EUDR: What the Commission’s 4 May 2026 simplification package means for wood, state forests and non-EU operators

On 4 May 2026 the European Commission published its simplification review of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), together with a full implementation package: an updated Guidance Document (3rd edition), a 5th iteration of the Frequently Asked Questions, a draft Delegated Act amending Annex I (open for public feedback until 1 June 2026), and an updated draft implementing act on the Information System now sent to Member States.

The Commission has chosen not to reopen the legal text of the EUDR. Application dates remain firm: 30 December 2026 for medium and large companies and for micro and small undertakings in the timber sector, and 30 June 2027 for the remaining micro and small undertakings. The package focuses on workable interpretation, scope refinements and IT-system improvements. The Commission estimates the cumulative simplification effort reduces annual compliance costs for companies by around 75% compared to the original regulation.

Below we focus on three areas of immediate concern to our members:

1. Wood

The new package contains substantive wood-specific clarifications:

Transition for EUTR-covered timber. The Guidance now contains a dedicated transitional table for products listed in the Annex of the old Timber Regulation (995/2010). EUTR rules continue to apply to timber harvested before 29 June 2023 and placed on the market up to 31 December 2029. From 31 December 2029 onwards, EUDR applies regardless of harvest date. Paper products manufactured from timber harvested and placed on the market between 29 June 2023 and 30 December 2026 do not need a DDS or a simplified declaration, as EUTR continues to govern them.

Forest definition. All five criteria must be met simultaneously: ≥0.5 ha, ≥5 m height (or able to reach in situ), >10% canopy cover, trees able to reach the thresholds, and not predominantly under agricultural or urban use. Forest roads, fire breaks, small open areas surrounded by forest, mangroves in tidal zones, nurseries of forest species within forest areas, and temporarily unstocked areas due to forest management or natural disasters all explicitly count as forest.

Forest degradation is causal. The Guidance and FAQ confirm that harvest must “induce” the degradation. Storms, fires, pests, climate change unrelated to harvesting do not make wood non-compliant, but the operator carries the evidence burden. Salvage harvesting after a storm or fire, and sanitary cutting to stop the spread of pests or disease, are explicitly recognised as not “inducing” degradation, provided the actual purpose is documented. Deliberate planting or seeding for protection or ecosystem restoration that resembles naturally regenerating forest at maturity is excluded from the “plantation forest” and “planted forest” categories.

Harvesting levels. Different intensities are allowed as long as the operation does not transform the forest type (primary or naturally regenerating into planted, plantation or other wooded land).

Composite wood products. For furniture, particle board, paper and other multi-component products, geolocations are needed for all wood components. Where exact species per component is impractical, the operator must list every species that may have been used. The recommended nomenclature is DIN EN 13556. The Information System requires species-level identification; genus alone is not sufficient.

Wood and paper packaging. Single-use and reusable packaging used exclusively to support, protect or carry another product is out of scope from the moment it is used for that purpose. Repaired pallets only trigger EUDR for the new wood components added.

Wood waste, by-products and recycling. Furniture from demolition timber and products from fully recycled material are out of scope. Any virgin pulp content brings that share back into scope. Wood chips and sawdust used as fuelwood remain in scope unless used exclusively as packing.

Out of scope: rattan, bamboo, balata, gutta-percha, synthetic rubber. The bamboo components of a wood-bamboo product do not trigger due diligence.

Standing trees and harvesting rights. The operator at the moment of harvest is whoever becomes owner of the logs by the act of harvesting. It may be the forest owner or the harvesting contractor, depending on the contract and national law. Reference: CJEU judgment C-370/23 of 21 November 2024.

2. State forests

There is no chapter specifically on state forests, but several clarifications are directly relevant:

Sales of standing timber. Whether the state forest body or the harvesting contractor is the operator depends on contract drafting. The state forest authority remains the operator unless ownership of logs passes automatically to the contractor by the act of harvesting.

Conversion for non-agricultural purposes is not deforestation. Forest fire prevention, invasive alien species management, restoration of high-biodiversity ecosystems under conservation or restoration plans implementing CBD or Kunming-Montreal obligations, animal welfare structures, renewable energy deployment (wind, photovoltaics) and infrastructure such as roads or settlements all fall outside the deforestation definition, provided the activity is limited to what is strictly necessary and supported by an appropriate plan or official mandate.

Forest management plans and forest registers are recognised tools when an area is temporarily unstocked due to forest management practice, natural disaster or first years of afforestation. National forest designation matters for the set-aside / fallow rule: agricultural land set-aside generally remains “agricultural use” for ten years, but stays agricultural longer if legitimate reasons are documented, unless it is officially designated as forest by national law.

Long-rotation harvesting and irregular production (FAQ 3.30, new). For an MSPO-eligible forest owner harvesting only every several years:

• only the years of actual placing on the market count;
• if a multi-year harvest plan exists, the annual estimate can be the highest planned annual harvest, or the total divided by the number of years;
• in the absence of a plan, the last “normal” year of operations or comparable plot yield can serve as baseline;
• the operator must be able to justify the chosen estimate to the Competent Authority.

Pre-harvest DDS submission for stable plots (FAQ 5.19). As an exemption from the rule that the commodity must already be produced when a DDS is submitted, an operator sourcing from “stable plots of land or establishments with unchanged conditions in terms of legality and absence of deforestation or forest degradation” can submit a DDS beforeharvest. Highly relevant for state forests with well-documented stands and forest management plans.

Multiple plots in one declaration. A state forest body can declare hundreds of plots in a single DDS or simplified declaration, subject to the 25 MB upload limit. Only plots actually used to produce commodities placed on the EU market need to be declared, not all plots owned.

Cooperatives, associations and central submission. Where a state forest authority, regional unit or association meets the MSPO criteria itself by directly placing on the market commodities it has produced, it can submit a single one-time simplified declaration. Where it does not, it can act as an authorised representative for affiliated entities and submit DDS centrally on their behalf, provided it is established in the EU. Legal responsibility remains with each individual operator.

Mixed-business test for MSPO status. Only the share of turnover, balance sheet and staff related to relevant commodities counts. A forest body that combines forestry with non-EUDR activities (tourism, hunting management, water management, real estate) can apply the threshold test only to the forestry share. Records must be kept to show how the allocation was made.

Persons without an obligation to draw up a balance sheet (notably some public forest entities and natural persons) can either build a balance sheet by valuing production assets, or rely on the other two MSPO thresholds (€10 million turnover and 50 employees) and skip the balance sheet test entirely if both are below.

Coming improvements. The Commission is working with Member States to feed national databases directly into the Information System, which is expected to further reduce burden on micro and small primary operators, including, in practice, many small forest owners and municipal forest entities. A repository of relevant legislation is to be established by the Commission by December 2026, where Member States and producer countries can publish their list of laws affecting the legal status of the area of production.

3. Non-EU operators

Article 7 mechanism. Where a person established outside the EU places relevant products on the Union market, the first person established in the Union that makes the products available is also deemed an operator under Article 7 EUDR. Two operators therefore coexist in the supply chain, one inside and one outside the EU, and both are subject to operator obligations. The purpose, set out in Recital 30, is to ensure that there is always an EU-based operator who can be held accountable.

Information System access for non-EU operators. A non-EU operator can access the Information System only if it holds a valid EORI number issued by an EU Member State or by the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland (XI). Without an EORI, the only route is to mandate an authorised representative, and the authorised representative must itself be established in the EU (Art. 2(22) EUDR).

Producer-country obligations. The Regulation imposes no legal obligations on non-EU countries themselves. Producers in third countries have no direct obligations unless they are placing relevant products on the EU market. They may, however, be asked by their EU-based buyers to provide geolocation data, legality documentation and other evidence so the EU-side operator can comply.

Sharing geolocation across borders. Operators cannot rely on national laws prohibiting the sharing of public geolocation data with operators in order to be exempted from the obligation to upload geolocation into the Information System. Geolocation must be submitted; otherwise the product cannot be placed on the EU market.

Re-imports (FAQ 5.4, new). A new mechanism is now in place. A re-importer of a product previously exported from the EU is treated as a downstream operator, with no new DDS required, provided the prior placing on the market can be demonstrated. Acceptable evidence includes customs declarations, contracts, bills of lading, CMR notes, delivery notes, airway bills and invoices. At customs the re-importer provides the original DDS reference number; if none was provided, the Commission will publish a conventional reference number for use in the customs declaration for re-imports. Competent Authorities will be informed about the use of that conventional number.

E-commerce and B2C imports. A consumer importing for private use is never an operator, even where the customs declaration names them as the importer. The actual operator is the seller, online retailer or fulfilment service provider. Online marketplaces acting purely as intermediaries have no obligation; where the platform itself sells, fulfils or otherwise actively supplies the product, it is the operator, downstream operator or trader, depending on the configuration.

Country benchmarking. The list of country risk classifications under Article 29(2) is set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1093. Where a country has not been assigned a specific risk level, it is treated as standard risk by default.

Customs interface for exports. Downstream operators exporting from the EU do not need to provide a reference number at customs; a dedicated TARIC certificate code now exempts them. Only “upstream” operator exporters need to attach the DDS reference number.

What’s coming next

• Public feedback on the draft Delegated Act on Annex I scope is open until 1 June 2026. Proposed changes include adding soluble coffee and certain palm oil derivatives, and removing leather, retreaded tyres, product samples, certain packing materials, used and second-hand products, and waste. Stakeholders affected by these scope changes should submit comments through the Commission’s “Have Your Say” portal.
• An updated implementing act on the Information System has been sent to Member States and will be adopted in the coming weeks. It reflects the new actor categories, the simplified declaration, and user-friendliness improvements.
• The Information System is being extended to integrate national databases, support the simplified declaration, and offer a voluntary grouping of DDS reference numbers for downstream actors aggregating multiple upstream DDS.
• A repository of relevant legislation will be established by December 2026.
• A repository of certification schemes is announced (no fixed date) to provide transparent information on scheme scope.
• The Commission will continue to update the Guidance and the FAQs based on stakeholder feedback. Commodity-specific guidelines remain a possibility.

The first annual report under Art. 12(3) EUDR for non-SME operators is due after 30 December 2027, covering the year 2027. Companies already reporting equivalent elements under CSDDD or CSRD do not need to repeat.