Filed under EUDR Due Diligence Explained: Information, Risk and Compliance
Plot record: legal status and review details
- Jurisdiction
- European Union
- Status
- Current consolidated Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, including the 2025 amendment and September 2026 consolidation. Main obligations are not yet generally applicable on the verification date.
- Application
- Generally 30 December 2026; 30 June 2027 for eligible micro and small operators, subject to the timber exception; some newly added products apply from 30 December 2027. Check the product and actor-specific rules.
- Relevant provisions
- Articles 3, 4, 8 and 9
Review this page when:
- Amendments to Articles 3 to 13
- New Commission due diligence guidance or FAQs
- Changes to country benchmarking
- Application dates and product-scope changes
The Article 9 evidence package
Article 9 requires operators to collect information, documents and data demonstrating that each relevant product complies with Article 3. The package covers product identity, quantities, production country, production locations and dates, suppliers and business recipients, and adequately conclusive, verifiable evidence of deforestation-free status and lawful production. Collecting the listed fields without checking their evidential meaning is not sufficient.
The information stage sits within the wider due diligence system. It provides the factual basis for risk assessment and any necessary mitigation. A blank or contradictory field is therefore a decision issue, rather than an administrative inconvenience to be corrected after placement. Ordinary operators must reach their supported conclusion before placement or export and before making the required statement.
The current Article 9 text reflects amendments to quantities and recipient information. Avoid using a historic template without checking it against the consolidated law. Businesses should also distinguish operator information duties from the revised downstream and trader duties in Article 5, and from specific adjustments available to qualifying micro or small primary operators under Article 4a.
Identify the product and measure the quantity
The description includes the relevant product's trade name and type, plus the list of relevant commodities or relevant products it contains or was made using. For wood-containing or wood-derived products, include the common name and full scientific name of the species. A generic stock description such as wooden item may support warehouse handling but does not supply that species information.
Article 9 distinguishes relevant products entering or leaving the market from other situations. For entering or leaving products, quantity is expressed in kilograms of net mass and, where applicable, the specified supplementary unit. For other situations, it is net mass or, where applicable, volume or number of items. Check the precise supplementary-unit conditions rather than converting every product to a convenient internal unit.
Keep the measured quantity connected to the consignment and the statement. Gross container weight should not be silently substituted for net product mass. Where commercial systems use another unit, retain the basis of conversion and evidence explaining adjustments. This helps a reviewer distinguish an ordinary measurement conversion from an unexplained volume that could represent an additional source of commodity.
Establish production origin and time
Record the country of production and, where relevant, parts of that country. This is not necessarily the supplier's address, the country of shipment or the last processing location. An EU importer receiving coffee through a warehouse in another country still needs the country where the coffee was produced. Documents should explain those different locations instead of presenting them as interchangeable origin fields.
Article 9 requires the geolocation of all applicable production plots and the date or time range of production. Where a relevant product uses commodities from several plots, all relevant plots must be included. Cattle-related rules concern all establishments where cattle were kept. A general map of a cooperative's operating district does not identify the legally required production locations.
Information should connect production and the final goods. A supplier may submit valid coordinates for many farms while being unable to show that the purchased lot came from those farms. Preserve aggregation, processing and movement records that make the connection testable. The collection design must anticipate whether goods remain segregated or are combined at a store, mill or other processing stage.
Collect identities and substantive compliance evidence
Article 9 identifies the name, postal address and email address of the supplying business or person. It also requires those details for business, downstream-operator or trader recipients. Use legal identities where available and keep practical contact information current. Similar trading names can otherwise cause records from two unrelated suppliers to be combined into one apparently complete file.
Evidence of deforestation-free status must address the regulatory definitions and historical cut-off, including forest degradation for relevant wood products. The appropriate records depend on the production setting. Historical land-cover information, location validation and corroborating records may work together. No single commercial map layer should be assumed to resolve every classification or boundary question without examining its coverage and limitations.
Evidence of legality concerns the relevant legislation of the actual country of production, including arrangements conferring the right to use the production area. The law does not prescribe one universal bundle of national certificates for every commodity and country. Identify the applicable requirements and select verifiable evidence that addresses them. A document can be authentic but irrelevant if it applies to a different producer, parcel or activity.
Organise information for checking and retention
Store original records alongside structured fields that make mismatches visible. For example, flag coordinates outside the declared country, production dates after dispatch, inconsistent species names, and quantities without a stated unit. These checks improve data quality; they do not replace the substantive risk assessment. Document what a warning means and who can close it with evidence.
Article 9 records are kept for five years from placement or export and must be made available to competent authorities on request. Avoid relying solely on a supplier portal that can replace files without preserving earlier versions. Keep the evidence used at the decision date, its source and the product connection. Access should remain possible if a supplier relationship ends.
The companion explanation of the operator's collection responsibilities translates the fields into accountable tasks. Verify templates against Article 9 of the current Regulation, particularly when the product, actor role or simplified regime changes. A well-designed evidence package answers who produced what, where and when, and why the operator considered those specific goods compliant.
Primary sources on the record
Articles 3, 4, 8 and 9. This entry was checked against the consolidated text dated 18 September 2026. Consolidated texts are documentation tools; the authentic acts are those published in the Official Journal.
Check the current sources and the guidance of the relevant competent authority for your situation. This page is not legal advice or a compliance determination.