{"id":29513,"date":"2025-10-23T16:25:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=29513"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:25:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:25:17","slug":"eu-proposes-new-lowrisk-green-lane-to-fasttrack-eudr-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/eu-proposes-new-lowrisk-green-lane-to-fasttrack-eudr-rollout\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Proposes New ‘Low\u2011Risk’ Green Lane to Fast\u2011Track EUDR Rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The European Commission has tabled changes to the EU Deforestation\u2011free Product Regulation (EUDR) that would create a green lane for timber importers from low\u2011risk countries and sharply ease compliance for thousands of smallholders and downstream businesses in a bid to preserve its Dec. 30, 2025, start date.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new draft, smallholders in countries classified as \u201clow risk\u201d \u2014 including the United States, Canada, India, China and Australia<\/strong> \u2014 would only need a one\u2011time declaration<\/em> to register as an operator. In effect, the change would apply to 141 low\u2011risk countries but would still exclude imports from 49 countries classified as standard\u2011risk,<\/em> including Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as four high\u2011risk countries<\/em>: Russia, Belarus, North Korea and Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today, we are presenting a package that responds to real implementation challenges. It simplifies the rules notably for small farmers and operators, while maintaining Europe\u2019s global leadership in the fight against deforestation,” according to Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.<\/a> “It is not about lowering the ambition, it\u2019s about making the rules work in a better and smarter way because effective implementation matters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Under the country benchmarking system, four countries are classified as \u2018high-risk\u2019 (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, and Myanmar\u2014all with current EU sanctions), 49 are \u2018standard risk\u2019, and 141 are \u2018low risk\u2019 \u2013 including timber coming from Papua New Guinea. (Photo Credit: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert \/ Alamy Stock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wood Central understands that the new rules would allow EU firms sourcing processed goods from importers \u2014 for example, furniture retailers buying finished plywood\u2011based products \u2014 to pass on the importer\u2019s due diligence statement rather than produce a new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulation, which bans the import and sale of commodities linked to deforestation, covers beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy and wood. The law, originally due to take effect at the end of 2024, was delayed by a year, with the Commission pushing to implement the changes in a desperate bid to avoid another 12-month delay. To this end<\/a>, the World Resources Institute welcomed the move to reduce burdens on the smallest operators, saying, \u201cThe European Commission today put forward a formal proposal to simplify the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) for micro and small enterprises, as well as downstream operators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Huge volumes of sawn timber traded into the West through the Port of Hong Kong, could now be traded into the European Union using streamlined compliance requirements. (Photo Credit: Janusz Kolondra \/ Alamy Stock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith this proposal, the Commission is creating a workaround to allow compliance with the EUDR to begin at the end of December 2025. While no tampering would have been preferable, this approach is far better than delaying enforcement another year or gutting the regulation, as some have called for, according to Stientje van Veldhoven, the Vice President and Regional Director for Europe of World Resources Institute. \u201cCrucially, it rejects the most harmful proposals like exempting entire countries. The proposal exempts small companies from submitting due diligence declarations, ensuring their products aren’t sourced from land deforested or degraded after the cutoff date and comply with local laws.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s important the European Parliament and Council give businesses clear guidance \u2014 and avoid adding uncertainty with further changes to the law. Forests are vital for climate stability, yet last year we lost 6.7 million hectares \u2014 18 football fields every minute. With just 7% of the global population, the EU drives up to 16% of deforestation through imports. The EU bears a disproportionate responsibility to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In September, one of the world\u2019s largest producers of large-sized cross-laminated timber panels, Austria, warned that the EUDR could see a 10% reduction in timber volumes<\/a> from mills across the country. (Photo Credit: aerial-photos.com via Alamy Stock Images)
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But industry reaction was mixed. <\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The Forest Products Association of Canada <\/a>said the new proposal \u201cdoes not address real concerns\u201d with an EU information technology system that remains unfit for purpose and overlooks the impact on micro\u2011 and small businesses that support larger supply chains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FPAC President and CEO Derek Nighbor said the EUDR should formally recognise low\u2011risk third countries and that Canada is ready to work with international partners on \u201ca revised proposal that meets the intent of the regulation without undermining reliable trading relationships.\u201d He urged the Canadian government to engage directly with EU institutions to ensure simplified traceability for countries that pose negligible deforestation risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Derek Nighbor, FPAC President and CEO: \u201cThe EUDR should formally recognise low\u2011risk third countries; Canada is ready to work with international partners on a revised proposal that meets the intent of the regulation without undermining reliable trading relationships.\u201d (Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The proposal must still be approved by EU member states and the European Parliament, where it will face scrutiny from capitals and lawmakers weighing the bloc\u2019s forest\u2011protection goals against concerns about trade disruption, technical readiness and the administrative burden on smaller operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n