The European Council yesterday adopted its negotiating mandate for a targeted revision of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), signalling a major step toward more practical and predictable implementation for Europe’s food and agriculture sectors, including dairy farming.

The revision aims to simplify compliance with existing rules while postponing key application deadlines, ensuring operators, traders, and national authorities have sufficient time to prepare.

Under the Council’s agreed position:

• New implementation timelines will apply:
  • Medium and large operators: compliance from 30 December 2026
  • Micro and small operators: compliance from 30 June 2027
    
     
• Streamlined due diligence responsibilities:
  • The obligation to submit the required due diligence statement will rest solely with operators who first place a product on the EU market, ensuring clarity on where responsibility lies.
    
     
• Reduced requirements for downstream operators and traders:
  • Downstream operators and traders will no longer need to file separate due diligence statements. Only the first downstream operator must retain and transmit the reference number from the original declaration, reducing duplication and administrative complexity.
    
     
• Simplified process for small primary operators:
  • Micro and small primary operators will only be required to submit a one-off simplified declaration, significantly easing the compliance burden for small-scale dairy farmers and other primary producers.
    
     

The European Parliament is expected to vote on its position next week, marking the next step in the legislative process.

The proposed postponement and simplification measures are expected to deliver greater certainty for producers and importers, particularly across the dairy supply chain. By reducing unnecessary administrative pressure and clarifying responsibilities, the revised approach is designed to support businesses during the transition to full compliance. Importantly, the changes will eliminate any regulatory obligations for Devenish customers under the revised framework.

For dairy farmers and supply chain partners, these developments offer a welcome buffer of time to adapt processes and ensure readiness while maintaining strong environmental commitments.