11 June 2025
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to inform exporters of the publication of the country risk rating by the European Union (EU) for exports of cocoa, coffee, oil palm, soya, wood, and some products containing, or having been made using these commodities.
Summary of changes and key points
- The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will apply from 30 December 2025 for large EU businesses and from 30 June 2026 for smaller EU enterprises.
- Country risk ratings have been published in the EUDR country classification list.
- On 15 April 2025, the European Commission (EC) published additional guidance documents and updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) concerning the EUDR and its implementation. The guidance is intended to:
- provide additional clarity to companies and enforcing authorities to facilitate the application of the rules
- includes flexibilities such as annual due diligence statements
- cover issues including legality requirements, timeframe of application, agricultural use, and clarifications on the product scope.
- We acknowledge that further clarification on how the EUDR will be implemented may be required and we will continue to engage with the EU to seek answers on behalf of industry.
Background
- From 30 December 2025, the EUDR (EU 2023/1115) will require certain operators exporting commodities or products for the EU market to conduct due diligence to ensure these commodities or products were not produced on land subject to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020.
- EUDR is a business-to-business regulation, with no formal role for the Australian Government. To comply with EUDR, EU importers, termed ‘operators’, must obtain information, documents and geolocation data from their international suppliers.
- Operators who place commodities or products on the EU market will need to provide the EU competent authorities with a due diligence statement produced prior to the product’s arrival to demonstrate their exports are not associated with deforestation or forest degradation. This statement must include geolocation of all production locations for the commodity up to the point of processing and as part of the due diligence process should include information to demonstrate that the relevant laws in the country of production have been complied with.
- Australian producers and exporters of affected commodities will need to provide this information to enable EU operators to undertake due diligence. Failure to provide the necessary information may result in consignments being held at the EU border, returned, or destroyed.
- The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) have developed EUDR aligned standards for forest certification and are working to develop technology solutions which facilitate the sharing of information needed for EUDR compliance.
Country benchmarking system
- The EUDR establishes a country benchmarking system, which applies a deforestation risk-rating (low, standard, or high) to each country.
- A country’s risk rating determines the percentage of consignments inspected at the EU Member State border by its competent authority.
- The EC published a country classification list on 22 May 2025, confirming that Australia has been classified as a low risk under the EUDR, meaning 1% of importers placing regulated goods exclusively from Australia and other low-risk sources on the EU market will be subject to annual checks by the EU competent authorities.
- Regulated goods originating from Australia will be subject to the simplified due diligence process set out in the EUDR. Even under the simplified due diligence process, Australian producers and exporters will need to provide geolocation data and other information on land use to European operators to undertake their simplified assessment.
- Details of simplified due diligence are set out at Article 13 of the EUDR.
Exporter responsibilities
We encourage exporters to familiarise themselves with the EUDR and its implications. Further information can be found at on the department’s website and in previous IANs 2023-74 and 2024-66.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN or the EUDR, please contact Europe Trade Market Access Division.
Jemma Martin
Assistant Secretary
Plant Exports Branch