Deforestation
Conversion of forest to agricultural use after the cut-off — one of three conditions a product must meet (with legality and a due diligence statement).
What it means
For EUDR, deforestation is conversion of forest to agricultural use, assessed against the plot and the 31 December 2020 cut-off.
In the regulation
Article 2 defines deforestation. Relevant products must be deforestation-free, legally produced, and covered by a due diligence statement — all three. A plot can be entirely deforestation-free and still fail because the legality condition is not met.
How ERWAY treats it
Deforestation risk on a plot is surfaced as dated evidence against geometry. It is one input to the three-limb product test the field guides describe — not a standalone green light.
Related terms
- Regulation & scope
Legality
One of three mandatory product conditions: the relevant commodity must have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production — deforestation-free alone is not enough.
- Regulation & scope
Cut-off date
31 December 2020 — the date after which deforestation (and, for wood only, forest degradation) disqualifies relevant products as deforestation-free.
- Filing & enforcement
Due Diligence Statement
The filing by which the first-placing operator formally declares that due diligence was carried out and that risk is negligible — required at every country risk tier.
- Regulation & scope
Forest degradation
A wood-only EUDR test: structural conversion of primary or naturally regenerating forest into plantation forest, planted forest, or other wooded land — not general canopy thinning.
Keep reading
Regulation & scopeEUDR in plain terms: what Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 actually requires
The EUDR's scope, the three conditions every product must meet, the 31 December 2020 cut-off, and what due diligence actually consists of.
6 min read
Risk & benchmarkingRisk assessment and mitigation: building an evidence file that holds up
What EUDR risk assessment has to cover, what 'negligible risk' and 'substantiated concern' mean in practice, and how to document mitigation so it survives a competent authority check.
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