Who Must Submit a Due Diligence Statement?

The ordinary obligation belongs to operators

An operator subject to Article 4 must exercise the required due diligence and make a due diligence statement available through the Information System before placing the relevant products on the market or exporting them. The current law does not require every business in a supply chain to submit an ordinary statement. Qualifying micro or small primary operators use the distinct Article 4a simplified declaration regime, while downstream operators and traders have their own Article 5 duties.

The answer depends on the actual product flow and legal role. It cannot be settled solely by asking whether the business is a manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer. Those commercial descriptions can hide different EUDR activities. A manufacturer may import a relevant product for one line and buy products already covered upstream for another, creating different responsibilities within the same organisation.

Identify the first relevant placing or export

Start with the product's coverage under Annex I and the transaction being assessed. Identify who places the relevant product on the EU market, taking account of the rules for a person established outside the Union. For exports, examine the applicable operator definition and whether the business falls within the downstream framework for the particular goods.

For example, a company importing covered cocoa beans for the first time into the EU will need an operator assessment for that flow. An EU business buying already covered relevant products and conducting a later transaction must instead consider the downstream operator or trader definitions. Calling every later seller an operator and requiring another statement would reproduce the structure that the 2025 revision changed.

The statement and Information System framework should be applied after the role decision. Configuring a software account as an operator before mapping the flow can lead to unnecessary submissions while leaving the actual operator's responsibility unclear.

A representative can submit on the operator's behalf

Article 6 allows an authorised representative to submit the prescribed declaration under the required mandate. This can make sense where a business uses a specialist service provider or an eligible association arrangement. The representative's technical action does not transfer the operator's underlying responsibility for compliance to the representative.

Before the arrangement starts, define the represented entity, authorised tasks, information the representative receives and how the operator approves the final content. The operator should retain access to the submitted record and identifiers, rather than relying on the continued availability of one consultant. A customs representative's involvement in customs work does not by itself establish a mandate to make the EUDR declaration.

Why non-SME downstream registration is different

Article 5(2) requires non-SME downstream operators and non-SME traders to register in the Information System. This requirement should not be turned into an ordinary obligation to submit a new statement for products already covered upstream. Article 5 sets information, retention, notification and cooperation obligations that remain important even without a new declaration.

Where a downstream business receives products directly from an operator, Article 5(3)(a) requires the relevant reference numbers or declaration identifiers alongside the specified supplier information. Where its supplier is instead a downstream operator or trader, the provision does not impose the same general identifier-collection requirement. The supplier's legal role therefore matters to the record design.

The simplified primary-operator route

Article 4a creates a one-time simplified declaration for qualifying micro or small primary operators. The category has its own conditions and is narrower than simply being a small company. The declaration uses Annex III information and gives rise to a declaration identifier. Do not submit it merely because the business expects fewer annual shipments than a larger competitor.

Where all required information already exists in the legally established database contemplated by Article 4a(4), the Member State makes that information available in the Information System. The primary operator still cannot place or export the relevant products until it has been assigned the declaration identifier. The database route is therefore an alternative way to establish the prescribed record, rather than an exemption from all system-related requirements.

Dates and a responsibility decision

Map the applicable date together with the responsible entity. The general date is 30 December 2026; most qualifying micro and small operators have the later 30 June 2027 date, subject to Article 38 exceptions. A business should verify the particular activity and product instead of applying the later date to every small entity, including timber cases requiring separate treatment.

Record the role assessment with a concrete transaction example and name the person authorised to approve submission. The statement timing guide then helps convert that decision into a release control. A clear responsibility map should show who collects evidence, who decides that risk is acceptable, who submits, and who checks that goods are covered before the transaction proceeds.

For a mixed-role business, build the responsibility assessment around sample product flows rather than one company-wide tick box. Include a direct import, a purchase from an EU operator and any relevant export activity. Preserve the reason for each classification. When procurement changes the route or supplier, review the affected flow again so the business does not continue applying an outdated statement responsibility merely because the product name stayed the same.