UNIC highlights the main changes in new EUDR proposal
Italy’s national tanning industry body UNIC has said it will continue to monitor progress on the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Following a new proposal for amending EUDR, which the European Commission published on October 21, UNIC said it would keep providing its member companies with insight and up-to-date information about their obligations under the regulation.
It noted that the proposal still requires the approval of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union (a decision-making body comprising ministers from the governments of the 27 member states).
From the October 21 proposal, UNIC said the main new points of interest included changes to the timings. EUDR will still come into application on December 30, 2025, for larger companies. However, the proposal says the authorities should only begin to carry out checks and other measures related to enforcement of the regulation from June 30, 2026.
Micro and small operators will have until December 30, 2026, before EUDR comes into application for them, which gives them an extra six months to prepare.
According to the European Union’s formal definition, a micro-enterprise is one that has fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover of less than €2 million. A small enterprise has fewer than 50 employees and an annual turnover of less than €10 million.
UNIC has also highlighted the new proposal’s suggestion that micro and small operators should have to provide information about their compliance with EUDR through a “one-time simplified declaration”.
This will apply to suppliers of raw material as well as to downstream operators who use the raw material. This will replace their obligation to provide full due diligence information.
The full text of the European Commission’s new EUDR proposal is available here.
A longer article about the work UNIC has done to help companies, in Italy and beyond, prepare for EUDR will appear in the October-November issue of World Leather.
Image shows UNIC deputy director, Luca Boltri, speaking at a presentation on EUDR at Lineapelle in September.
