Deforestation Regulation: certain obligations of operators and traders

The European Parliament adopted by 405 votes to 242, with 8 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as regards certain obligations of operators and traders.

As a reminder, the proposal aims to simplify certain reporting obligations and align deadlines while preserving the objectives of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on the making available on the Union market and export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation.

The position adopted by the European Parliament at first reading amends the proposal as follows:

One-year postponement for all undertakings

According to the amended text, undertakings will have an additional year to comply with the new rules aimed at preventing deforestation. Large operators and traders should comply with the obligations of the deforestation regulation from 30 December 2026, and micro and small enterprises from 30 June 2027. This extension is necessary to allow third countries, Member States, operators, and traders to be fully prepared, and in particular to allow these operators and traders to fully comply with their obligations.

Moreover, the definition of micro or small primary operators should include operators who exceed the limits of at least two of the three criteria set out in Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU but who can demonstrate that the parts of their balance sheet total, net turnover and average number of employees during the financial year which relate to the relevant commodities and the relevant products do not exceed the limits of at least two of three of those criteria.

Simplification of due diligence requirements

The amended text stipulates that the first downstream operator or trader, whether or not it is a small or medium-sized enterprise, should continue to ensure full traceability by collecting reference numbers of due diligence statements and declaration identifiers assigned to micro or small producers. The obligation to collect and keep reference numbers should apply only to the first downstream operator or trader and should not apply to other downstream operators or traders further down in the supply chain.

The changes introduced will also reduce the obligations of micro and small primary operators, who will now only have to submit a single simplified declaration.

As part of the simplification efforts, the administrative burden resulting from the obligations for micro or small primary operators to submit a one-time simplified declaration should be reduced by allowing them to replace the geolocation of plots of land by the postal address of the plots of land or of the establishment from where the relevant commodities that the relevant product contains, or has been made using, were produced, provided that the postal address clearly corresponds to the geographic location of the plots of land or establishment concerned. This gives micro or small primary operators the free choice of providing either the geolocation of the plots of land or the postal address of the plots of land or of respective establishment.

Facilitating the implementation of the regulation

The Commission should facilitate the harmonised implementation of the regulation:

- by publishing relevant guidelines,

- by ensuring continued dialogue with experts, stakeholders and all relevant operators, including micro or small primary operators, downstream operators and traders,

- by developing best practices and gathering technical feedback from the existing Commission expert group multi-stakeholder platform on the protection and restoration of the planet's forests, and

- by promoting adequate information exchange, coordination and cooperation between the competent authorities, between the competent authorities and the customs authorities, and between the competent authorities and the Commission.

Review

Ahead of the general review of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 to be carried out by 30 June 2030, the Commission should carry out a simplification review of that Regulation and should present a report by 30 April 2026. The report should evaluate the administrative burden and impact of that Regulation, in particular for micro or small operators. Furthermore, in the report, the Commission should indicate possible ways to address the identified issues, including through technical guidelines, improvements to the IT system, and delegated or implementing acts, and, where appropriate, should accompany the report with a legislative proposal.