Timber products traded into Europe from countries deemed “low risk” could face significantly fewer compliance checks under new guidance released by the European Commission this week. The update, published in an official guidance document yesterday, also confirmed that the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will proceed as scheduled and without delay, taking full effect on December 30, 2025, for large companies and on June 30, 2026, for micro and small enterprises.
Among the most consequential changes is the introduction of a “negligible risk” category, which applies to products that, following a full assessment, show no cause for concern regarding deforestation. Last month, Austrian MEP Alexander Bernhuber – who led a vote to reject the previous risk system – said the new category “reflects the reality that in some countries, the risk of deforestation is effectively negligible due to three factors: robust legal frameworks, low land-use change dynamics, and sustainable land management practices.”
In practice, Wood Central understands that the new definition – which will now need to go through a legal amendment to come into effect – means that countries already classified as “low risk” under the EUDR’s country benchmarking system—141 out of 194 globally—will be subject to streamlined due diligence requirements, provided all elements of the product originate from the same jurisdiction. However, the move has sparked concern among environmental groups, forest campaigners, and compliance experts, who warn that the new pathway could create loopholes for timber linked to illegal deforestation.
Critics argue that timber harvested in high-risk regions could be processed in low-risk hubs such as China, Singapore, or India, and then re-exported to Europe under misleading classifications. “Presumably, declarations would still need to indicate the original country of harvest,” said Kerstin Canby of Forest Trends, who spoke to Wood Central in June. “But if the country of harvest is categorised as standard risk and the re-exporting country is listed as low risk, how would that be treated? We already know from years of experience that much of the labelling and origin information tends to disappear during processing and re-export, which raises significant concerns.”
The latest changes come after the Commission, in May, introduced changes that they claimed would reduce administrative burden and compliance costs by more than 30 per cent. “This will ensure a simple, fair and cost-efficient implementation of this key piece of legislation,” it said in a statement. “All the updated measures are expected to reduce the number of due diligence statements companies significantly need to file…ensuring easy and efficient data entry for all users.”
In March, Wood Central reported that the EUDR will hit all parts of the timber supply chain with imports from higher-risk countries—including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brazil—falling by more than 25 per cent, and potentially peaking at 38 per cent if agricultural conversion is included under an expanded definition known as EUDR+. That shortfall, according to research, would likely to be offset by increased imports from Canada and the United States.
“The results indicate that high-deforestation countries, such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are expected to face significant reductions in roundwood production and exports, with downstream effects on sawn wood and panel prices,” said Craig Johnston, lead author of a recent report simulating the global impact of the EUDR. “At the same time, low-deforestation countries, including Canada (1. per cent increase) and the United States (0.1 per cent increase), may experience slight increases in production to meet EU demand.”
Please note: This article has now been amended after Wood Central was alerted to inaccuracies made in the original publication.
