EU Updates Its Deforestation Rules: What It Means for Cattle and Beef Traders

A fresh update to a major EU law

On 13 July 2026, the European Commission adopted two measures to help put the EU Deforestation Regulation, known as the EUDR, into practice. The law is due to start applying at the end of December 2026.

The first measure is a Delegated Act. It updates and simplifies the list of products the rules cover. The second is an Implementing Act, which sets the technical rules for the online system where companies file their due diligence statements.

These steps build on a legal change agreed in December 2025 and a wider simplification package presented in May 2026. The Commission says the aim is to give businesses, EU countries, and trading partners more clarity before the rules take effect.

What the EUDR asks from traders

The EUDR is designed to keep products linked to deforestation off the EU market. It covers seven commodities and their derived products:

Cattle
Cocoa
Coffee
Palm oil
Rubber
Soy
Wood

Companies that place these goods on the EU market, or export them from it, must prove the products are deforestation-free. They also have to show the goods were produced in line with the laws of the country of origin. For meat traders, cattle is the key word here.

What changed in the product list

The new Delegated Act does not change the seven core commodities. Cattle stays in scope. What it changes is the list of derived products.

Some items were removed from the rules, including:

Cattle hides, skins, and leather
Re-treaded tyres
Soybeans for sowing
Certain rubber goods, conveyor belts, and vehicle seats

At the same time, a few products were added. These include soluble coffee, some palm oil derivatives, and frozen cattle tongues. The newly added products will only fall under the rules from 30 December 2027, to give companies time to prepare.

The Commission also made clear that samples used for testing, waste, used goods, and packaging sit outside the scope.

The leather decision draws criticism

The choice to drop cattle hides and leather is the part that has caused debate. The campaign group Mighty Earth, which works across Europe and other regions, called the move an "own goal" for the EU.

The group argues that meat and leather come from the same animal, so you cannot separate one from the other. It pointed to these figures:

Imported hides are linked to around 17% of the deforestation tied to EUDR products.
That equals about 39,000 hectares of forest loss each year.
In the public consultation that closed on 1 June, about 81% of citizens who commented wanted leather kept in the rules.

Mighty Earth also warns that beef and leather are major drivers of deforestation in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Supporters of the change take a different view. They say leather is a low-value by-product and that leather firms have little control over farms far up the supply chain. That is the case defenders of the decision make, and critics like Mighty Earth strongly disagree with it.

Dates and next steps

The timeline matters for anyone trading cattle products into or out of the EU. The main dates are:

30 December 2026: the rules apply for large and medium operators, and for small operators already covered by the older EU Timber Regulation.
30 June 2027: the rules apply for other micro and small operators.
30 December 2027: newly added products, such as frozen cattle tongues, come under the rules.

The Delegated Act still needs to pass a scrutiny period in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU before it enters into force. The online filing system, which reopened at the end of June, will get more features over the summer, and the Commission plans to run training sessions for companies from late July.

What buyers and sellers should watch

For meat traders, the message is clear. Cattle and beef products stay inside the EUDR, and the end-of-year deadline is close. Leather and hides are now out, which eases the paperwork for that part of the trade, but the core beef supply chain is not off the hook.

Traders who deal with the EU should check which of their products sit on the updated list, get their supplier data in order, and be ready to use the EU filing system well before December.