The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will be applied from 30 December 2025 to large EU businesses, and from 30 June 2026 to smaller EU enterprises.
Under the EUDR, EU importers will need to ensure that land associated with the production of certain commodities (listed below) has not been subject to deforestation or forest degradation since 31 December 2020. EU importers will also be required to ensure that production has complied with relevant local laws.
Australian producers and exporters of relevant products will need to provide certain information to EU importers to support their compliance.
Commodities affected
The EUDR regulates imports of these commodities and certain derived products:
- Cattle (including beef)
- Cocoa
- Coffee
- Oil Palm
- Rubber
- Soya
- Wood
Leather, chocolate and paper are among the derived products regulated.
See the full list of regulated commodities and derived products.
How it works
Your EU importer will need to meet the requirements of the EUDR to import your products. This includes collecting certain information prior to importation.
EU authorities will require EU importers to collect the following:
- a description of relevant products and their quantities (and for wood products, the common species name and full scientific name)
- geolocations of all production locations
- date or time range of production
- adequately conclusive and verifiable information that the relevant products are deforestation-free and were produced in compliance with the export country’s relevant local laws.
EU importers will utilise this information to submit a due diligence statement to EU authorities prior to the products entering the EU.
You will need to provide geocoordinates of the production locations through the supply chain onto the EU importer (see further details on this below), along with product descriptions and production dates.
Resources that EU importers can be directed towards to help fulfil their information gathering requirements and assurances are provided below under ‘Relevant Information for EU Importers’.
Geolocations
Geolocations provided under the EUDR will need to be:
- at least one latitude coordinate and at least one longitude coordinate
- to a minimum of 6 decimal places.
For cattle, a single geolocation coordinate is required to identify each establishment where cattle have been kept.
For all other commodities, where the production area is smaller than 4 hectares, a single geolocation coordinate is required. Where the production area is larger than 4 hectares, latitude and longitude points that describe the perimeter of the area are required.
Geolocations for all plots are required when a commodity has been produced on more than one plot. This may include when a commodity has moved across different plots of land or the product is made of goods from different plots of land.
LPA Geolocation Sharing Tool
For cattle producers, the sharing of geolocations is additional to existing EUCAS rules and requirements. The Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program has introduced a geolocation sharing tool to enable cattle producers to provide the information required for EUDR. In their LPA Account, Australian cattle producers can provide geolocation coordinates for their sites of production. LPA’s guidance on EUDR and geolocation is available here.
The department encourages all producers to enable LPA’s geolocation sharing permissions and engage with their purchasers and suppliers to ensure they can demonstrate compliance with the EUDR.
In addition to the LPA geolocation tool, the department is aware that further tools are in development by non-government entities to assist with proving compliance with EUDR requirements and sharing information through supply chains to EU importers. These include the Cibolabs EUDR Deforestation Assessment Service.
The department will continue to provide information on relevant developments through future industry advice notices, webinars and website updates.
Relevant Information for EU Importers
Guidance on forest management frameworks by state
The Australian Government, together with state governments, have developed
‘State Specific Guidelines’ (SSGs). These outline the legal frameworks used in each Australian state to regulate timber harvesting.
The SSGs were developed to assist compliance with due diligence efforts under Australia’s illegal logging laws. They provide information on ensuring compliance with the relevant forest management frameworks that may be useful to assisting EU importers’ due diligence efforts under EUDR, particularly for wood.
The SSGs can be accessed on the department’s website here.
National forest mapping and reporting
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES) has produced Australia’s State of Forests Report since 1998. This provides extensive information on forest extent, protections and related land use change.
The most recent accurate map of Australia’s forests, mapped according to Australia’s internationally recognised forest definition, was published in 2023.
As part of its global forest monitoring, the EU Observatory on deforestation and forest degradation has produced a draft advisory global forest map, aimed at representing the state of standing forest cover at 31 December 2020 based on satellite data and the EU definition of forest. The map can be accessed here: EU Forest Observatory.
While the Australian Government has provided input to the EU Observatory during their mapping development, it cannot attest to its accuracy of their products, given they have not undergone the same processes as those developed by ABARES.
The EUDR does not require use of any particular map.
Third party information
Several third parties have published material on Australia that may be relevant to EU importers’ information gathering requirements. We have included a selection below.
These sources represent the views of third parties and may be subject to further change. As the EUDR is EU legislation, the Australian Government cannot provide any assurances on their relevance or acceptability to EU authorities.
Forest Trends – Illegal Deforestation and Associated Trade (IDAT) Risk Tool
Forest Trends provides a series of tools to support the national risk assessments when sourcing forest-related commodities. The IDAT risk tool includes country risk ratings (including for Australia) and information about specific risks associated with illegal deforestation and supply chains.
Preferred By Nature – Sourcing Hub
Preferred by Nature’s sourcing hub includes national legality risk assessments across several commodities with information on the risks associated with a particular country (including Australia), and advice on mitigating actions.
TimberLex – Country Specific Legal Information
The TimberLex database provides country-specific legal information on forest management, timber production and trade (including for Australia).
Country Benchmarking
The EUDR country benchmarking system determines the deforestation and degradation risk of each nation. Nations are classed on a 3-tier system, from low-risk to high-risk:
- High risk – countries that have been identified as having a high risk of producing relevant goods that do not comply with the EUDR.
- Standard risk – countries that do not fall into either the high risk or low risk category.
- Low risk – countries that have been identified as having a low risk of producing relevant goods that do not comply with the EUDR.
The percentage of consignments inspected at the border on arrival will vary according to the level of risk assigned to the country or region of production.
Low-Risk Classification for Australia
On 22 May 2025, the European Commission (EC) classified Australia as a low-risk country (Country Classification List) under the EUDR. The finalisation of this classification is subject to pending agreement from the EU Parliament.
The low-risk rating means that only 1% of importers placing regulated goods exclusively from Australia and all other low risk sources on the EU market will be subject to annual checks by the EU competent authorities, as opposed to 3% for standard risk and 9% for high-risk origins. It also means that regulated goods originating from Australia will be subject to the simplified due diligence process set out in the EUDR.
However, under the simplified due diligence process, Australian producers and exporters still need to provide geolocations and further information to EU importers.
European Commission’s Guidance and FAQs
The EC published an updated Guidance Document and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in May 2025 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.
The guidance is divided into 11 chapters covering issues including legality requirements, timeframe of application, agricultural use, and clarifications on the product scope. The latest FAQs features over 40 new additional answers to address questions raised by stakeholders.
See more
Read the full EUDR legal text.
Subscribe to our Industry Advice Notices (IAN) for updates including on EUDR:
Contact
If you have questions about the EUDR please email: europe.tmad@aff.gov.au.
Disclaimer
Many of the implementation details of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) are still to be determined by the European Commission (EC). The above information is therefore provided to alert Australian entities but is not intended to substitute specific commercial or legal advice. Implementation of the EUDR is ultimately the responsibility of the EC and European Union Member States. Australian entities may wish to seek independent advice applicable to their business or based on their circumstances.
The information provided is current at the date of issue and is intended for use as guidance only. The Commonwealth has exercised due care and skill in the preparation of this information, but we do not warrant its accuracy, completeness or suitability for any purpose. Information may be subject to change without notice.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Commonwealth will not be liable for any loss, damage, expense or cost incurred by any person directly or indirectly as a result of relying on information contained in this notice.