Why timber compliance is harder than it looks
A wooden desk may contain timber from five different forests in three different countries. EUDR requires tracing every wood component in a finished product back to its harvest plot — with GPS coordinates and deforestation evidence for each. The longer the transformation chain, the harder this becomes.
Most sawmills accept logs from multiple concessions and mix them in the log yard. Once mixed, physical segregation is expensive or impossible. EUDR compliance for timber requires either identity-preserved supply chains — or detailed harvest records that allow computational reconstruction of each shipment's origin.
Species such as big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), cedar (Cedrela odorata), and certain Dalbergia species are listed under CITES Appendix II. An EUDR Due Diligence Statement and a CITES export permit are both legally required — neither substitutes the other. Many exporters underestimate this dual obligation.
Customs declarations use cubic metres or weight. EUDR compliance is anchored to GPS coordinates of the harvest plot. Converting from "X m³ of timber species Y" back to "harvest plots A, B, C with coordinates" requires harvest records — rarely maintained in machine-readable format by small producers or community forestry operations.
Technical requirements for timber
Harvest-plot geolocation — same rules as all commodities
Cutoff date: 31 December 2020
Timber must come from land that was not deforested after 31 December 2020. We verify every harvest plot against Sentinel-2 tree cover loss imagery and Global Forest Watch data from that date forward. Any forest canopy change within the harvest area after the cutoff requires documented mitigation evidence before a DDS can be filed.
HS codes for timber under EUDR
FSC / PEFC certifications reduce burden — but don't replace DDS
Forest certification schemes (FSC, PEFC) provide chain-of-custody documentation that significantly reduces the EUDR verification workload. However, they do not substitute the legal requirement to file a DDS in EUDR Information System. A certified supply chain still needs an authorized representative to file on your behalf.
Country-by-country
Latin America — the primary LATAM timber-to-EU corridors.
Amazon biome overlap with commercial timber concessions is the primary risk. The Brazilian Forest Code (Código Florestal) requires Área de Reserva Legal documentation, but EUDR requires individual harvest-plot-level verification. Commercial eucalyptus and pine plantations in Paraná and Santa Catarina are generally lower-risk plantation origin.
Main challenge: Amazon deforestation overlap requires enhanced satellite verification
Among the highest deforestation-risk jurisdictions for timber in South America. Concession management plans (POAs — Planes Operativos Anuales) exist on paper, but field verification is inconsistent. ABT (Autoridad de Bosques y Tierra) records provide a starting point — but independent Sentinel-2 cross-validation is required for every shipment.
Main challenge: Concession records exist but field verification is weak
Complex but manageable. Forest concessions with SERFOR-approved annual operating plans (POAs) provide documentation anchors. Artisanal and community-managed timber typically has weaker chain-of-custody records. DRC-certified operations have a significant head start on EUDR compliance.
Main challenge: Artisanal timber lacks chain-of-custody documentation
Smaller timber export volumes than Brazil or Peru. Pacific coast and Amazon-origin timber requires regional environmental authority (CARs) permits that partially document forest of origin. The challenge is converting permit-level data into EUDR-compliant plot-level GPS coordinates with deforestation evidence.
Main challenge: CAR permits document approvals — not GPS coordinates
Pine and oak timber from Oaxaca, Chihuahua, and Durango. Community-managed (ejido) forestry models with documented harvest areas (Programas de Manejo Forestal) are a strong starting point. Ejido boundaries are GPS-mapped and often registered with the SEMARNAT forest registry — solid documentation base for EUDR.
Main challenge: Converting ejido forest management plans to EUDR plot schema
Balsa wood — used in wind turbine cores and aerospace applications — is Ecuador's primary timber export. Plantation-grown balsa in Los Ríos and Guayas provinces carries lower deforestation risk than native forest timber. Balsa concession maps are generally available; the challenge is formatting them into EU Information System-compliant GeoJSON.
Main challenge: Formatting balsa plantation data into EUDR GeoJSON schema
What you receive
Typical scope — timber
Eligibility Diagnostic
3 days
Operator/trader classification, country risk tier, HS code review, readiness scorecard.
Due Diligence Statement
4–8 weeks
Multi-origin timber DDS — more complex than single-commodity shipments due to chain-of-custody depth.
Monitoring
Quarterly
Annual DDS renewals and seasonal deforestation alerts for active concessions.
Scoped proposal — typically in 48h
Other EUDR commodities
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Free compliance check — commodity classification, country risk tier, chain-of-custody readiness. No account required.
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