Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 (EUDR) introduces a strict legal mandate: covered products placed on the EU market or exported from it must be both legally produced under the laws of the country of origin and deforestation-free (harvested on land not subjected to deforestation or forest degradation after December 31, 2020).
To determine whether an entity is subject to the regulation, the EUDR relies on customs tariff codes under the Harmonized System (HS) detailed in Annex I, rather than broad industry descriptions.
1. The Seven Core Commodities and Their Regulated Derivatives
The EUDR covers seven primary raw materials and an extensive list of derived products:
- Wood:
- Raw Materials: Logs, fuel wood, wood chips, sawdust.
- Derivatives: Sawn timber, railway sleepers, veneers, plywood, particle board, OSB, MDF, pulp, paper, paperboard, wooden packaging, packing cases, pallets, and wooden furniture (tables, chairs, cabinets).
- Oil Palm:
- Raw Materials: Fresh oil palm fruit bunches, palm kernels.
- Derivatives: Crude and refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil cake, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, glycerol, and specific industrial/cosmetic derivatives (e.g., palm-based soap bars and flakes).
- Soya:
- Raw Materials: Soya beans (whether broken or whole).
- Derivatives: Soya bean flour, soya bean meal/cake (primarily used in animal feed), crude and refined soya-bean oil, soya lecithin.
- Rubber:
- Raw Materials: Natural rubber latex, natural rubber in smoked sheets, plates, or crepe.
- Derivatives: Compounded rubber, unvulcanized and vulcanized rubber sheets, tubing, hoses, conveyor belts, and pneumatic tires (new automotive, truck, and agricultural tires).
- Coffee:
- Raw Materials: Green coffee beans (decaffeinated or not).
- Derivatives: Roasted coffee, ground coffee, coffee husks and skins, as well as soluble (instant) coffee, extracts, and liquid concentrates.
- Cocoa:
- Raw Materials: Raw and roasted cocoa beans, cocoa shells, and husks.
- Derivatives: Cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate (all cocoa-containing confectionery and food preparations).
- Cattle:
- Raw Materials: Live cattle and buffalo.
- Derivatives: Fresh, chilled, and frozen beef, edible bovine offal (including frozen beef tongues and livers).
2. The Mechanics of the "ex" Prefix in Customs Tariff Codes
A critical technical feature of Annex I is the presence of the "ex" prefix before certain HS codes.
- What does "ex" mean? In customs nomenclature, "ex" stands for "extracted from". It signifies that not all goods under that tariff code are regulated—only those physically derived from one of the seven regulated commodities.
- Practical Examples:
- Synthetic vs. Natural Rubber: Tires or industrial gaskets manufactured 100% from synthetic (petrochemical) rubber fall outside the scope of EUDR, even if they share the same tariff code as natural rubber products.
- Bamboo and Rattan vs. Timber: Furniture and household items made from bamboo, rattan, or cork are exempt, as bamboo is botanically classified as a grass, not wood.
- Alternative Plant Oils: Coconut oil, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil remain outside EUDR scope despite sharing tariff headings with palm oil.
3. Scope Clarifications, Amendments, and Exemptions
Following the European Commission’s May 2026 technical guidance, several key scope boundaries were established:
- Leather and Hides (Excluded): Raw bovine hides, treated leather, and finished leather goods (such as footwear, garments, handbags, and automotive upholstery) have been removed from the scope, significantly easing the compliance burden for fashion, upholstery, and automotive industries.
- Retreaded Tires (Carve-out): Finished retreaded tires are excluded as finished assemblies; due diligence applies exclusively to the raw tread compound used during the retreading process.
- Packaging Materials:
- Packaging as a standalone product: Companies manufacturing or importing empty cardboard boxes, paper bags, or pallets for sale are fully subject to EUDR.
- Transit packaging & labels: Packaging used purely to protect or label another non-regulated product (e.g., an electronics carton or a wine bottle label) does not trigger an independent DDS for the packaged item, but packaging users must retain supplier DDS reference numbers.
- Waste and Second-Hand Goods: Goods produced 100% from post-consumer waste (e.g., 100% recycled paper) and used/second-hand items are completely exempt.
We hope this short but detailed guide has been helpful in your process of navigating the EUDR Regulation.
In addition to the other guides and explanations on our website, we remain at your disposal directly by email and phone for any questions. Do not hesitate to contact us at consulting@makros.eu