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Sustainability and green claims Importer · Distributor 5 min read

We do not know if we are an EUDR operator or trader

Under the EU Deforestation Regulation as amended in December 2025, the operator places a relevant product on the EU market first, or exports it, and carries out due diligence. A downstream operator makes covered products from products already covered by a statement, and a trader only sells on. Your role decides your duties: a due diligence statement, or collecting supplier references and keeping them five years.

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Reviewed 4 October 2026 by the Conphora compliance team · Not legal advice

Why this happens

The EU Deforestation Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, assigns duties by role, and Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 rewrote the roles in December 2025. An operator is any person who, in the course of a commercial activity, places relevant products on the market or exports them, excluding downstream operators (Article 2(15)). Placing on the market means the first making available of a relevant commodity or product on the Union market (Article 2(16)). Where a person outside the Union places the products, the first person in the Union who makes them available is deemed the operator (Article 7).[1]

The amendment added the downstream operator: a person who places on the market or exports relevant products made using relevant products, all of which are covered by a due diligence statement or a simplified declaration (Article 2(15b)). A trader is any person in the supply chain other than the operator or downstream operator who makes relevant products available on the market (Article 2(17)).[1]

Operators carry the heaviest duties. They exercise due diligence under Article 8, submit a due diligence statement before placing the products on the market, assume responsibility for compliance by doing so, and pass the reference numbers to the downstream operators and traders they supply (Article 4(1) to (3) and (7)).[1]

Downstream operators and traders do not file statements. They may place or make available relevant products only if they hold the name, address and email of their suppliers and customers and, where the supplier is an operator, the reference numbers of the statements (Article 5(1) and (3)). They keep this information for at least five years and give it to the authorities on request (Article 5(4)), and they inform the authorities immediately of substantiated concerns (Article 5(5)). Those that are not SMEs also register in the information system and verify due diligence when concerns arise (Article 5(2) and (6)).[1]

The obligations apply from 30 December 2026, and from 30 June 2027 for operators that are natural persons or micro or small undertakings established as such by 31 December 2024, except for products covered by the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 (Article 38(2) and (3)). That later date applies to operators only.[1][2]

How to solve it

  1. Find out who places the product on the EU market first

    Placing on the market is the first making available on the Union market. If you import the goods and release them for free circulation, that is normally you. If a seller outside the EU places the goods, the first person established in the EU who makes them available is deemed the operator.

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  2. Check whether you make new products from covered ones

    If you make a relevant product, for example furniture from sawn timber, and every input product is already covered by a due diligence statement or a simplified declaration, you are a downstream operator. If any input is not yet covered, you are the operator for the new product.

  3. If you only resell, you are a trader

    A trader is anyone in the supply chain, other than the operator or downstream operator, who makes relevant products available on the market in the course of a commercial activity. A wholesaler, retailer or webshop that buys from EU suppliers and does not process the goods typically falls here.

  4. Check your size before you plan the work

    Downstream operators and traders that are not SMEs must register in the EU information system and verify due diligence when they receive substantiated concerns. Operators that are natural persons or micro or small undertakings established by 31 December 2024 have a later application date; the text gives no later date to downstream operators or traders. Micro or small primary operators in low-risk countries file a simplified declaration.

  5. Write the role down per product flow

    Record, for each product family and supply route, which role you hold, why, and what that role requires. Update it when you change supplier, start importing directly or start processing goods yourself.

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Work through the steps in the platform with your own product.

What you need to show

DocumentWhere it comes fromLegal ground
A role assessment per product flowCompliance, with purchasing and logisticsRegulation (EU) 2023/1115 Article 2(15), (15b), (16), (17) and Article 7
Registration in the EU information system, if you are a non-SME downstream operator or traderThe information system run by the CommissionRegulation (EU) 2023/1115 Articles 5(2) and 33
Supplier and customer details, with statement reference numbers where the supplier is an operatorYour purchasing and sales recordsRegulation (EU) 2023/1115 Article 5(3) and (4)

If you do nothing

An operator without due diligence cannot place the product

Operators must exercise due diligence before placing relevant products on the market and may not place them where they could not fulfil those obligations (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 Article 4(1) and (4)(c)).[1]

Downstream operators and traders need the information first

Downstream operators and traders may place or make available relevant products only if they hold the supplier and customer information required by Article 5(3) (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 Article 5(1)).[1]

Penalties apply to every role

Member States lay down penalties for infringements by operators, downstream operators and traders, including fines with a maximum of at least 4 % of annual Union-wide turnover for legal persons and confiscation of the products (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 Article 25).[1]

Questions about this problem

We import from a supplier outside the EU. Are we the operator?

If you place the goods on the EU market, yes. Where a person established outside the Union places the products on the market, the first person established in the Union who makes them available is deemed to be the operator (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 Article 7).

Does a downstream operator file a due diligence statement?

No. The definition of operator excludes downstream operators (Article 2(15)). A downstream operator collects and keeps the supplier details and statement reference numbers (Article 5(3)). A non-SME downstream operator that receives substantiated concerns must verify that due diligence was done before selling (Article 5(6)).

Can someone file the statement for us?

An operator may mandate an authorised representative to submit the statement, but keeps the responsibility for compliance (Article 6(1)). An operator that is a natural person or a microenterprise may mandate the next downstream operator or trader that is not a natural person or a microenterprise; that company may then not sell the products without submitting the statement for the operator (Article 6(3)).

What changes if we are an SME?

Registration in the information system under Article 5(2) and the verification duty in Article 5(6) apply to non-SME downstream operators and traders. All downstream operators and traders must still hold the Article 5(3) information and keep it for at least five years (Article 5(4)).

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Related problems

A customer asks where our wood, cocoa or rubber comes fromSustainability and green claimsWe have to file an EUDR due diligence statementSustainability and green claimsAre we the manufacturer, the importer or the distributor?Roles and responsibilitiesWe only resell and do not know what we must checkRoles and responsibilitiesCustoms stopped our shipment at the EU borderIncidents, recalls and authorities

Regulations involved

EUDR

Sources

  1. Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free products (consolidated text of 18 September 2026) EUR-Lex · accessed 4 October 2026
  2. Regulation (EU) 2023/1115: document information, amendments and dates EUR-Lex · accessed 4 October 2026

About this page

Reviewer
Conphora compliance team
Reviewed
4 October 2026

General information, not legal advice. Check the legal text or ask an adviser about your own product.

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Conphora (2026). We do not know if we are an EUDR operator or trader. Retrieved 13 October 2026 from https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/eudr-operator-or-trader/
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