what coordinate format and what precision does the EUDR require from me

Coordinates in decimal degrees, accurate to six decimal places

The EUDR requires geolocation data in decimal degrees, with a precision of at least six decimal places — this is the format in which latitude and longitude are expressed as a single number (for example, 4.895168 instead of a notation in degrees, minutes and seconds). For a parcel of no more than four hectares, a single coordinate pair as the centre point of the parcel is sufficient; for larger parcels, a series of coordinates is needed that describes the perimeter as a polygon. Which of the two applies depends on the area of the parcel, and that distinction is explained on the page on the difference between a point and a polygon.

These data are provided as geographic coordinates that align with the earth observation systems used by the Commission, and they must ultimately be submitted to the EU information system as part of the due diligence statement. In practice, this means that an address, a place name or a vague area description is not sufficient: an exact coordinate pair or a polygon is needed per parcel from which the material comes. Those who do not gather these data themselves but receive them from a grower or intermediary face a different question, namely how to request those data correctly and completely; this is addressed on the page on requesting geolocation data from a supplier. And where a file is technically incorrect — incorrect decimal places, reversed latitude and longitude, or an unclosed polygon — there is often a recognizable reason, described on the page on the most common GeoJSON errors.

Where this follows from: Annex II of the Regulation

These requirements for format and precision are set out in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, which specifies what geolocation data should accompany the due diligence statement and in what form it should be provided. The regulation itself can be consulted via EUR-Lex; the actual submission of the data takes place via the EU information system for the deforestation regulation.