Scope

The Regulation applies only to products listed in Annex I. Products not included in Annex I are not subject to the requirements of the Regulation, even if they contain relevant commodities in the scope of the Regulation. For example, soap will not be covered by the Regulation, even if it contains palm oil.

Likewise, products with an HS code not included in Annex I, but which might include components or elements derived from commodities covered by the Regulation – such as cars with leather seats or natural rubber tyres – are not subject to the requirements of the Regulation.

N.B.: The Regulation foresees that the list of relevant products and product descriptions may be amended by the Commission by means of a delegated act. In addition, the Commission will assess the need and the feasibility of making a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council to extend the scope of the Regulation to further commodities, based on an impact assessment of relevant commodities on deforestation and forest degradation. The first review of the commodity scope is to take place within two years of the entry into force of the Regulation.

Products included in Annex I that do not contain, or are not made of, the commodities listed in Annex I are not covered by the Regulation. 

“ex” before the HS code of products in Annex I means that the product described in the annex is an “extract” from all the products that can be classified under the HS code. For instance, code 9401 might include seats made of raw materials other than wood, but only wooden seats are subject to the requirements of the Regulation. 

There is no threshold volume or value of a relevant commodity or relevant product, including within processed products, below which the Regulation would not apply.

Operators and traders placing or making available on the market or exporting a relevant product included in Annex I, whatever its quantity, are subject to the obligations of the Regulation.

Products produced inside the EU are subject to the same requirements as products produced outside the EU. The Regulation applies to products listed in Annex I, whether there are produced in the EU or imported.

For instance, if an EU company produces chocolate (code 1806, which is included in Annex I), then it will be considered as an operator subject to the obligations of the Regulation, even if the cocoa powder used in the chocolate has already been placed on the market and fulfilled the due diligence requirements (see also question 38 on operators down the supply chain). 

For example, in the case of a producer selling packaging to manufacturers (to protect the final product - not to be sold as a final product to consumers), the text "not including packaging material used exclusively as packaging material to support, protect or carry another product placed on the market" in Annex I under Wood HS code 4415 should be understood as follows:

If any of the concerned packaging is placed on the market or exported as a product in its own right (i.e. standalone packaging), rather than as packaging for another product, it is covered by the Regulation and therefore due diligence requirements apply.

If packaging, as classified under HS code 4415, is used to ‘support, protect or carry’ another product, it is not covered by the Regulation. 

Packaging material used exclusively as packaging material to support, protect or carry another product placed on the market is not a relevant product within the meaning of Annex I of the Regulation, regardless of the HS code under which they fall.  

User manuals accompanying shipments are also falling under this exemption unless they are purchased in their own right.

Most recycled paper/paperboard products contain a small percentage of virgin pulp or pre-consumer recycled paper (for example, discarded paperboard scraps from cardboard box production) to strengthen the fibres.

Annex I states that the Regulation does not apply to goods if they are produced entirely from material that has completed its lifecycle and would otherwise have been discarded as waste as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2008/98/EC. So, no obligation applies under the Regulation in respect of the recycled material. 

On the contrary, if the product contains a percentage of non-recycled material, then it is subject to the requirements of the Regulation and the non-recycled material will need to be traced back to the plot of origin via geolocation.

The nomenclature governed by the Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, commonly known as "HS Nomenclature", is an international multipurpose nomenclature which was elaborated under the auspices of the World Customs Organization (WCO). This nomenclature assigns six-digit codes to classify goods and applies worldwide. Countries/ regions can add additional numbers to the universal six-digit HS Nomenclature for more detailed classification.

The Combined Nomenclature (CN code) of the European Union is an eight-digit commodity code that further subdivides the global HS Nomenclature into more specific goods to address the needs of the European Community.

The CN code is the basis for the declaration of goods for import into or export from the European Union, and also for intra-EU trade statistics. Commodities and products in Annex I of the Regulation are classified by their CN codes. Relevant products in Annex I of the Regulation are classified in the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87.

At import, when releasing goods for free circulation as defined in article 201 of the UCC Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, the CN code can be further subdivided to a ten-digit TARIC code specifically created to address the needs of the EU legislation. When declaring goods for export procedure as defined in article 269 of the UCC Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, the final subdivision can go up to an eight-digit CN code.

Supply chain members need to classify their products based on Annex I to the basic CN Regulation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff) to establish whether the Regulation applies to them. The HS codes can evolve every 5 years. The EU’s CN Regulation is adopted each year, to reflect any updates.

See for more information: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff