The EU’s new deforestation regulations, commonly known as EUDR, are set to come in on 30 December 2026, following a number of delays.

The regulations had been described previously as too complicated to enforce.

Simplification measures now reduce the burden on smaller companies, but large importers must comply and provide a full traceability line.

In the case of soya, this is data showing crops were not grown on deforested land with evidence of traceability from the field to the crush plant to the port.

Speaking at the Barnett Hall conference last week, quality and ESG manager Rachel Connor stated that an importer must comply with these rules or they will face penalties.

Feed mills will have very little to do, as the product will already have been imported. However, mills will have to keep reference numbers for products on record for five years.

Looking at beef and the supply chain will have to prove that the animals were not fed soya from deforested land.

Supply shock

Rachel told the Irish Farmers Journal’s Tillage Podcast that there could be a supply shock once the regulations come in, noting that with so many delays to the regulations, soya may not have been segregated last harvest.

“Particularly in South America, the soybeans have already been harvested earlier in the year in April. They haven’t necessarily segregated all that volume for the EU market,” Connor said.

Some lobby groups are calling for a delay in the enforcement of penalties until the regulations allow the countries producing these products to catch up.

The regulations aim to reduce the EU’s dependence on products produced from deforested land and to reduce its carbon and biodiversity impact.