On 23 September 2025, the European Commission (Commission) announced that it will propose postponing the application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by an additional year.
The Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy sent letters to the European Parliament and the Council indicating the Commission is considering a further one year extension. The letters cite concerns that the EUDR Information System will not be able to handle the expected volume of transactions.
If adopted, the proposal would push the EUDR’s application to 30 December 2026 for most operators and traders.
The EUDR requires operators and traders placing relevant commodities and products on the EU market, or exporting them from the EU, to conduct due diligence demonstrating that goods are deforestation free and produced in accordance with applicable laws in the country of production.
The regulation covers commodities such as cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy, and wood, as well as a broad set of derived products. For more information and background to the EUDR, refer to this Latham blog post.
On 2 October 2024, the Commission adopted a proposal for a one year delay in response to stakeholder requests for more time to prepare for implementation and enforcement. This first delay moved the application date to 30 December 2025 for most operators and traders. For more detail on the first delay to the EUDR, refer to this Latham article.
The new announcement comes amid calls to further delay and simplify the EUDR and the Commission’s current work on the streamlining of EU sustainability and environmental rules. For example, in July 2025, the Commission launched a call for evidence on an environmental omnibus simplification proposal (this closed on 10 September 2025), identifying areas for simplification in order to reduce administrative burdens. Companies, NGOs, and other stakeholders will therefore be closely monitoring whether the EUDR will become subject to simplification efforts as part of this additional one year delay.
Further, in August 2025, the US and EU announced a Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade, noting that “the European Union commits to work to address the concerns of US producers and exporters regarding the EU Deforestation Regulation, with a view to avoiding undue impact on US EU trade”. While no updates based on the US concerns have been announced, the statement adds momentum to calls for further adjustments to the EUDR.
With the current application date of 30 December 2025 approaching, the Commission is expected to table a “stop the clock” proposal to delay application by one year — such a proposal would need to be approved by the European Council and Parliament before taking effect.
We will also need to pay close attention to whether the Commission signals openness to further EUDR simplifications, potentially including reduced administrative requirements, adjustments to the country and region risk benchmarking timeline, and practical changes to the EUDR Information System.
Latham & Watkins will continue to monitor developments relating to ESG regulatory updates in the EU and globally.
This article was prepared with the assistance of Samantha Banfield at Latham & Watkins.