Just how ready are Australia and New Zealand for EUDR? That is the question posed by a panel of experts ahead of ‘EUDR and Market Access — What the Forest and Wood Sector Needs to Know,’ a workshop to be hosted by Responsible Wood – Australia’s National Governing Body for PEFC – at the Forest and Wood Products Australia offices in Melbourne.
The workshop, slated for May 13, 2025, will provide clarity for Australian and New Zealand companies, which last year voiced confusion (and some panic) over the EUDR process, with the EUDR set to impact every part of the timber (and pulp) supply chains.
And whilst certification alone may not meet all EUDR requirements (yet), new research shows that companies with PEFC (and/or FSC) certification are much better prepared than those without.
“At the core [of our response] is the PEFC EUDR due diligence system module,” according to Rob Shaw, PEFC International’s Head of Standards and Integrity. “A system designed to mirror the regulations’ requirements, but in a simplified form, written in the language of PEFC and our chain of custody standards.”
And he’s clear that this isn’t just about compliance but about scale and confidence: “By aligning our sustainable forest management standard with EUDR, 25% of the world’s production forests are already managed in accordance with the regulation, and that’s a huge advantage for certified businesses.”
Joining Mr Shaw are two leading voices in the tech space, including Andreas Naujoks, a Senior Product Marketing Manager at LiveEO, who will demonstrate how satellite-based platforms can be used to monitor forest activity and Swapan Chaudhuri, CEO and Co-founder of Deeplai – a contributor to Wood Central.
“We didn’t build data platforms by ourselves,” Mr Shaw said, adding that PEFC isn’t trying to build a ‘one-size-fits-all’ tool for compliance but instead create flexibility through partnerships: “Instead, we partnered with leading tech providers like LiveEO, OSapian, and Deeplai to give businesses a real choice — from earth observation to AI-powered risk assessment and automated due diligence submissions.”
Event Details
Date: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Time: Lunch from 12.00 pm | Workshop from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm
Venue: Forest & Wood Products Australia, Level 6, 36 Wellington Street, Collingwood VIC
Remote access is also available
Contact Responsible Wood for more information.
