When does the deforestation regulation apply to my business?

Two key dates, plus variants by product group

For most businesses, the deforestation regulation will apply on 30 December 2025 or 30 June 2026, and which of the two applies depends on the size of your business. Large and medium-sized enterprises fall under the first date, micro and small enterprises under the second. These are the dates as established after the extension that the EU implemented at the end of 2025; the original, earlier dates from the 2023 regulation are no longer the target date.

This does not complete the story, because in addition to business size, the product and your role in the supply chain also matter. The Commission adjusted the product scope in mid-2026, which means that some goods become subject to the obligations at a different time than others, and a market participant importing raw materials has a different position than a trader reselling processed products within the EU. For some product groups, therefore, a third or fourth date may apply, separate from the two key dates based on business size. Anyone wanting to know which date concretely applies to their own combination of role, product and business size will find out faster through a brief role check than by laying the texts side by side.

The basis: the 2025 extension and the scope change of 2026

The extension and differentiation by business size follow from Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, which replaced the earlier application dates of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 and at the same time simplified certain obligations. The adjustment to the product scope, as a result of which a different application date may apply for certain goods, comes from the Commission's implementing acts of 13 July 2026. For the full, current text and the precise delimitation by product category, the text on EUR-Lex remains the reference point.