EUDR & parquet: deforestation-free timber in practice

1. What is the EUDR?

De EU Deforestation Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115) obliges companies placing certain products on the EU market to demonstrate that those products do not originate from deforested or degraded land after the reference date of 31 December 2020. The regulation is the successor to the EUTR (EU Timber Regulation) and goes considerably further: it covers seven commodity categories (soy, palm oil, cattle, cocoa, coffee, timber and rubber) including a lengthy list of derived products.

For the flooring industry, timber is the central raw material. Parquet floors — solid or engineered — are explicitly included in the product annexes of the regulation.

2. Why does the EUDR specifically affect the parquet sector?

Parquet is by definition a timber product. Both solid parquet and engineered wood engineered wood fall under HS codes included in Annex I of the EUDR (including HS 4409, 4418). This means that every link in the supply chain — from forest operator to European retailer — has obligations.

What makes parquet particularly notable is that the timber species often originate from tropical source countries (teak, merbau, jatoba, cumaru) or from Eastern European and Russian forests. It is precisely with these origins that the risk of deforestation is statistically higher and traceability has historically been weak.

3. Who exactly falls within scope?

The EUDR distinguishes between operators and traders (traders):

4. The due diligence system (DDS)

The core of the EUDR is the mandatory due diligence statement (DDS) that must be submitted via the EU information system prior to placing products on the market. A DDS consists of three steps:

4.1 Data collection

4.2 Risk assessment

Each consignment of timber is assessed for both deforestation and legality risk. Relevant factors include the country of production (Commission benchmark classification: low/standard/high risk), the presence of indigenous land rights, satellite data on deforestation changes and the reliability of the supply chain.

4.3 Risk mitigation

If the risk is not negligible, the operator must take adequate measures: request additional information from suppliers, commission independent audits, or — as a last resort — refuse the purchase. All steps and decisions must be documented and retained for a minimum of five years .

5. Timeline & deadlines

6. EUDR vs FSC and PEFC: what is the difference?

A frequently asked question in the industry is whether an FSC or PEFC certificate is sufficient as proof of EUDR compliance. The answer is nuanced:

FSC and PEFC can reduce the risk level and serve as supporting evidence, but do not replace the DDS. An EUDR-compliant company with FSC-certified suppliers will, however, have a considerably simpler path through the risk assessment.

7. Countries of origin and risk classification

Below is a non-exhaustive overview of wood species commonly used in parquet flooring, with their typical country of production and the expected risk level under the EUDR benchmark:

8. Penalties

The EUDR requires member states to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. The regulation specifies minimum requirements:

• Fines of at least 4% of annual EU turnover
• Confiscation of the products and revenues concerned
• Temporary prohibition on placing products on the EU market
• Exclusion from public procurement for up to five years

9. Getting started in practice: minimum action plan

Sources & further reading