Amazon has issued a high-priority warning to sellers regarding the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The new law, which aims to ban products linked to deforestation from the EU market, will officially take effect on December 30, 2025, for most large operators, including Amazon itself.
For sellers, this means a stark choice: prove your supply chain is clean or face a complete ban on selling products in seven key categories across all Amazon EU marketplaces.
The 7 Affected Product Categories
If you sell products containing, fed with, or made from the following commodities, you are directly in the "kill zone" of this regulation:
- Cattle: Includes beef, leather products (shoes, bags, furniture), and offal.
- Cocoa: Includes chocolate, cocoa powder, and cocoa butter (often found in cosmetics).
- Coffee: Includes roasted beans, ground coffee, and substitutes.
- Palm Oil: Includes food products, cleaning agents, and personal care items (glycerol, palmitic acid).
- Rubber: Includes pneumatic tires, inner tubes, apparel with rubber, and mats.
- Soya: Includes soybean flour, oil, and meal.
- Wood: Includes furniture, paper, printed books, packing cases, and fuel wood.
Important Note: This regulation applies to derived products as well. For example, a book (derived from wood/paper) or a face cream (containing palm oil derivatives) are just as restricted as raw timber or coffee beans.
What Is Required? The "Due Diligence Statement"
Amazon cannot do this for you. To keep your listings active, you must provide a Due Diligence Statement (DDS) reference number for every in-scope product.
To generate this, you must collect traceability data all the way back to the plot of land where the raw material was produced. This includes:
- Geolocation Coordinates: GPS data for the farm or plot of land.
- Deforestation-Free Proof: Evidence that the land has not been deforested since December 31, 2020.
- Legality: Proof the product complies with the relevant laws of the country of production.
This data must be submitted to the EU's Information System, which generates the DDS reference number you then provide to Amazon.
The "Invoice by Amazon" Trap
Some sellers have reported receiving EUDR notices even if they believe their products are exempt (e.g., metal baking pans). This is often due to enrollment in the Invoice by Amazon program.
When enrolled, Amazon technically buys the product from you and resells it to the business customer, making Amazon the "operator" liable for compliance. Consequently, Amazon automatically flags all eligible offers in that program for EUDR checks to protect itself. If you receive a false positive, you may need to opt specific SKUs out of the "Invoice by Amazon" service or prove exemption.
Deadlines and Grace Periods
While the official enforcement date is December 30, 2025, the European Commission has proposed a 12-month grace period for large companies and an 18-month period for small enterprises (until June 30, 2026).
However, Amazon is acting now to ensure its own compliance systems are ready. Do not bank on a delay. If your data is not ready by the time Amazon locks down its listings, your products will be deactivated.
Action Plan for Sellers:
- Audit your catalog: Identify every ASIN that contains wood, rubber, leather, or other affected commodities.
- Contact suppliers immediately: Demand GPS coordinates and deforestation-free proof. Many suppliers are unprepared for this request.
- Watch Seller Central: Look for the EUDR compliance dashboard or questionnaire that Amazon is rolling out to collect your data.
20 Nov, 2025
