EU Member States’ competent authorities are tasked with conducting checks to confirm that relevant commodities and products, intended for market placement or exportation, originate from deforestation-free land and were legally produced (per their obligation under Art. 16).

Checks encompass validating due diligence statements and assessing overall operator and trader compliance with Regulation provisions.

Geolocation facilitates the verification of no-deforestation claims by aligning satellite navigation positioning with deforestation maps.

Utilization of baseline maps delineating forested areas or those subjected to deforestation and forest degradation enhances the verification process.

In scenarios where geolocation data for farms, plantations, or concessions is unavailable, operators (or traders not classified as SMEs) must abstain from marketing or exporting the relevant product in compliance with Article 3 of the Regulation.

– Responsibilities:

It falls upon the operator (or traders not classified as SMEs) to gather geolocation coordinates for land plots contributing to the commodities’ production.

Operators (and non-SME traders) and regulatory authorities can cross-reference geolocation coordinates with satellite imagery or forest cover maps to assess compliance with the Regulation’s deforestation-free mandate. However, operators (and non-SME traders) bear legal responsibility for compliance.