2. Background and General Information

According to the European Commission (2023), one of the main drivers of deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land linked to the production of specific commodities. The EU’s consumption of these products significantly contributes to global deforestation.

To tackle the issue of ‘imported deforestation’, the EU introduced the EU zero deforestation regulation, commonly known as the “EUDR”, which took effect on June 29, 2023. Starting December 30, 2026, seven key commodities – coffee, cocoa, soy, palm oil, cattle, wood and rubber – along with certain derived products (listed in Annex 1 of the Regulation, including instant coffee as per the draft Delegated Act of the European Commission) cannot be placed on or exported from the EU market unless it can be demonstrated that:

a. They did not contribute to deforestation, defined as any conversion of forest ¹ into agricultural use, whether human-induced or not, after the cut-off date of December 30, 2020.

b. They were produced in accordance with relevant national legislation in the country of production specifically addressing the legal status of the area of production and directly supporting the EU’s commitment of halting deforestation. Illustrative topics as per Article 2(40) include land use rights; environmental protection; forest conservation; labor, human, third-parties and indigenous rights; tax, anti-corruption, trade and customs. The Commission plans to establish by December 2026 a repository of relevant legislation allowing countries of production to provide a list of relevant legislation.

The EUDR mandates that operators (the first importers of green/roasted coffee) provide geolocation data for all production areas associated with the product, as well as sufficient information to prove compliance with these two criteria (as detailed in Article 9.) Additionally, due diligence obligations require operators to conduct a risk assessment to evaluate the provided information (Article 10) and, if there is potential non-compliance, to implement risk mitigation measures (Article 11).

Once the documentation confirms there is no or negligible risk of non-compliance, operators must submit a Due Diligence Statement (‘DDS’) through the EU Information System (TRACES) before shipment. This submission generates a DDS reference number, which is necessary to release the product for free circulation within or export from the EU market. Downstream operators and traders (such as processors, decaffeinators and roasters) have no more due diligence obligations nor do they need to submit DDS on TRACES. There is no more distinction of obligations between SME² and non-SME, except for the deadline for compliance which is the 30^th of June 2027 for small- and micro-operators. The qualifying date for micro/small status changed from 31 December 2020 to 31 December 2024.

EU Member States will impose proportionate and dissuasive penalties for non-compliance, which may include confiscation of goods, fines of at least 4% of turnover on the EU market, and temporary bans on further imports. Competent Authorities designated by each Member State will conduct controls using a risk-based approach (i.e. 1%, 5%, or 9% of operators respectively from low-, standard, or high-risk countries³), and on the basis of substantiated concerns raised by third-parties.

To facilitate understanding and implementation, the European Commission has created a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page (last update in May 2026) and has released an updated guidance document in July 2026.

3. Data Requirements

While the EUDR places the responsibility for compliance on operators, EFICO expects its suppliers to adhere strictly to the regulatory requirements. EFICO expects suppliers to provide all necessary information and supporting documentation to demonstrate EUDR compliance, to communicate openly about potential risks, and to collaborate on mitigation strategies.

3.1 Data requirements PER CONSIGNMENT

As from October 1^st 2026, EFICO will require the following data for each consignment (i.e., per Bill of Lading, or, in the case of multiple lots/contracts on the same BL, per purchase contract) no later than 48 hours after pre-shipment sample approval (i.e. approximately one month prior to shipment departure):

1. Geolocation data for each ‘plot of land’ associated to the consignment, according to the definition below and the format requirements specified in Annex 3.
2. Traceability approach (see Section 4):
   A. ‘Full chain of custody’: if full traceability is available up to farm/plot level
   B. ‘Declaration in Excess’ at organisational level: if traceability is available up to cooperative/mill level within the same region.
3. Engagement level (see Section 7):
   1. Level 1: Geolocation data only
   2. Level 2: Geolocation data and risk assessment report
4. Harvest period of the product: start and end month + year (mm-yyyy)

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1/ Definition of ‘plot of land’: According to  EUDR Article 2 (27), a “plot of land” is defined as land within a single real estate property, recognized by the laws of the country of production, with sufficiently homogeneous conditions to assess the aggregate level of risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with the commodities produced there. This implies:

• One coffee farm with multiple coffee plots should provide one data point per plot, requiring unique plot IDs in addition to any existing farm IDs.
• If multiple coffee plots are located nearby, it is not allowed to draw a polygon around all coffee plots (e.g., encompassing an area around a producing village or washing station).
• A coffee plot should include only the coffee plantations of a farm, whether under full sun or shaded systems, and exclude other distinctly grown agricultural commodities or standing forest.

2/ Preference for polygons: Polygons are preferred due to their higher accuracy in assessing deforestation risk. Deforestation risk assessments are based on a buffer area around a GPS point, which may not align perfectly with the actual producing area. This can result in ‘false positives,’ where deforested zones might be inaccurately identified. Such cases must be documented and justified. For more information on manual and automated polygon data collection methods and best practices, click here.

3/ Yearly data update: Geolocation data must be updated at least annually to ensure that the agricultural frontier has not expanded into forested areas, addressing the root causes of deforestation as specified by the Regulation.

4/ Data transfer to Competent Authorities and Clients: EFICO will provide anonymized geolocation data, harvest season and general product information to the Competent Authorities as well as to its clients who have similar due diligence obligations, in compliance with the EU’s Open Data Policy and EFICO data protection rules. Access will be secured through the EU IT System using DDS reference and verification numbers and communicated to clients via EFICO sales invoices.

3.2 Data requirements PER SUPPLIER

By October 31^st 2026 the latest, EFICO will require the following data per supplier to be updated every year before the main harvest season:

1. Supplier risk assessment survey: Suppliers must fill-in a multiple choice questionnaire and provide supporting documentation to ensure compliance with additional EUDR requirements to deforestation:
   A. Legality: Suppliers inform how they ensure compliance with relevant national and international legislative topics defined by EUDR (see Annex 1) and about any risk of non-compliance or substantiated concern under investigation submitted to Competent Authorities (Article 31 of EUDR.)
   B. Traceability (cf. Section 4): Suppliers inform how they ensure traceability of supplied products, up to which level.
   C. Valid and qualitative data source: Suppliers inform who, how and when geolocation data was collected and verified, and potentially how they assessed deforestation risk (Level 2.)
   D.  Governance: Suppliers inform how they enforce EUDR through segregation in their value chain, and how they manage non-compliance events and grievances. 

2. OPTIONAL – Geolocation data of ALL coffee plots from relevant sourcing areas:
   • Allows to pre-assess data format in line with EU IT system and detect deforestation cases early, thereby avoiding risk of data quality issues and/or non-compliant plots at time of shipment.
   • Allows to use Declaration in Excess (cf. Section 4) at different levels (supplier, producers’ organization/ cooperative, washing station, etc.)
   • Strongly recommended to avoid logistical complexities and delays linked to non-compliant batch segregation or replacement.

4. Two Traceability Approaches for Compliance

According to the readiness of each supplier and country regarding traceability, there are two approaches for defining the list of declared plots:

1. Full Chain of Custody or ‘FCC’ if traceability is available down to plot level.
2. Declaration in Excess or ‘DIE’ if traceability is only available up to the level of an organization within the same region. NOTE: DIE at regional level is not accepted anymore according to the EUDR FAQ 1.18 from October 2024. Exceptions can be made for some origins at sub-regional level – this must be discussed in advance with EFICO.

5. Deforestation Risk Assessment

With the geolocation data collected from suppliers, operators must demonstrate that there is a ‘no or negligible risk of deforestation’ on the declared plots. While the EUDR does not specify a single methodology nor provide a forest base⁴ map for validation, satellite imagery combined with on-site inspections offers an effective and scalable approach for evidence collection.

EFICO has partnered with two service providers using a combination of open-source and private satellite imagery, namely Konstata and GRAS, which use distinct methods (see Section 4) in selected origins (see Annex 3) and support various engagement levels (see Section 7). Both partners assist EFICO in automated risk assessment by evaluating the overlap and proximity of declared plots to forest areas, deforested zones, and indigenous lands. They also provide national and/or regional analyses of legal and risk factors, including forest presence, deforestation prevalence, governance, human rights, and indigenous issues (see Annex 1 & Annex 2.)

Nevertheless, other service providers also offer deforestation and/or legal risk assessment services:

To avoid double efforts and costs of verification, EFICO will allow suppliers to provide risk assessments conducted by other service providers later in 2027 (see Level 2 in Section 7). The organisation and methodology used must be pre-approved by EFICO on a case-by-case basis. In certain situations, such as high-risk zones or inadequate methodology/map resolution, EFICO may perform a secondary risk assessment with one of its approved service providers. If discrepancies arise, a ground-truthing report will be required from the supplier.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Certification schemes do not guarantee EUDR compliance and do not replace the operator’s responsibility for due diligence. While certifications strengthen suppliers’ risk assessment on legality, traceability, data source quality and governance aspects of EUDR, operators must carefully analyze and ensure alignment with regulatory requirements, as they are liable for non-compliance. The European Commission announced the launch of repositories of certification and third-party verification schemes to provide transparent information on the scope and criteria of the existing schemes.

External service providers’ risk assessment/compliance reports must clearly state:

1. The date of analysis
2. Traceability approach (Full Chain of Custody or Declaration in Excess)
3. Number of plots analyzed with ‘no or negligible deforestation risk’ (including a link to or file with geolocation dataset in the required format)
4. Underlying methodology (base map/model, change detection method, satellite imagery source, resolution and year, resolution/mitigation for high-risk cases, etc.)
5. If available, country/region/supplier analysis on legal/risk assessment topics (see Annex 1 & Annex 2)

6. Due Diligence Statement 

Operators must make a Due Diligence Statement (‘DDS’) available to Competent Authorities via the EU IT System⁶ before placing a product on the market or exporting. DDS information (see example in Annex 5) must include general supplier and product information, geolocation data in GeoJSON format and the Self-declaration that ‘Due Diligence has been conducted and that no or only negligible risk was identified.’

However, the DDS does not cover all the information requirements specified in Article 9, nor the risk assessment in Article 10 or the mitigation measures in Article 11. Operators must still retain this information for 5 years and provide it to Competent Authorities upon request. Operators may appoint an ‘Authorized Representative’ to submit the DDS on their behalf. This representative must be based in the EU and could be a supplier or a service provider. The operator retains

7. Engagement level of EFICO suppliers

Based on each supplier’s readiness for EUDR compliance, EFICO has established several engagement levels for providing verified geolocation data, in addition to the minimum data requirements outlined in Section 3.

In 2026, all suppliers will start with Level 1 by default. Later in 2027, suppliers may engage through Level 2.

8. Management of high risk plotsst be provided in the annual supplier risk assessment (cf. Section 3.2.1)

For the plots flagged by the automated risk assessment of our service providers (cf. Section 5), EFICO will conduct a detailed assessment according to our internal methodology. If it is not sufficient to mitigate the risk, EFICO will provide suppliers with a detailed report per plot including dated maps, satellite images, and detected alerts on specific parts of the plot. To mitigate the risk, the supplier must submit the following documentation and verification data:

• Explanation of the Deforestation Event
  Details on the activities detected on the satellite imagery (e.g., intensive pruning in agroforestry systems).

• Proof of the Plantation Establishment Date
  Evidence that the plantation was established prior to 31 December 2020. Supporting documentation must bear the official plot ID or producer name, and can include for instance:
  • Official production records showing planting or harvesting activities before 2020
  • In-situ geotagged photographs and trunk measurements demonstrating the tree age
  • Invoices for agricultural inputs dated before 2020
  • Public data (e.g. cadastral database, land use registry)
• Ground-Truthing/Audit Report
  An audit report by an external auditor, including visual evidence and other verification details to confirm the current state of the plots and historical land use
• Supplier’s No-Deforestation Policy and Compliance Measures
  The supplier’s no-deforestation policy, including their monitoring and verification system, regular updates based on results, complaints mechanism, and communication and reporting on efforts to mitigate risks. Note: This must be provided in the supplier risk assessment (cf. Section 3.2.1)

If the documentation fails to provide sufficient proof of compliance, the product cannot be imported into the EU. In such cases the supplier has:

• Obligation: Set up a segregation mechanism to differentiate between compliant and non-compliant products, and document this process. Note: Supporting documentation on the segregation process must be provided in the annual supplier risk assessment (cf. Section 3.2.1)
• Options to Avoid Exclusion of Non-Compliant Smallholder Farmers:
  • Export non-compliant products to markets outside the EU.
  • Support farmers in transitioning to alternative crops.
• Heads Up: The European Commission currently does not allow any form of remediation. 

9. Data Submission Deadline, Timing and Platform

• Deadline for consignment data submission (cf. Section 3.1) for ALL origins is October 1^st, 2026 (i.e., all consignments with Bill of Lading dated as from October 1^st, 2026.)
• Consignment data must be submitted no later than 48 hours after EFICO approves pre-shipment samples -approximately one month prior to shipment departure, in order to manage:
  • Potential Data Quality Issues:g. formatting errors, duplicates, or polygons that are incorrectly located outside coffee production areas, agricultural zones, or the specified country.
  • Management of Critical/Non-Compliant Plots: Handling necessary documentation, conducting ground-truthing, and other related activities.
  • Implementing Risk Mitigation Measures: Carrying out additional audits, independent surveys, and other risk management actions as required.
  • Organising Segregation: Separating EUDR compliant from non-compliant product flows along the whole value chain.

• Deadline for supplier data submission (cf. Section 3.2) for ALL origins is October 31^st, 2026.
• Supplier data should be updated every year before the main harvest season.
• For security and organizational reasons, suppliers must submit consignment and supplier data via the EFICO portal. An onboarding guide is provided to new suppliers for creating their account and navigating through the portal.

10. Footnotes

¹ Forest defined by the FAO as land spanning more than 0.5 ha with trees higher than 5m and a canopy cover of over 10%, or trees able to reach those thresholds, excluding land under agricultural or urban land use.

² Small and Medium Enterprises defined according to Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council: Enterprises which on a consolidated basis, do not exceed the limits of at least two of the three following criteria on the balance sheet date of the parent undertaking: (1) Balance sheet total: EUR 20 000 000; (2) Net turnover: EUR 40 000 000; (3) Average number of employees during the FY: 250.

³ In June 2025, the Commission published the EUDR country benchmarking in three risk categories: high, standard and low. The classification reflects how likely it is that commodities have been produced on deforested land, and is based on 3 criteria: rate of deforestation and forest degradation ; rate of expansion of agriculture land for relevant commodities ; and the production trends of relevant commodities and of relevant products. The categories guide the number of controls to be conducted by the Competent Authorities. Moreover, operators sourcing from countries classified as low-risk may conduct simplified due diligence. The country benchmarking will be regularly updated but none is to be expected before 2027. A change in country classification will not apply retro-actively.

⁴ The JRC forest cover map 2020 has been updated to a Version 3 by the European Commission in November 2025. While its accuracy has greatly improved compared to the first version, is not accurate enough to be used as a single source for verification purposes.

⁵ RainForest Alliance (‘RFA’) offers EUDR-aligned deforestation risk assessment (using open-source maps) and legality checks to farm Certificate Holders (‘CH’) who opted-in to EUDR criteria prior to audit. Buyers can access key data and reports via MultiTrace. Farmers who comply with EUDR criteria but did not opt-in (i.e. consent for data-sharing policy) can share reports bilaterally with their buyers. Farm CH with a running license can request retroactive EUDR conformity check with additional fee. The service is now also available to non-certified farmers. More info here.

⁶ The EU TRACES System to submit DDS has been updated to integrate the new features and functionalities from the simplified EUDR. Updated information can also be found in the user instructions, API specifications, training videos and new dates for online training, and the Implementing Act.

11. Annexes

Annex 1: EUDR legality topics and supporting documents for suppliers

According to EUDR Article 2 (40) and Guidance section 6(b), ‘relevant legislation of the country of production’ means the laws applicable in the producing country specifically addressing the legal status of the area of production and directly supporting the EU’s commitment of halting deforestation, regarding the following topics:

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Supporting Documentation: In the risk assessment survey, suppliers will be requested to provide information and documentation (as outlined in the above table or in the EUDR Guidance document of the European Commission) to demonstrate that the products supplied to EFICO have been produced in accordance with relevant national legislation in the country of production. If deemed insufficient, additional information may be requested during audits by EFICO or Competent Authorities.
• Self-Declaration template: Suppliers may self-declare that the purchased goods have been produced in accordance with relevant national legislation in the country of production. A template is provided in Annex 6 and should be provided together with the supplier risk assessment.
• Internal Audits: EFICO may conduct annual internal audits of its suppliers to assess the risk of non-compliance. These audits will be integrated with compliance verification for other forthcoming EU Regulations, such as reporting directives.
• National repositories: The Commission plans to establish by December 2026 a repository of relevant legislation allowing countries of production to provide a list of relevant legislation.

Annex 2: Country Risk Assessment

To ensure that relevant products placed on the EU market have no or negligible risk of non-compliance with EUDR, operators have the obligation to carry out a risk assessment taking into consideration the following criteria outlined in Article 10:

Annex 3: Country Coverage by EFICO-approved Service Providers for Deforestation Risk Assessment

Updated list of coffee origins covered each approved service providers per March, 2025:

Note: Service providers using open-source maps provide worldwide coverage.

Annex 4: Format requirements for geolocation data

The format of the coffee farm and plot lists which are submitted by suppliers should comply with the minimum requirements for the EU IT system, with uniquely identifiable points that can be individually assessed. With this in mind, suppliers are asked to follow the following guidance (see also practical guide in Annex):

General

• One geolocation per farm AND/OR per plot in case of multiple plots per farm:
  • For plots <4ha: GPS points min. one latitude and one longitude coordinate
  • For plots ≥ 4ha: Polygon with min. 4 coordinates describing the plot outline
• Geolocation in WGS84 projection (EPSG:4326) ; not in Degree-Minutes-Seconds, no use of “N/S/W/E” nor ° signs
• Preference for GeoJSON format with all points and polygons in a consolidated GeoJSON file
• CSV/Excel files preferably not for polygons unless geometry described in WKT format
• GFW Pro only supports zipped Shape files at this moment

CSV files, including Excel files: (see template Excel file in Annex):

• Mandatory columns and naming:
  • ProductionPlace: Unique identifier code per coffee plot (not farm!) in letters and numbers (without dots, commas and special characters.) Previously called Plot_ID
  • Area: Area of the coffee plot in hectares
  • ProducerCountry: The country of production in ISO2 code to be found in Sheet 4 of the EFICO template Excel file.
  • Geolocation column(s) in WGS84 projection can be expressed as:
    • Latitude and longitude (for points only): a minimum of 6 decimal digits
    • WKT format: with a minimum of 6 decimal digits for each pair of coordinates.

• Optional columns and naming:
  • ProducerName: Full name of the producer associated with the geometry.
  • Producer_ID: Text or numbers
  • Volume: Exportable green coffee per hectares in kg. Only numbers
  • Timestamp of data collection (dd.mm.yy)
• Column titles must be in row 1 (no column headers)
• No duplicated rows (two rows with exactly the same geolocation will return error)
• Must use comma separators (semi colons will return an error)
• Encoding must be UTF-8
• Tip: you can generate a csv file from Excel by clicking “Save As” and selecting “CSV UTF-8”
• Templates: Enveritas latitude/longitude or WKT ; GRAS ; GFW Pro

Shape files / GEOJSON / GPKG / KML / KMZ

• Must include the following attributes (and similar optional attributes as above):
  • ProductionPlace : unique identifier code per plot (not farm!)
  • Area: area of the coffee plot in hectares
• Shape files must be zipped
• Templates: Enveritas latitude/longitude or WKT ; GRAS ; GFW Pro

Annex 5: Illustration of DDS template

Note: This template has been designed according to the information requirements in Annex II of the EUDR. The information will have to be entered in the EU Information System, either manually or automatically via an API, by the operator or an Authorised Representative.

DUE DILIGENCE STATEMENT

By submitting this due diligence statement the Operator confirms that due diligence in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 was carried out and that no or only a negligible risk was found that the relevant products do not comply with Article 3, clause (a) and clause (b) of that Regulation.

Signed for and on behalf of Operator: ________________________________

Name and function: _________________________________________