Summary of Article 2 of the EUDR Regulation

Key Definitions in Article 2

Relevant Commodities and Products

• Relevant commodities refer to cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood. These are the primary agricultural products that have been identified as significant contributors to deforestation.
• Relevant products are those listed in Annex I of the regulation that contain, have been fed with, or have been made using the relevant commodities. This includes a wide range of goods derived from the listed commodities.

Deforestation and Forest

• Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest to agricultural use, whether human-induced or not. This definition is crucial as it sets the baseline for what the regulation seeks to prevent.
• A forest is characterized as land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10%, or trees capable of reaching these thresholds. Notably, this excludes land predominantly used for agriculture or urban purposes.

Agricultural Use and Plantations

• Agricultural use involves land used for agriculture, including plantations, set-aside agricultural areas, and livestock rearing.
• Agricultural plantation refers to land with tree stands in agricultural production systems like fruit tree plantations, oil palm plantations, and olive orchards. Importantly, agricultural plantations are excluded from the definition of "forest."

Forest Degradation

• Forest degradation is defined as structural changes to forest cover, such as converting primary or naturally regenerating forests into plantation forests or other wooded land, or primary forests into planted forests. This concept addresses not just the loss of forests but also the reduction in their ecological quality.

Types of Forests

• Primary forest is a naturally regenerated forest of native species with no visible signs of human activity and undisturbed ecological processes.
• Naturally regenerating forest is predominantly composed of trees established through natural regeneration, with various subcategories, including mixed forests with both naturally regenerated and planted trees.

Other Definitions

• Geolocation refers to the precise geographic location of a plot of land, described using latitude and longitude coordinates. For larger plots, polygons are required to describe the perimeter.
• Operator and Trader: An operator is any person or entity that places relevant products on the market or exports them, while a trader is any person in the supply chain who makes relevant products available on the market.

These definitions are foundational for the implementation of the EUDR, as they specify what is regulated and provide clarity on the terms used throughout the regulation. Understanding these definitions is critical for compliance, particularly for operators and traders who must ensure that the products they deal with meet the criteria set out to prevent deforestation and forest degradation.