EUDR: One extra year, but the same pressure. Why isn’t the postponement an excuse to wait?

The European Union has granted an additional year for the implementation of the EUDR Regulation, the legislation that will require thousands of companies to demonstrate that their products do not originate from deforested areas.

The objective of the regulation remains to prevent deforestation and forest degradation linked to products marketed or exported from the EU, including commodities such as cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, rubber, and wood.

For many companies with global supply chains, the pressure was evident: integrating dispersed data, geolocating plots, assessing risks country by country, and generating auditable due diligence statements is not a simple administrative adjustment. It represents a structural transformation in how supply chain information is managed.

The postponement does not reduce regulatory requirements. It aims to ensure a technically sound and operationally viable implementation, strengthening the digital systems that will support the required traceability.

In this article, we analyze what has happened, what really changes, and what it means for companies operating in the European market.

‍

What exactly has happened with the EUDR?

The Council and the European Parliament have reached an agreement to postpone the application of the Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by one year, also introducing technical adjustments aimed at facilitating its implementation.

The essential content of the regulation remains unchanged. The following requirements are maintained:

• The prohibition of placing deforestation-linked products on the market.
• The obligation to conduct documented risk assessments.
• The requirement for precise geolocation of the origin of raw materials.
• The structured retention of evidence supporting each submitted declaration.

However, the agreement introduces relevant adjustments:

Responsibility concentrated on the first operator: only the entity that first places the product on the EU market must submit the full due diligence statement. Subsequent operators may rely on that declaration but retain verification obligations and responsibility in case of non-compliance.

Simplified declaration for micro and small primary operators, reducing administrative burden for smaller actors.

Exclusion of certain printed products (such as some books or graphic materials) considered low risk.

Technical review commitment: the regulation provides for periodic reviews through delegated acts and evaluations, although the specific date does not constitute a central legal milestone.

The timeline is also adjusted differently:

• Application from 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators.
• Application from 30 June 2027 for micro and small enterprises.

What changes is the operational architecture and timeline. The traceability and due diligence standard remains intact.

‍

What really changes for companies?

The postponement introduces strategic adjustments in planning and internal responsibility.

Redistribution of obligations along the chain

The fact that only the first operator must submit the full declaration may reduce documentary duplication, but it does not eliminate the need for traceability or the responsibility of downstream operators.

More time to digitalize processes

Companies now have additional time to:

• Integrate data from global suppliers.
• Standardize origin information.
• Implement digital traceability platforms.
• Adapt internal systems to manage the due diligence identifier.

Greater sophistication of the control system

The system may evolve through delegated acts and technical guidance based on real-world application.

‍

What does this mean for large companies with global supply chains?

For large companies with international supply chains, the EUDR represents a structural challenge. The regulation requires full visibility from the final product back to the plot of origin, integrating data from different countries, regulatory frameworks, languages, and technological systems.

In global organizations, information is often fragmented across departments, subsidiaries, and business partners. Consolidating verified geospatial coordinates, assessing regional risks, and maintaining structured, audit-ready documentation requires a robust and scalable technological infrastructure.

Although formal responsibility for the due diligence declaration is concentrated on the first operator, companies placing products on the European market must ensure:

• Precise geolocation of origin.
• Documented risk assessments.
• Valid due diligence identifiers.
• Structured and traceable evidence.

Without a digital architecture that centralizes data and automates controls, compliance becomes a costly manual process, prone to errors and difficult to scale.

Here lies the key point: access to the European market will depend on the ability to demonstrate verifiable traceability. Additionally, non-compliance may lead to sanctions, market withdrawal, and other administrative measures предусмотрed in the regulation.

The risk is not only regulatory — it is commercial.

‍

Technological preparation starts now

The additional year granted by the European Union is not a margin to postpone decisions. It is an opportunity to transform the technological infrastructure supporting traceability and regulatory compliance.

The EUDR requires precise, structured, traceable, and audit-ready data. This cannot be achieved with isolated spreadsheets, manual document exchanges, or fragmented processes across departments. A platform capable of eliminating information silos, integrating global suppliers, and continuously automating due diligence is needed.

Manglai enables companies to address this challenge through a single platform that centralizes ESG and supply chain information, eliminating silos across departments, subsidiaries, and suppliers. The solution integrates internal and external data, automatically structures information, and ensures consistent and verifiable traceability throughout the entire chain.

The platform’s built-in artificial intelligence supports this process through:

• Automatic reading, classification, and extraction of data from complex documents and files.
• Intelligent validation to reduce manual errors.
• Detection of patterns and anomalies that anticipate compliance risks.
• Automated generation of reports and audit-ready documentation.
• Natural language interaction to query data and accelerate decision-making.

The impact is both operational and strategic: automation can reduce by up to 90% the time spent on manual data collection and validation processes typical of regulatory compliance, freeing internal resources and improving data quality.

Is your company ready for the EUDR?

The extra year may feel like a relief. But the complexity of data, suppliers, and traceability will not disappear on its own.

The EUDR requires structured, verifiable information that is ready for audit at any time. And that demands more than minor adjustments — it requires a solid technological foundation.

At Manglai, we don’t just automate traceability. We help you turn regulatory compliance into a streamlined, structured process instead of a daily operational burden for your team.

Book a personalized demo

‍

Frequently asked questions about the EUDR postponement

Has the EUDR been cancelled or softened?

No. The regulation remains in force. The postponement affects implementation timelines, not the level of requirements.

Which products are affected by the EUDR?

Among others: soy, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, wood, and derivatives. Companies marketing these products in the EU must comply with due diligence requirements.

Is exact geolocation mandatory?

Yes. The EUDR requires precise geographic coordinates of the production origin to demonstrate the absence of deforestation.

Can I comply without a digital platform?

In complex supply chains, it is extremely difficult to guarantee traceability, document consistency, and auditability without specialized technological tools.

Why does digitalization reduce sanction risk?

Because it allows data centralization, automated validation, anomaly detection, and the generation of structured documentation ready for regulatory audits.

‍