What is mitigation under EUDR - and how should your business approach it?

Under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), mitigation refers to the actions your business must take if there's a risk that the products you place on the EU market are not fully compliant.

If you want to see some suggested mitigation strategies for your business' risk per Key Performance Indicator (KPI) see our article here (publishing soon)

What is negligible risk?

Under the EUDR, you may only place a product on the EU market if you can demonstrate that the risk of non-compliance is negligible.

In practical terms, negligible means that there is no doubt that the product meets EUDR requirements. This includes:

• The origin of your product is fully traceable down to the plot of land

• You have clear, documented proof that no deforestation has occurred since December 31, 2020

• You can demonstrate that the product was legally produced under the local laws of the country of origin

• There were no issues identified during the risk assessment that would indicate potential non-compliance.

If any of these conditions are not fully met the risk is no longer negligible, and you are legally required to take mitigation measures before the product can be sold in the EU.

What is mitigation?

Mitigation means taking action to reduce the likelihood of non-compliance before placing products on the EU market.

It's not a one-time fix, it may involve multiple steps, internal decisions, supplier engagement, or external verification.

To approach mitigation effectively:

• Identify where the risk is coming from

• Understand whether it can be prevent in the future, corrected now, or both

• Select a strategy that brings the risk down to negligible

What are preventive and corrective measures?

Once you've identified a non-negligible risk, the next step is to choose how you'll address it. Broadly, mitigation actions fall into two categories:

1. preventive measures, which aim to avoid risk before it occurs,

2. and corrective measures, which address existing issues that could lead to non-compliance.

More detailed examples of mitigation:

Case 1: Potential circumvention of EUDR obligations

• Risk: A supplier or trader attempts to bypass EUDR requirements by relabelling products, shipping them through a lower-risk country, or mixing compliant and non-compliant goods to obscure origin. This may be an intentional circumvention of the regulation.

• Corrective action:

  • Immediately flag and investigate, for example, inconsistent documentation, mismatched shipping and origin data, or sudden changes in declared country of production.

  • Require a full chain-of-custody audit and documentation trail to verify the product's true origin.

  • If circumvention is confirmed, block the shipment from entering the EU market and disqualify the supplier from future sourcing.

• Preventive step:

  • Conduct periodic risk-based reviews of supply chain actors, particularly where transshipment or re-export is involved.

  • Add anti-circumvention clauses to supplier contracts, including penalties or disqualification for non-disclosure of true origin or mixing of non-compliant goods.

Case 2: Mixing of compliant and non-compliant goods in the supply chain

• Risk: A supplier or trader mixes goods from multiple sources, some compliant, others non-compliant. This happens during transport, storage or processing, and makes it impossible to trace the final product back to a specific plot of land.

• Corrective action:

  • Request documentation proving physical segregation of goods throughout the supply chain.

  • Conduct a supply chain audit to assess where the mixing occurs.

• Preventive step:

  • Work with suppliers to implement batch-level tracking from origin to point of import, and require regular traceability reports as part of due diligence documentation.