Why cattle compliance is harder than it looks
EUDR defines the production plot as the land where the animal was raised. If a cow moved through a calving farm, a fattening farm, and a feedlot over three years, each farm must be GPS-mapped and verified — not just the slaughterhouse. Most beef exporters do not have multi-farm documentation for individual animals.
SISBOV individual animal IDs are valid for food safety and market access purposes — but they tell you nothing about whether the farm of birth was cleared after 31 December 2020. EUDR and SISBOV are parallel systems with different data architectures. Both are required; neither substitutes the other.
A slaughterhouse that commingles EUDR-verified cattle with non-verified animals on the processing floor cannot isolate a compliant batch for EU export. Physical segregation — from lairage through carcass tracking — is a prerequisite. Infrastructure investment is a real compliance barrier for many mid-size processors.
Technical requirements for cattle
Farm-level geolocation — for every farm in the chain
Cutoff date: 31 December 2020
Every farm where an animal was raised must show no deforestation after 31 December 2020. We verify each farm against Sentinel-2 imagery and GFW deforestation alerts from that date. Any farm showing forest cover change after the cutoff requires documented mitigation evidence before the DDS can be filed.
HS codes for cattle under EUDR
Hides, skins and leather (HS 4101, 4104, 4107) were removed from EUDR scope by the Commission's delegated act adopted July 2026.
Brazil-specific: three parallel systems
Brazilian beef exporters must align three systems simultaneously: SISBOV (individual animal tracking), GTA (movement records between farms), and CAR (farm polygon registry for deforestation verification). None of these systems speaks to the others — integrating them for EUDR compliance is the core technical challenge.
Country-by-country
Latin America — the primary beef-to-EU export corridors.
Cattle ranching is the primary driver of Amazon deforestation. Individual animal tracking via SISBOV exists, but farm-to-farm movement records (GTA — Guia de Trânsito Animal) do not capture deforestation clearance status. Every farm in the supply chain — from birth farm through fattening to feedlot — must be verified against the 31 Dec 2020 baseline. Brazil's CAR system provides farm polygons but requires EUDR-specific satellite cross-validation.
Main challenge: Multi-farm movement chains and Amazon overlap require full supply-chain mapping
Pampas grassland cattle carries minimal deforestation risk — the biome was largely converted long before the EUDR cutoff. However, Gran Chaco expansion in Salta, Santiago del Estero, and Chaco provinces has accelerated. Ranchers with operations in the Chaco biome require enhanced documentation. The Argentine cattle traceability system (RENSPA farm registry) is well-maintained for most operations.
Main challenge: Gran Chaco frontier ranches require deforestation verification
Uruguay operates one of the most comprehensive cattle traceability systems in the world: SNIG (Sistema Nacional de Información Ganadera) tracks individual animals from birth to slaughter with full farm history. Most Uruguayan ranchers are well-positioned for EUDR compliance — the challenge is mapping SNIG data to the EUDR Due Diligence Statement schema and filing in EUDR Information System.
Main challenge: Excellent traceability — challenge is schema mapping only
Cattle ranching has historically driven deforestation in Colombian Amazon, Orinoquía, and Pacific coast regions. Traceability systems are fragmented — the ICA cattle movement guide exists but does not capture GPS coordinates of the birth or fattening farm. Farm-level GPS data is rarely available in machine-readable format, requiring field mapping as part of EUDR compliance.
Main challenge: Fragmented traceability and Amazonian origin farms require field mapping
Chaco expansion drives rapid cattle ranching growth in Paraguay, with some of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America. Formal land registry is incomplete in western Chaco departments. Paraguay's SENACSA cattle registry provides a documentation starting point, but independent Sentinel-2 satellite verification is mandatory for all Paraguayan-origin beef.
Main challenge: Chaco deforestation and incomplete land registry
What you receive
Typical scope — cattle
Eligibility Diagnostic
3 days
Supply chain depth assessment, country risk tier, traceability system audit, readiness scorecard.
Due Diligence Statement
4–8 weeks
Most complex commodity — multi-farm chain verification required per animal cohort.
Monitoring
Quarterly
Annual DDS renewals and deforestation alerts for all farms in your verified supply chain.
Scoped proposal — typically in 48h
Other EUDR commodities
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Free compliance check — commodity classification, country risk tier, supply chain depth assessment. No account required.
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