Overview
- The European Commission proposed limiting due‑diligence filings to the first importer placing goods on the EU market, removing obligations for downstream traders and retailers.
- Enforcement would be phased: larger companies face a six‑month grace period for penalties after 30 December 2025, while micro and small firms would start compliance on 30 December 2026.
- Very small and small businesses could file a one‑off, simplified declaration and rely on national databases instead of repeated digital submissions.
- The plan narrows the regulation that bans products tied to post‑2020 deforestation and originally covers commodities such as coffee, cocoa, palm oil, soy, rubber, beef and timber.
- Farm and conservative groups welcomed the easing as NGOs condemned a dilution of protections, and talks will also weigh a proposed ‘zero‑risk’ country category that may raise WTO concerns.