EUDR compliance and IT: From reactive compliance to proactive implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will become mandatory for many companies from 30 December 2025. It stipulates complete traceability and various digital due diligence obligations in the supply chain. In my blog post, I show how you can efficiently implement EUDR compliance with integrated ESG management and modern IT infrastructure while securing competitive advantages for your company.

EUDR – What applies and when?

• The EUDR has been in force since 29 June 2023.
• From 30 December 2025: Mandatory for medium-sized and large companie
• From 30 June 2026: Mandatory for small and micro-enterprises

This affects market participants who trade in raw materials such as wood, soy, cattle, coffee, cocoa, palm oil or rubber (and their derivative products) in the EU.

From the effective date, the products concerned may only be marketed if they can be proven to have been produced without deforestation or forest degradation. This must be documented by digital due diligence declarations with geodata tracing back to the respective area of origin.

What challenges does the EUDR pose for IT?

• Ensuring complete traceability.
• Companies must collect, store and transmit GPS location data, supply chain and compliance data on raw material sources to the authorities.
• Complex data integration.
• Connecting international suppliers, often with fragmented data sources, requires interfaces and standardised data formats. The EU TRACES system is currently still in the test phase; API solutions are not yet widely available.
• The EU Commission's guidelines are continuously being adapted – e.g. for country benchmarking or simplified due diligence requirements. IT systems must therefore be flexibly scalable.
• High manual effort.
• Manual processing may work in pilot phases, but it is not scalable. Targeted digitalisation is therefore crucial to ensure efficiency, accuracy and legal compliance.

Should you wait for a postponement?

Although the EUDR has already been postponed once for 12 months, a further postponement is currently unlikely. Companies should actively use the remaining time instead of waiting.

My recommendations for action before the deadline:

• Data inventory and digitisation
  Structured recording of supplier and product data
• Impact analysis/relevance check
  Review product portfolios based on Annex 1 of the EUDR Regulation
• Establish interfaces
  Create data connections to main suppliers
• Validate geodata
  Precisely record areas of origin
• Integrate risk management
  Establish links to governance structures of existing ESG regulations (e.g. CSRD, LkSG/CSDDD)
• Train employees and prepare test due diligence statements (DDS)
• Develop a roadmap for process integration with other sustainability laws

Leverage synergies with other sustainability regulations

The EUDR shares many requirements. These include:

• Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG)
• Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
• Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)
• Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)

Here are some examples of the resulting synergy potential:

• Shared data pools for supply chain, environmental and raw material information
• Uniform audit and governance processes
• Shared modular IT platform with flexible adaptation to various regulations
• Greater transparency in the supply chain – as an effective lever for risk minimisation and as an innovation and competitive advantage

The advantages of integrated ESG management

The key to success lies in viewing the requirements of individual regulatory provisions, such as the EUDR, holistically rather than in isolation, taking existing synergies into account. Consolidating the requirements into integrated ESG management brings you significant advantages.

• Efficiency: fewer system breaks, consolidated data, lower costs
• Competitiveness: access to new markets, better financing conditions
• Innovation: new services, such as digital proofs of origin or green analytics
• Resilience: faster adaptation to new regulatory requirements

The EUDR is not only a compliance project, but also a driver of digitalisation for sustainability. Those who implement an integrated, digital ESG strategy now

• will comply with the EU Deforestation Regulation on time,
• remain flexible for future regulations and their changes, and
• gain long-term competitive advantages.

My tip: Use the coming months to set up IT systems, processes and data structures in such a way that they are EUDR-ready – and also scalable for further ESG requirements.

Implementing the EUDR requirements offers a good opportunity to strategically link the topics of sustainability and digital transformation. The path from merely fulfilling regulatory obligations to active digitalised management not only ensures compliance, but also opens up real added value: efficiency, innovation and competitive strength.