EU stakeholders impacted by the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) have called on the EU make further amendments to the already delayed regulation.

Several stakeholders - including Copa Cogeca, which represents farm organisations and agricultural co-operatives - have issued a joint statement calling on the EU and member states to "take the necessary time" to address "persistent" concerns over the EUDR.

The EUDR means that companies will only be allowed to sell products in the EU if the supplier provides a 'due diligence' statement confirming that the product does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation.

These rules will apply to products produced within the EU as well as outside the bloc.

The regulation has already seen some amendments, including to the timeline for its implementation.

The original start date for the regulation was December 30, 2025. This has been extended by one year to December 30, 2026.

For micro and small operators, the implementation date was pushed out to June 30, 2027.

However, industry stakeholders, in their joint statement, said that the EUDR, while well intentioned, risks "undermining the competitiveness, resilience and autonomy" of their sectors if its implementation is "not carefully reviewed and simplified".

The statement said that stakeholders have "repeatedly highlighted" what it called "fundamental flaws" in the EUDR's design and implementation.

According to the statement, these "flaws" include a lack of legal certainty, unrealistic compliance requirements, and administrative burden.

"These shortcoming risk causing market disruption, including supply shortages, increased costs and reduced competitiveness for EU sectors, while failing to effectively address the drivers of deforestation," the stakeholder groups said.

They said that the delay to the implementation, as well as other simplifications agreed late last year, provided "some relief, but many issues remain unresolved".

"The upcoming simplification review, expected by April 30, presents a crucial opportunity to address the concerns raised by our organisations in the last months and introduce targeted legislative adjustments that align the regulation with it's objectives, while ensuring it is practical, proportionate and implementable," the statement said.

"We urge the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the council [of the EU] to prioritise simplification, to avoid duplication and facilitate compliance, as well as to clarify key requirements," the statement added.

The stakeholder groups also called for a "realistic" implementation timeline, that would allow operators to adapt to the new rules.

"The creditability of the EUDR implementation depends on its ability to prevent products associated with deforestation to enter our supply chains while safeguarding the viability of European primary producers and industries," the statement said.

"We stand ready to contribute to this process and call for urgent, targeted action to make the regulation fit for purpose," the stakeholder groups added.