Businesses that fulfil 2 out of the following 3 criteria:
- average number of employees up to 250
- net turnover of less than EUR 50 000 000
- balance sheet of less than total EUR 25 000 000
SMEs constitute 90% of operators that are importing products in scope of EUDR.
They need to follow certain simplified procedures to comply with the requirements of the law in order to prove that no deforestation activities have taken place.
Deferred entry into application of EUDRFor operators that are micro- and small undertakings, the law will enter into application 24 months after its entry into force, in comparison to 18 months for all other operators and traders. This will provide small and micro-operators more and adequate time to adapt to their obligations.
Less obligations for downstream SME operatorsNo need to exercise due diligence or submit a due diligence statement, when it was already done by the upstream operator, i.e. the operator that first put the commodity or derived product on the market.
Lighter mitigation measures for all SME operatorsSMEs are not required to put in place certain policies and procedures to mitigate risks of non-compliance of products– for example, they do not need to appoint a compliance officer or have their internal policies checked by an independent audit.
No reporting obligationsSME operators are not subject to the annual reporting obligations of their due diligence system.
Authorised representativesOperators that are microenterprises or natural persons may mandate the next operator or trader further down the supply chain as an authorised representative who is able to submit a due diligence statement on behalf of the micro-operator, provided this authorised representative is not itself a natural person or a microenterprise. Yet, the mandating operator retains responsibility for the compliance of the product.
Less obligations for SME tradersNo need to exercise due diligence or submit a due diligence statement. SME traders are only obliged to collect relevant information regarding their suppliers, unlike non-SME traders who ascertain due diligence has been carried out. SME traders will also be subject to lighter checks by the competent authorities – and they are not included in the mandatory quotas for checks that competent authorities need to perform.
Specific support: The guidance and FAQs provided by the Commission aim to particularly assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including microenterprises and natural persons, in meeting their regulatory obligations. These resources are designed to simplify compliance.
A due diligence statement has already been submitted for the product (or parts of it) by prior supply chain actors:The downstream SME operator does not need to perform due diligence and does not need to submit a due diligence statement. The downstream SME operator only needs to make available the due diligence reference number of the already declared product upon request.
A due diligence statement has not yet been submitted:The SME operators shall exercise due diligence in full and submit a due diligence statement in the Information System.
Obligations for SME traders
SME traders – businesses making a commodity/product available on the market after the operators.
SME traders do not need to exercise due diligence or submit a due diligence statement. They need to collect relevant information regarding the product that they are making available on the market. This information needs to be kept for a duration of 5 years and provided to the Member States’ Competent Authorities upon request.
