The European Parliament has approved measures to simplify the EU Deforestation Regulation adopted in 2023, which aims to ensure that products sold in the EU are not sourced from deforested land, according to the European Parliament.
The new position grants companies an additional year to comply with the regulation. Large operators and traders must apply the obligations from 30 December 2026, and micro and small enterprises from 30 June 2027. The extension is designed to support a smooth transition and allow upgrades to the IT system used for electronic due diligence statements.
Parliament agreed that the responsibility for submitting due diligence statements should rest with businesses that first place products on the EU market, not with later traders. Micro and small primary operators will now be required to file only a single simplified declaration instead of full due diligence reports.
Members of Parliament also requested that the European Commission conduct a simplification review of the law by 30 April 2026 to assess its administrative impact. The proposal passed with 402 votes in favor, 250 against, and 8 abstentions.
Negotiations with EU member states will follow to finalize the legislation. The law must be endorsed by both Parliament and the Council and published in the EU Official Journal before the end of 2025 for the one-year delay to take effect.
The EU Deforestation Regulation, adopted on 19 April 2023, targets deforestation linked to products such as cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, wood, rubber, charcoal, printed paper, and cattle. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 420 million hectares of forest were lost globally between 1990 and 2020, with EU consumption accounting for about 10% of deforestation. Palm oil and soya make up more than two thirds of this share.
