What happens if I don't keep my EUDR documents for five years?
The deforestation regulation requires operators and traders to keep the documents underlying a due diligence statement available for five years. This includes, among other things, geolocation data of plots, information about suppliers, and the risk assessment that belongs to a product stream. If these documents are missing when a competent authority requests them, that authority cannot determine whether the statement was prepared on sound grounds.
What this concretely means for an individual company depends on the circumstances and is for the competent supervisory authority to assess. This article describes the obligation as it stands in the regulation, not how strictly or leniently a supervisory authority handles it. For your own situation, a lawyer or the competent authority is the appropriate party to consult.
Why this retention period exists
A due diligence statement is not a one-time formality. The regulation assumes that an operator can demonstrate at any time within the retention period where a raw material came from and on the basis of which data it was assessed as deforestation-free. The documents are therefore not only intended for the moment of submission, but form the evidence on which an authority can rely afterwards.
This makes the retention obligation in practice just as important as the submission itself. A statement that was submitted at the right time, but whose supporting documentation can no longer be found completely later, leaves a gap in the file. Anyone still needing to find out what role and what obligation apply to their own company will find an initial indication via in five questions see where you stand.
What is often missing in practice
Documents are rarely lost all at once. It happens gradually: a supplier sends an updated plot location by email, and the old version is not kept separately. A risk assessment is revised following a change in the country classification, but the earlier version disappears from the shared folder. An employee who managed the file leaves the company and takes knowledge of where certain documents are located with them.
In isolation, each of these situations seems minor. Added together, a file emerges in which the connection between statement, origin data and supporting documentation can no longer be clearly traced. This is a different problem than a fine or sanction: it is about whether a company can itself still demonstrate what the basis was for a previously submitted statement.
Version control is the underestimated part of the retention obligation
Keeping documents does not only mean that a file is stored somewhere, but also that it is clear which version belongs to which statement and when it was changed. Without this overview, a file is present but not usable at the moment it is needed.
How a file per product stream helps with this
Anyone who records suppliers, countries of origin, plots and documents per product stream instead of loosely per shipment automatically maintains a structure that aligns with the retention obligation. Changes over time remain visible, and the supporting documentation of a statement does not depend on the memory of a single employee or on a loose folder on a shared drive.
Eudri.com structures these files and generates the due diligence statement or simplified statement from them, with the associated documents kept clearly organized. How this data is recorded and secured is described on the data security page. We never declare ourselves that a product is deforestation-free; the statutory risk assessment remains with the operator, even if the file has been built up with us.
What you can verify yourself
For anyone wanting to know whether their own file complies with what the regulation requires, it is useful to check whether each submitted declaration can be traced back to the underlying geolocation data, supplier information and risk assessment, and whether that overview remains usable even after staff changes or system modifications. A complete overview of the topics surrounding the retention obligation and other requirements is available in the knowledge base organized by subject.
Do you have questions about how this applies precisely to your products and suppliers? You will find the most frequently asked questions on the FAQ page. For a first, free impression of your role and the date that applies to you, the role check is the logical starting point.