ESG

Recent developments

Less red tape, more green forests: updated guidance on the EU Deforestation Regulation

What is happening?
On 15 April, the European Commission released updated guidance, updated FAQs and a draft Delegated Act relating to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Together these measures have the goal of reducing "administrative burdens for companies while preserving the goals of the regulation". According to the Commission, they will result in an estimated 30% reduction in administrative costs and burden for companies.

The EUDR, which is designed to ensure companies can demonstrate their products do not contribute to global deforestation, was previously delayed by a year to 31 December 2025 over concerns that companies would not be ready for the increased compliance requirements. The new guidance, FAQs and Delegated Act seek to further address those concerns by providing simplified processes and clarifications tailored to the size and scope of each company.

This will likely shift the obligations to the larger downstream company to conduct their own due diligence statements.

What impact has it had?

Whilst the impact of the EUDR, and the increased administrative burden that flow from it, will certainly be felt when the regulation begins to apply, this updated position goes some way to alleviating that burden for companies. The changes introduced by the updated guidance, updated FAQs and Delegated Act include:

simplified obligations for companies when ascertaining if sufficient due diligence has been conducted on upstream suppliers. Large downstream companies can now collect and rely upon the Due Diligence Statement (DDS) reference numbers from suppliers' due diligence submissions for their own purposes.

However, the FAQs make clear that downstream companies remain liable for any breaches of the EUDR, so they may opt to undertake more detailed due diligence of their supply chains to ensure they are comfortable their products are not linked to deforestation

confirmation that SME traders and SME downstream operators are not required to submit a DDS and any non-SME companies further down the supply chain cannot require them to do so. This will likely shift the burden onto those downstream non-SME companies to conduct their own due diligence and submit a DDS

allowing companies, or their authorised representatives, to submit due diligence statements on an annual basis rather than for each individual delivery, to help ease the documentary burden on companies
allowing authorised representatives to submit DDS for company group members. However, each corporate entity within the group will still be liable for compliance with the EUDR in its own right
authorising companies to reuse previous due diligence statements when re-importing products into the EU market
excluding service providers, such as shippers and customs representatives, from the regulation where they do not own the relevant products.

The draft Delegated Act also amends Annex 1 of EUDR which sets out the products that fall within scope of the regulation. If the Delegated Act is adopted, the following products would be excluded from scope: waste, second-hand and used products, items of correspondence, product samples, certain packing materials (specifically packaging which is used to support/hold other products and is not supplied as a product in its own right), and products created without using a "relevant commodity" (as defined in the regulation).

Conclusion

The recently updated guidance will be welcome news to companies preparing to implement the EUDR requirements ahead of the 31 December 2025 deadline. The simplification measures introduced should help alleviate some of the administrative burdens associated with the regulation, however key challenges around supply chain traceability remain and companies should continue with their preparation and implementation of processes to accommodate the necessary compliance measures.

See our previous article here, outlining further detail on the EUDR and steps that companies can take to better prepare.

Sophie Tuson
Senior Associate, Environment and Climate Change Practice Lead
+44 7712 511815
sophie.tuson@rpclegal.com

Tom Jenkins
Of Counsel
+44 7856 279455
tom.jenkins@rpclegal.com

Recent developments

Packaging revolution: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging rules now live!

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (EPR) Regulations 2024 (EPR Regulations) came into force on 1 January 2025. They will affect most businesses that supply packaging in the UK, particularly brand owners of branded packaged products, and those who import branded products into the UK from overseas. The deadline for producers to register with the appropriate environmental regulator was 1 April 2025.

What impact has it had?

The EPR Regulations require in-scope businesses to record and report data on household packaging supplied in the UK and, if they meet the required turnover and supply thresholds to be a "large producer" (broadly >£2m annual turnover and >50 tonnes packaging), to pay EPR disposal fees to cover the local authority costs of recycling that packaging after use. These disposal fees could be significant, with the UK government formally estimating they will bring in £1.1bn in the first year of EPR alone.

EPR disposal fees

The first "assessment year" for EPR disposal fees runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and fees will be based on data reported for the previous calendar year. Broadly, EPR disposal fees will be calculated according to the weight in tonnes of household packaging that producers have supplied in the UK in the previous calendar year, which could mean significant additional costs for businesses operating in packaging-heavy sectors, or for UK brand owners supplying large volumes of branded packaged products in the UK. The UK government has recently published illustrative base fees for different types of household packaging (glass, aluminium, plastic etc) which will give businesses a sense of the likely additional costs. The final base fees are expected to be published in June 2025 and the EPR scheme administrator, PackUK, will issue invoices for these disposal fees in October 2025.

"Eco-modulation"

From 2026, EPR disposal fees will be "eco-modulated" meaning the level of fees payable by a business will increase or decrease depending on the environmental impact and recyclability of the packaging supplied. This is good news for businesses, as they will be able to reduce the level of EPR fees payable over time by phasing in alternative and more sustainable packaging that is easier to recycle. All large producers must now conduct recyclability assessments for household packaging supplied from 1 January 2025 and report it as "red", "amber" or "green" in line with recent government guidance (also see this decision tree). This data will be used to determine the eco-modulated fees payable in 2026.

Conclusion

With new data reporting and recyclability assessment requirements already in force and (potentially significant) EPR fees payable from this October, it is important for businesses to get clear now on the requirements and the potential liability so they can prepare. Check out our recent blog unpacking ten practical considerations and key "watch outs" for businesses getting ready to comply with EPR.

Ciara Cullen
Partner
+44 7747 033165
ciara.cullen@rpclegal.com

Sophie Tuson
Senior Associate, Environment and Climate Change Practice Lead
+44 7712 511815
sophie.tuson@rpclegal.com

Harpreet Kaur
Associate
+44 7851 243223
harpreet.kaur@rpclegal.com

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