EUDR for Cocoa

Europe is the largest importer of cocoa beans worldwide, most of it coming from developing countries. The need for EUDR in the cocoa market comes down to unsustainable cocoa plantation expansion, contributing to illegal logging, biodiversity loss and soil degradation.

For farmers, EUDR for Cocoa requires to certify a commodity as deforestation-free as follows:

• Do not produce on land that was deforested after 2020.
• Collect GPS data on the production area.
• Pass on pertinent information to the business partners.
• Respect land use and labor rights.

Producers, importers, and traders of the EUDR cocoa market need to ensure by a due diligence statement the risk of non-compliance is small following 3 steps:

• Collect evidence that the product is deforestation-free.
• Assess risks of non-compliance.
• If risks have been identified, take action to mitigate them.