A year’s delay confirmed – entry into application of EUDR pushed back to December 2025
The EU’s comprehensive new regulation to combat deforestation have had implementation delayed by 12 months – giving the impacted sectors more time to work with customers to prepare
The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which entered into force in June 2023, was originally set to enter into application at the end of 2024, but has now been delayed by the EU for another year, and is likely now to be applied from 30 December 2025. The delay has been implemented in order allow stakeholders and businesses within and outside the EU adequate time to fully prepare – and there is plenty to prepare for.
The new regulation is aimed at ensuring that products derived from certain commodities (cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood) that are sold in, imported to or exported from the EU have not contributed to deforestation or forest degradation. It also provides that these products must be produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production and that they are covered by a specific, formal due diligence statement.
All wood-based raw materials – such as roundwood, chips and pulp – purchased and used by Sappi’s EU-based mills fall under the legislation. It’s worth noting in this regard that more than 80% of our wood-based raw materials originate from European forests. Sappi’s paper and pulp sales within the EU and all of our exports are subject to the EUDR.
To ensure EUDR-compliance, we’ve been updating our IT systems so they can effectively handle and process EUDR-relevant data, including the reference numbers referring to the respective due diligence statements, as well as the geolocation data received from non-EU based pulp suppliers.
As part of our preparations, we have also been creating the required data flows and developing interoperability of our systems with our wood and pulp suppliers. We are committed to supplying accurate, timely information to our customers so that they can also demonstrate compliance with EUDR.
