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Report from
Europe
European Commission lightens EUDR administrative
burden on businesses
The European Commission (EC) has announced that it is
simplifying due diligence requirements for EU
Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) compliance to cut the
administrative load and cost for businesses. At the same
time, it says it is stepping up dialogue on the EUDR and
its requirement for deforestation-free commodity supply
chains with third countries under its Strategic Framework
for Cooperation and Engagement (SFCE).
After being pushed back a year, the EUDR will come into
force at the end of 2025 and six months later for small to
medium sized businesses. It requires evidence that
importers and traders have undertaken due diligence to
ensure commodities placed on the EU market are not
implicated in deforestation or forest degradation. They
must also provide geolocation coordinates for their origin.
Besides timber and wood products, the EUDR covers
cocoa, coffee, soya, palm oil, rubber and cattle/beef.
In making further compliance changes the EC says it is
responding to ‘feedback from international partners’ and
‘delivering on commitments’ made in December 2024
when the EUDR’s introduction was delayed 12 months. It
also pledged further steps to facilitate compliance
including new guidance and frequently asked questions
(FAQ) documents, both of which became available on 15
April.
The changes in compliance requirements were made
public the same day. The key changes are:
That large companies can reuse existing due
diligence statements where goods previously on
the EU market are reimported, so less information
has to be submitted to the EUDR IT system.
That authorised representatives can now submit
due diligence statements on behalf of members of
company groups.
That companies can now submit due diligence
statements annually, instead of with every
shipment or batch of goods.
That the minimal legal obligation on companies
under the EUDR for ‘ascertaining that due
diligence has been carried out’ is that they collect
due diligence statement (DDS) reference numbers
from suppliers, which they can then use in their
own DDS submissions.
The EC says these amendments accord with ‘key industry
demands’ and, in reducing the number of due diligence
statements companies need to file, will result in an
estimated 30% reduction in their administrative costs.
“The goal of these simplifications for due diligence
statements is to ensure easy and efficient data entry for all
users,” states the EC.
Under the EU SFCE, says the EC, it has ‘strengthened
dialogue with third party countries, businesses, civil
society and global partners to facilitate [EUDR]
implementation and support preparation through dedicated
meetings and online training’.
In 2024, the EC ran 300 meetings on the EUDR with
stakeholders, with 50 training webinars produced for the
IT system with places for 15,500 participants, plus videos
in 50 languages.
The SFCE objectives include facilitating multi-stakeholder
dialogue and cooperation on policies and actions to halt
deforestation and forest degradation. That includes
‘conservation and sustainable use of forests as well as
sustainable land use, commodity production, processing,
consumption and trade’.
The SFCE also aims to support EUDR- impacted third
countries in securing economic incentives for preserving
forests and investment in deforestation-free, legal and
sustainable supply chains. Additionally, it will help
producer countries transition to the latter, especially those
with ‘weaker capacity and high deforestation exposure’.
It is also engaging with other consumer countries to
encourage adoption of measures to cut their contribution
to deforestation.
The EC has also increased the budget of its Team Europe
Initiative to support partner countries moving to
sustainable, deforestation-free and legal supply chains to
€86 million.
It adds that it is finaliszing the EUDR country
benchmarking, which will rank countries as low, standard
or high risk of deforestation and that this will be adopted
no later than 30 June.
It says that, following latest changes, it will continue to
respond to feedback on the EUDR from stakeholders,
including partner countries, and to ‘assist traders and
operators with implementation on the ground’.
See:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_106
3
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:C_202406604
and
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/document/5dc7aa19-e58f-42a3-
bbbe-f0eb2e5a1d3a_en
and
https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/34861680-e799-4d7c-bbad-
da83c45da458/library/e126f816-844b-41a9-89ef-
cb2a33b6aa56/details
Downward trends in German tropical consumption
According to the latest foreign trade statistics booklet
(Außenhandelsstatistik 2025) published in March by
German timber trade association GD Holz, Germany’s
imports of most categories of tropical hardwood dropped
in 2024. It was the second year of decline.
Imports of tropical hardwood roundwood fell from
16,051cu.m, worth €9.6 million in 2022 to 9,699 cu.m
(€6.4 million) in 2023, a volume decline of 39.6%. Last
year they dropped again by 78.5% to 2,099 cu.m, worth
€1.75 million.
The leading tropical roundwood suppliers to the country
were Cameroon, accounting for 35% of Germany’s
imports, followed by Ecuador, 22%, Brazil 21%, and the
Central African Republic (CAR) 14%, with a range of
other countries making up the remaining 8%. Imports from
these other suppliers fell most sharply last year, with their
shipments to Germany down from 8,938 cu.m to just 164
cu.m.
Tropical sawn hardwood imports have also declined
markedly over the last two years. In 2022 Germany
imported 72,010 cu.m valued at €63.2 million. In 2023 this
fell by volume 33.1% to 48,189 cu.m worth €44.5 million
and 2024 saw a further 12.5% decline to 42,166 cu.m
worth €36.9 million.
The leading suppliers were Cameroon, with a 26% share
of German imports by volume, Malaysia with 19%, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 15%, Ghana
14%, the Netherlands 7%, with other countries accounting
for 19%. Again, the latter suppliers between them saw the
biggest drop in volume, down from 30,960 cu.m in 2023
to 7,784 cu.m in 2024.
But imports from Cameroon were up last year from 1,038
cu.m in 2023 to 11,106 cu.m, with Malaysia’s rising from
543 cu.m to 8,149 cu.m and the DRC’s from 1,215 cu.m to
6,317 cu.m. Imports from Ghana were down from 8,827
cu.m to 6,078 cu.m and from the Netherlands, down from
5,606 cu.m to 2,732 cu.m.
Germany’s tropical hardwood lumber imports overall from
Africa were down from 31,844 cu.m worth €26 million in
2012 to 26,751 cu.m worth €21.6 million in 2024. Imports
from South America fell from 2,475 cu.m worth €3
million to 2,378 cu.m worth €2.3 million, while imports
from Asia overall were up, largely due to the rise from
Asia, from 7,338 cu.m worth €9.4 million to 8,873 cu.m
worth €10.2 million.
Imports of tropical hardwood lumber from other European
countries were down from 6,532 cu.m worth €5.8 million
to 4,164 cu.m worth €2.8 million. Imports of hardwood
lumber in 2022 amounted to 7,498 cu.m worth €6.7
million.
News on Germany’s tropical planed and sanded hardwood
imports was more positive from 2023 to 2024. Total
imports were up in volume from 39,672 cu.m to 43,380
cu.m, a rise of 9.1%, and only marginally down in value
from €46.4 million to €46.2 million. Although that
compared with 47,044 cu.m worth €66.9 million in 2022.
The leading suppliers were Indonesia, which accounted for
63% of Germany’s imports, followed by the Netherlands
with 5%, Malaysia with 4%, Brazil 4%, Peru, Bolivia and
Ghana all on 3%, with other countries accounting for 15%.
Indonesia’s sales were up from 21,862 cu.m, worth €22.4
million, to 27,523 cu.m worth €27.8 million.
Imports from African countries overall were down from
3,263 cu.m worth €3.2 million in 2023 to 2,824 cu.m
worth €2.6 million in 2024. From Asia they were up from
24,720 cu.m worth €27 million to 30,084 cu.m worth
€32.2 million, and from South America down from 7,759
cu.m worth €9.2 million to 5,273 cu.m worth €5.2 million.
Imports supplied via other European countries were up in
volume from 4,019 cu.m to 5,075 cu.m, but down in value
from €6.8 million to €6 million.
German imports of veneer from Africa were down from
5,197 cu.m worth €3 million in 2023 to 2,232 cu.m worth
€1.4 million in 2024. From Asia, predominantly Indonesia,
they were down from 2,759 cu.m worth €6.7 million to
2,066 cu.m worth €4.5 million.
Germany’s exports of tropical hardwood roundwood were
down from 4,871 cu.m worth €3.4 million in 2023 to
1,256 cu.m worth €1.4 million in 2024, a volume drop of
74.2%, after rising 12.5% in 2023.
Exporters’ biggest market was the Netherlands, taking
50% of the volume, followed by Sweden with 12%, the
US with 8%, Spain 7%, Switzerland 6%, Czechia 5% and
others 12%.
German exports of tropical rough sawn lumber fell from
26,704 cu.m worth €33 million in 2023 to 24,364 million
cu.m worth €31.3 million in 2024. Of its exports, Poland
accounted for 20% by volume, Denmark 11%, Switzerland
10%, the Netherlands and UK 9% each, Czechia 8%,
Austria 6%, Bosnia Herzegovina 5% and others 22%.
Germany’s exports of planed and sanded tropical lumber
rose in volume from 5,995 m3 in 2023 to 6,842 cu.m in
2024, an increase of 14% but were down in value from
€11.5 million to €11.4 million. These figures compared
with 9,137 m3 worth €17 million in 2022. Of Germany’s
national markets, Poland accounted 20% of exports, the
Netherlands and Austria 14%, Switzerland 13%, Czechia
5%, Denmark 4% and other countries 24%.
GD Holz does not itself provide analysis of or
commentary on these figures and trends, but the backdrop
is a fall in Germany’s GDP of 0.3% in 2023 and 0.2% in
2024. German construction output in 2024 contracted
around 3%, marking the fourth consecutive year of
decline, and it is expected to shrink further in 2025.
For comparison, Germany’s overall plywood imports were
up in volume from 885,620 cu.m in 2023 to 915,740 cu.m
in 2024, but down in value over the year from €696.5
million to €656 million. That compared with 1.1 million
cu.m worth €880.5 million in 2022.
Imports of non-tropical roundwood were down from
336,105 cu.m worth €66.6 million in 2023 to 205,736
cu.m, worth €45.8 million in 2024, a volume decline of
38.8%, following shrinkage of 11.9% in 2023.
Imports of non-tropical rough sawn lumber were down
from 176,398 cu.m worth €135.9 million in 2023, to
144,439 cu.m worth €105.9 million in 2024, a volume fall
of 18.1% following a decline of 42.1% in 2023.
And imports of non-tropical planed and sanded lumber
were down from 16,607 cu.m worth €18.7 million in 2023
to 15,504 worth €16.5 million in 2024. Overall GD Holz
states, the German timber trade’s turnover overall in 2024
was down 6%.
Belgian woodworking sees recovery
According to Belgian wood, furniture and textiles
federation (Fedustria) the country’s wood processing
industry returned to growth in 2024 following the
downturn the year before.
Latest figures show the sector’s turnover increasing 3.4%
after the 12.3% decline in 2023. Business improved as the
year progressed. In the first quarter, turnover fell a further
2.3%, but in Q2 there was a 0.9% improvement, followed
by, what Fedustria described as a ‘clear recovery’, with
revenue up 7.7% in Q3 and 8.5% in Q4.
The main contributor to this growth was the wood-based
panels sector, with turnover up 8.6% through 2024. The
packaging industry, comprising mainly pallet producers,
saw turnover rise 1.7%. However, turnover in building
products supply contracted 3% and other
Belgium’s wood exports decreased by 3.2% in 2024. Of
the total, 83.5% were destined for the EU market, where
sales fell by 2.5%.
Deliveries to France, the Belgian timber sector’s largest
export destination with a 27.8% share, declined by 10%.
But exports to Germany, its second-largest market with a
19.9% share, increased 16.9%. Exports to the Netherlands,
which accounts for 19.4% of Belgium’s total, dropped by
3%.
Outside the EU, the UK was the Belgian timber sector’s
most important foreign customer with a 5.5% share of its
total, but exports to the market were down 2.2% on 2023.
Exports to the US, which accounts for 3.7% of the total
were down 12.3%.
Belgian wood product imports in 2024 were stable, up just
0.8%. China, its largest supplier with a 32.1% share of all
imports, increased its sales to the country by 14.3%.
The Belgian wood processing sector’s capacity utilization
was still some way of its 88.8% peak reached in 2021, but
it rose in 2024 to 76.9% against 74.7% in 2023. Another
positive signal was a 9% increase in investment in the
sector. However, employment in the sector decreased by
2.8% in 2024 to 7,725 employees, corresponding to a loss
of approximately 220 jobs.
Fedustria reports that the ‘business cycle curve’ for the
wood processing industry – which reflects business
confidence and typically leads real economic activity by
around three months – showed a positive trend at the
beginning of 2025. However, more company leaders are
pessimistic than optimistic regarding economic activity
through the year.
“On the one hand, as consumer confidence recovers in
2025, demand is expected to improve,” says Fedustria.
“On the other, additional US import duties and potential
European countermeasures could have a negative impact
on the Belgian wood industry.
The US measures not only affect Belgian companies
exporting to America, but also put pressure on exports
from major competitors. These businesses may shift their
focus more toward the European market, increasing
competition.”
Fedustria represents more than 1,000 wood processing and
furniture member companies have a total turnover of €6
billion and employ 16,500 people. Fedustria also
represents around 40 companies in the wood import trade
which have a combined turnover of about €800 million.
Dutch cities partner with community tropical timber
operations
Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands are
partnering with Central and South America community
forest and timber operations and using their wood in
municipal projects.
The business links have been formed under the
Cities4Forests (C4F) programme which fosters trade
between European urban authorities and communities in
the tropics.
The project is also intended to support sustainable forest
management through development of the wider
international market for what it terms Conservation
Timber. The latter is defined as wood sourced from
forests managed by local communities supporting the
forests’ long-germ preservation.
Development of trading channels for this timber also
involves sawmills, exporters and importers. FSC
Netherlands is also participating in the project ‘to further
ensure sustainability’ of forest management and timber
‘where needed’. It is supporting communities with
preparations, including training, for certification under its
‘Continuous Improvement Procedure’, which involves a
‘self-conformity’ check to assess compliance with FSC
criteria and a step-by-step auditing process.
Copenhagen, Turin, Galway, Glasgow and Paris have now
signed up the C4F programme too. With the support of
the Inter-American Development Bank, work is also
underway to broaden the scope of the project with partners
in Surinam to include development of a market for ‘lesser-
known timber species’ and forest-related ecosystem
services.
Probos acknowledged that under the initial C4F
partnerships, volumes of timber traded so far are modest.
“However, it has demonstrated to Rotterdam and
Amsterdam that [this trade] is possible, what the potential
can be, and what the positive impact on communities is,”
it said.
See:
https://www.probos.nl/images/pdf/bosberichten/240618_Bosberi
cht1-2024-C4Fengels_web.pdf
and
https://cities4forests.com/
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