EU Proposes Softening EUDR Reporting Requirements for Small Companies

The European Commission is proposing to soften the reporting requirements for micro and small companies under the EU’s deforestation-free supply chain regulation, known as the EUDR.

A proposal published yesterday would trim red tape for the EU’s smallest companies, without reopening the regulation or changing the Dec. 30, 2025, compliance date for large EU organizations.

Despite some hopeful whispers in the coffee sector, the changes do not appear to apply directly to smallholder coffee farmers. Instead, they would apply to “primary operators” in countries identified as “low risk” under the EUDR. The change may bring some relief to smaller green-coffee traders or European roasters.

The proposal would create a lighter, “one-time” declaration for micro and small primary operators in low-risk countries and extend their application date by six months, to Dec. 30, 2026.

EUDR Primer

The EUDR is a 2023 EU regulation aimed at keeping products linked to deforestation out of the EU market. It covers seven agricultural commodities, including coffee.

To sell coffee into or export it from the EU, operators must show the coffee is deforestation-free and legally produced in the country of origin. They must conduct due diligence — including collecting geolocation data for the source — and file a due-diligence statement in the EU system.

Enforcement was originally scheduled for December 2024, but pushback from industry and government coalitions — including some large European roasters — led to a one-year delay.

The European Commission has considered another year’s delay, citing IT infrastructure issues, but the latest proposal keeps the Dec. 30, 2025, enforcement date for the largest companies.

In the meantime, the world’s forests continue to shrink at an alarming rate. According to University of Maryland GLAD Lab data, loss of tropical primary forests reached 6.7 million hectares in 2024 — the rough equivalent of 18 soccer fields every minute — due to a combination of fires and agriculture.

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