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The EUDR, in plain English.
This is where we explain the EU Deforestation Regulation for the people who actually have to deal with it: small coffee and cocoa importers. No jargon for its own sake, no scare tactics: just what the rule asks of you, what an operator’s duties really are, and how to meet them without a compliance department.
Where to start
We’re starting with the cornerstones.
Rather than publish a stream of thin posts, we’re building a small set of thorough, genuinely useful references and keeping them current as the regulation and its deadlines evolve. The first few are ready now.
EUDR Compliance for Small Coffee & Cocoa Importers: The Complete 2026-2027 Guide
The pillar guide. Who counts as an operator, what a DDS is, the geolocation and TRACES requirements, the deadlines, record-keeping, and how due diligence actually works for shade-grown coffee and cocoa.
See a real EUDR due-diligence file, before you pay
The exact deliverable, shown in full: two reference plots screened for post-2020 deforestation, the datasets behind every verdict, anything ambiguous held for a person, and a genuine sandbox DDS filing record. Real, unedited engine output. Not a mock-up.
Why shade-grown coffee & cocoa get false-flagged under EUDR
The hard part, in depth: why a single satellite map mistakes agroforestry management for deforestation, and how a type-aware read of GFC2020, Hansen and JRC TMF tells them apart.
EUDR geolocation requirements: points, polygons & the 6-decimal rule
The geodata, in order: point vs polygon at four hectares, the GeoJSON file operators submit, the Area field’s silent 4-ha default, and the precision trap that turns a valid polygon invalid.
How to file an EUDR DDS in TRACES NT, step by step
The filing itself, in order: EU Login, the operator role and the EORI an importer needs, entering the consignment and plot geolocation, and the reference and verification numbers you get back, with the places first-timers stall named as we go.
Why TRACES NT rejects a DDS: the error catalog
The rejections that strand first-time filers, grouped by the three layers that catch them (client validation, schema, and business rules), with the real error codes, the geometry traps, and two alarms that aren’t actually failures.
What “negligible risk” means under EUDR, and how to prove it
The bar every filing turns on: the legal definition (Article 2(26)), why it isn’t zero risk and isn’t “low” either, how you assess and mitigate to reach it, and the evidence file that makes the conclusion defensible if an authority asks.
EUDR penalties: what happens if your shipment isn’t compliant
The stakes, read honestly: what Article 25 actually provides (fines of at least 4% of EU-wide turnover, confiscation of goods and revenue, a temporary market ban), how risk-based enforcement checks work, why the liability can’t be handed off, and the file that protects you.
Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade & organic vs EUDR: what a certificate does and doesn’t do
Why no certification scheme is proof of EUDR compliance or a substitute for your due diligence: what schemes actually certify, the one wood-only exception the law credits, and how a certificate can still be a legitimate input to your risk assessment under Article 10.
The EUDR compliance checklist for small coffee & cocoa importers
The whole process as one ordered, linkable list (role, deadline, TRACES access, supply-chain mapping, geolocation, benchmarking, the deforestation screen, legality, risk, filing and record-keeping), each step summarised, with a link to the detail behind it.
EUDR country benchmarking: is your coffee or cocoa origin low, standard or high risk?
The three-tier system, straight from Article 29 and the first list: only four high-risk countries, most big origins (Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire) standard, several low. What each tier changes for your due diligence and the 1/3/9% check rates, and why low risk is still no free pass.
EUDR simplified due diligence: who qualifies (and why most importers don’t)
The two “simplifications” people confuse, untangled: what Article 13 actually lifts (the assessment and mitigation steps) and keeps (geolocation and the DDS), the separate 2025 simplified declaration that isn’t for importers, and how to tell which if either applies to you.
How to collect EUDR geolocation data from your suppliers
The practical part: mapping your chain to the plot, asking farmers and cooperatives for the right thing, how they capture it on a phone, the data you can reuse, and the collection mistakes (office pins, one point per co-op, swapped coordinates) that quietly sink a filing.
You can’t trace coffee retroactively: EUDR and the harvest clock
Why the data can only be captured at the 2026 harvest, not the 2027 deadline: how plot-level traceability disappears once lots are blended, which harvest your 2027 imports come from, and what to ask suppliers for this season.
You buy from an EU importer: what EUDR still asks of you
Downstream isn’t exempt: the DDS reference numbers you must collect, verify, keep for five years and pass on, how to tell if you’re really downstream or actually the operator, and what an audit-ready record looks like.
EUDR deadlines, kept current
The application dates as they stand today (30 December 2026 and 30 June 2027), why they’ve been postponed before, the fixed 2020 cut-off, and what to do now. Visibly dated.
Am I an operator? A 3-question self-check
An honest interactive check that routes you to the right role, including the case where a non-EU supplier makes the filing duty yours regardless of size. Never a false “you’re done”.
EUDR FAQ for coffee & cocoa operators
Straight answers to the questions importers keep asking: operator vs. trader, the simplified-declaration confusion, deadlines, liability, and how filing through TRACES works.
EUDR glossary
Short, correct definitions of the terms you’ll meet: operator, trader, DDS, reference number, TRACES, geolocation, the 2020 cut-off date, and more.
Still have a question?
Ask a person, not a chatbot.
If your situation isn’t covered here, tell us what you import and where from, and we’ll walk you through what your filing would actually involve. The legal responsibility for a Due Diligence Statement always stays with you as the operator; our job is to do the work behind it well.