The proposed delay to enforce the "due diligence" obligations of the EUDR was put forward by the European Council last week, having been proposed by the European Commission earlier this month.
Legal experts believe the delay will be approved and go ahead, moving the deadline for large businesses to 30 December 2025, and 30 June 2026 for small and micro-undertakings. Though, EUDR has been in force since 29 June 2023 and it is only the rule of placing prohibited products on the EU market or exporting them from the EU market, unless compliant, that is not yet in force.
The legislation has been criticised for being too complex and difficult to implement. Nevertheless, some parts of industry were ready, and had instituted the processes necessary to ensure full compliance.
If passed, who benefits from a delay, and how can they make use of the extra year to ensure they are ready?
Conversely, who will find their timely compliance efforts go unrewarded or be financially punished as a result of their investments?
Who are the winners of the EUDR delay?
The key beneficiaries of the delay are those companies not yet compliant, and who have not yet put processes in place to be compliant, says Rainforest Alliance public affairs lead for Europe, Fanny Gauttier.
“Also, any smallholder farmers who were not yet aligned with EUDR criteria will have more time to collect the geodata and other required information, and more time to receive training from organisations supporting them,” she told FoodNavigator.
She hopes that the delay will mitigate the ‘exclusion’ of smallholder farmers from the EU market.
A spokesperson from Fairtrade agrees: “Farmers and producer organisations can benefit from additional time to complete their farm geolocation mapping, and to conduct risk assessments.
“The harvest season is beginning for cocoa and coffee in many regions, and the delay will mean farmers and their cooperatives can focus on bringing in the harvest and placing it on the market," the spokesperson continues. "As this period is the main harvest of the year in many regions, it is critical to farmers’ incomes.”
It is expected the European Commission will use the delay to address the compliance concerns of smallholder farmers and SMEs.
This includes setting up both financial and technical support measures with other European donors, and engaging with national authorities to ensure that the rules will be implemented coherently, Fairtrade says. Additionally, the organisation suggested the commission may be prepared to monitor the impact of the regulation on smallholder farmers.
Who are the losers of the EUDR delay?
The delay, according to Rainforest Alliance’s Gauttier, “penalises companies and farmers who invested to be ready on time and who now stand to lose their competitive advantage.”
Furthermore, according to the Fairtrade spokesperson, the delay has the potential to provide an opportunity for the legislation to be weakened.
Read more: Four lessons on how the RSPO got EUDR
“The delay requires that the legislation be re-opened to change the deadline. There is a risk that business interests will lobby to weaken the legislation or further delay certain provisions,” they added.
How have commodities been affected by the delay?
Some commodities will benefit more from the delay than others. For example, cattle farmers will gain from the extra time to achieve compliance, says Expana, a commodities monitoring service, beef and chicken market reporter Rutika Ghodekar.
“The delayed implementation of the EUDR by the European Commission offers cattle farmers, processors, and traders additional time to better prepare for compliance,” says Ghodekar. “One of the key challenges for these stakeholders is the lack of clear guidelines on how to meet the regulatory standards. Furthermore, difficulties in mapping supply chains and managing complex traceability requirements add to the uncertainty they face. This extension could help them address these issues before the regulation takes effect.”
Palm oil's compliance
One commodity that is more prepared than most is palm oil, according to an investigation by FoodNavigator. Around 90% of the palm oil entering the EU is already certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
According to the RSPO's deputy director Ruben Brunsveld, multi-stakeholder collaboration – namely, getting everyone involved in the compliance process, across the supply chain – is key to success in compliance efforts. Transparency is also an important must-have for successful compliance. Furthermore, continuing to update standards is an important part of ensuring that a company remains compliant.
However, for soy, the delay could reduce demand. Market sources, according to Roxanne Nikoro, market reporter for oilseeds and vegetable oils for Expana, have suggested that short-term demand for soymeal in key regions could ease following the delay.
“Industry groups and traders warned that companies that have invested in sourcing agricultural products compliant with the European Union's anti-deforestation law will face setbacks if the EU opts to delay the legislation's implementation by a year,” said Nikoro.
In the case of cocoa and coffee, according to Steve Wateridge, head of research at tropical research services at Expana, the main winners of the delay are EU consumers, who will avoid having high prices passed onto them by non-compliance among large parts of the sector.
“It was becoming clear that there is insufficient EUDR compliant product to meet EU demand in 2025, so if the regulations are not delayed supply of both commodities would fall short of EU demand,” he told FoodNavigator. “In my view, this would have led to a significant premium for EUDR compliant coffee and cocoa as manufacturers competed for a limited supply of compliant cocoa and coffee. This would have driven up prices for cocoa and coffee into the EU which would ultimately have been passed on to the EU consumer.”
