament and the Council until the end of the year. The exact timeline is not available, however it needs to follow the EU’s legislative procedures. With this, it remains to be seen if concerned parties will be granted additional time for the start of the implementation and when this would be confirmed. In addition, the Commission highlighted that the timeline extension proposal does not include any further changes on the substance of the law.

The Commission also put into use some of the key EUDR implementation material, including an EUDR guidance document and a third edition of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to support operators and stakeholders. These documents elaborate on different aspects of the EUDR and clarify the application of the rules. The newly published strategic framework for international cooperation includes in its annex the principles of the benchmarking methodology.

Documents published on 2 October include:

1. Press release
2. Guidance
3. Proposal for a Regulation amending Deforestation Regulation as regards the date of application
4. Third edition of FAQs
5. Strategic Framework for Cooperation
6. SME factsheet
7. Myth Buster

The next steps at EU level

• Vote on the Commission proposal to delay the EUDR in the EP and the Council (expected by the end of the year)
• The Commission has announced the dates for the EUDR Information System virtual trainings in October (more info here) 
• Registrations to the EUDR Online Registry and its launch (November-December)  

PEFC's next steps

PEFC will closely follow the developments at EU level with regards to the vote on the proposed EUDR delay. Meanwhile, we will continue to follow the PEFC EUDR roll-out, as communicated. We published the Requirements for the Implementation of PEFC EUDR Due Diligence System (PEFC EUDR DDS) in July. In parallel, we partner with selected technology providers to enable organisations to achieve EUDR compliance with maximum automation and continue to work on the amendments to the PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standard (ST 1003) to ensure that PEFC-certified raw material coming out of PEFC-certified forests is EUDR aligned. 

PEFC remains committed to contributing to halting world’s deforestation through promoting sustainable forest management and continues to support our PEFC members and the PEFC certificate holders in this mission.

For further information on PEFC’s EUDR-related work, please visit pefc.org/eudr. If you have any questions, please contact us at eudr@pefc.org.