EUDR and soya: what importers must collect
Soybeans, soy meal, and soy oil are covered, a lot of it entering as animal feed.
EUDR · Regulation (EU) 2023/1115
Soya is one of the seven commodities covered by the EU Deforestation Regulation. Placing soya on the EU market needs a Due Diligence Statement filed before customs clearance.
Soya is one of the seven commodities covered by the EU Deforestation Regulation, so soya and the products derived from it cannot enter the EU market unless it is deforestation-free after 31 December 2020, legally produced in its country of origin, and covered by a Due Diligence Statement. Annex I lists it under 1201, 1208 10, 1507, 2304.
Is soya covered by the EUDR?
Yes. Soya is on the list of seven commodities, alongside cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood. Scope extends to the derived products in Annex I, so a finished good containing soya can be in scope too. The exact boundary is the CN code: for soya the relevant headings are 1201, 1208 10, 1507, 2304. Several Annex I rows carry an ex prefix, meaning only the described subset of that heading is caught, and the Annex itself is versioned. Article 34 lets the Commission update the codes by delegated act, so check the current text rather than a cached list.
What soya importers have to collect
The same three things every covered commodity needs: plot geolocation for the ground it came from, evidence that it was produced legally and is deforestation-free, and a Due Diligence Statement filed before customs. There is no de minimis: the obligation applies whatever the quantity, including where soya is a minor ingredient inside a processed product.
Much soya arrives as feed or as an ingredient rather than a headline product, so the scope check often surprises food and feed importers. Verify the CN code rather than assuming.
What is not in scope for soya
Feed is the trap. Feed must itself be deforestation-free, but the Regulation does not require geolocation for the feed as such (recital 39). Only four headings carry soya, so the classification question is usually quick, but products "fed with" a covered commodity are inside Article 1(1) even when the soya is invisible.
When does this apply, and what next?
From 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators and 30 June 2027 for natural persons and micro and small undertakings established by 31 December 2024. The deadlines page sets out the four separate dates the Regulation keeps and why they are not interchangeable. Start by confirming which soya products you handle are in scope, then ask suppliers for geolocation and statement reference numbers now. EUDR for SMEs covers the reliefs for smaller importers, and the EUDR overview walks the full flow.
Sources
Collect the plots once. File every shipment after.
Bindu holds the geolocation, the legality evidence, and the audit trail in one record, and assembles the statement from it when a shipment moves.