What EUDR Requires From an Importer
As the EU-side importer, you're the one who has to demonstrate the coffee entering the market wasn't grown on land deforested after December 31, 2020 — even though your supplier is the one who actually knows where it was grown. If your supplier can't produce that proof, the compliance risk lands on you at the border, not on them.
The Deadline
December 30, 2026 for large and medium operators and traders; June 30, 2027 for micro and small enterprises. Both dates were pushed back from the original December 2025 target under Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, passed in December 2025.
What To Get From Every Supplier
1. Plot-level geolocation for every farm or estate the coffee came from.
2. Documented evidence the land wasn't deforested after December 31, 2020.
3. A completed Due Diligence Statement — or, if your supplier is a downstream non-SME operator under the 2025 simplification, the DDS reference number they're relying on.
4. A risk assessment specific to the sourcing country or region.
5. Confirmation they can retain records for five years and produce them on request.
Why the 2025 Simplification Changes Your Job
Since December 2025, downstream buyers no longer have to file a duplicate DDS for every shipment — they can retain the original supplier's DDS reference number instead. That's less paperwork, but it also means you're trusting someone else's filing more directly. Before you rely on a reference number instead of your own filing, verify the DDS behind it is actually sound — you're the one who answers for it if it isn't.
What Happens If a Shipment Isn't Compliant
Non-compliant coffee can be stopped at the border. As the importer, you're the one facing fines reported at a minimum of 4% of EU-wide annual turnover, confiscation of the goods and any revenue from them, and possible exclusion from public contracts — not your supplier.
See This Working in a Real Supply Chain
reGenesis already captures plot-level geolocation and due diligence documentation for agricultural exporters — built with Telcar Cocoa across 40,000 farmers in Cameroon.
Read the Telcar Cocoa case study →
