Deforestation-free product rules postponed by a year
Large and medium operators apply the deforestation-free rules from 30 December 2026, smaller companies from 30 June 2027. The regulation names isotope and genetic testing outright as the way to check where the raw material came from.
- The scope has not shrunk — only the deadline moved: large and medium operators from 30 December 2026, micro and small ones from 30 June 2027.
- The rules cover timber, cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber and cattle, together with products made from them.
- Whoever places such goods on the EU market must show the raw material does not come from land deforested after the cut-off date.
- Among the means of verification the rules name isotope and genetic testing outright — they work independently of the supplier documents.
- Light-element isotope analysis reflects the conditions where the plant grew, and genetic testing points to species and population.
- A result is worth as much as the reference database behind it — building one is the hardest part today, and demand for such testing is clearly growing.
Source: Rada Unii Europejskiej