A company that has never imported wood or rubber may still have obligations under the EU Deforestation Regulation, due to the packaging and auxiliary materials it uses.

The function of the packaging determines the EUDR obligations

The new rules will begin to apply to large and medium sized enterprises from 30 December 2026, and to micro and small enterprises from 30 June 2027. The key distinction concerns the function of the packaging. Material that is used solely to protect, support or transport another product remains outside the scope of the obligations, regardless of whether it is made from a commodity covered by the regulation.

When packaging becomes a product in its own right

The same box, pallet or crate falls within the scope of the regulation when it is placed on the market or exported as a product in its own right. In practice, the distinction between “packaging” and a “product” depends on specific purchasing and warehouse decisions:

• purchasing empty pallets, crates or boxes as separate products, rather than together with the goods they are intended to transport, triggers the due diligence obligation and the requirement to submit the relevant statement;

• a reusable pallet or crate that has already been used for transport remains outside the regulation even after resale, rental or further circulation within a closed pooling system;

• where packaging is repaired using new wood, the obligations apply only to the newly added element, not to the entire structure;

• recovered material, such as demolition wood or waste paper, excludes the product from EUDR obligations only where the entire product has been manufactured from material that has reached the end of its life cycle and become waste. Where recovered material is mixed with virgin material, due diligence applies to the part originating from the virgin commodity.

The company’s regular business activity is not decisive

The obligation to carry out due diligence therefore does not depend on what the company trades in on a daily basis, but on how the packaging is placed on the market, either as a product in its own right or as an auxiliary element. Packaging made from materials not covered by EUDR, such as plastic, metal or glass, also remains outside the scope of the regulation.

The classification should be determined before an inspection

It is worth reviewing how packaging and auxiliary materials circulate within the supply chain so that the classification as a “product or packaging” is determined before an inspection rather than during one.

Please contact us if your organisation requires support in assessing this risk.

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