Short answer: The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires companies placing certain commodities on the EU market to prove they are deforestation-free and legally produced. The covered list includes wood, paper, leather, coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, and soy, plus derived products like furniture, printed books, and leather goods. If you are a US Shopify brand shipping covered products to EU customers, you likely count as the operator with due diligence obligations. That means collecting geolocation data for the land where the commodities were produced, running a risk assessment, and filing a due diligence statement before the goods enter the EU. Non-compliance risks seized shipments and fines.
What EUDR actually requires
The core obligation is due diligence, not just a certificate. Operators must show that covered commodities were produced on land that was not deforested after December 31, 2020, and that production complied with the laws of the country of origin. The evidence standard is specific: geolocation coordinates for every plot of land involved, which for most supply chains means going several tiers deep to the farm or forest level.
The due diligence statement gets filed in the EU's information system before the goods are placed on the market. It is a formal declaration, and getting it wrong carries penalties that scale: fines up to 4 percent of EU turnover, confiscation of goods, and temporary exclusion from the EU market. This is not a labeling rule you can fix with a sticker; it is a supply chain documentation regime.
Which Shopify products fall in scope
The obvious ones are furniture, wooden goods, and paper products, but the scope reaches further than most brands expect. Leather goods including bags, wallets, and watch straps count. Printed materials, packaging made from paper or wood fiber, and even some cosmetics with palm oil derivatives can fall in scope. Coffee and chocolate brands are squarely covered.
The tricky part is derived products and packaging. If your product itself is not covered but your packaging contains in-scope materials, the analysis gets complicated fast. The regulation looks at the commodity content, so a full product and packaging review is the starting point, not an afterthought. Brands that assume they are out of scope because they sell apparel or electronics should check their packaging and leather components before concluding anything.
The due diligence statement and geolocation rule
Geolocation is where most brands will struggle. The regulation requires coordinates for the plots where the relevant commodities were produced, and for cattle, the location of all establishments where the animals were kept. Your supplier's assurance that their wood is sustainable is not enough; you need the underlying location data and a risk assessment built on it.
For DTC brands, the practical path runs through suppliers. Push the data request up the chain now: ask wood, paper, leather, and packaging suppliers for geolocation data and legality documentation. Large suppliers serving the EU market are building this capability, but smaller ones may not be. Map which of your suppliers can comply and which cannot, because switching suppliers takes longer than filing the statement.
What US brands should do now
Start with a scope assessment: list every product and packaging component against the covered commodity list. For anything in scope, begin the supplier data requests immediately, because geolocation collection across a supply chain is measured in months, not weeks. Build the risk assessment process before you need it, ideally with help from a trade compliance advisor who has done EUDR filings.
Then operationalize it. EUDR is ongoing, not a one-time filing: every new product, every supplier change, and every new sourcing region restarts the due diligence. Bake the data requirements into your supplier onboarding so new products arrive with their documentation. The brands that treat this as a supply chain data problem, solved once and maintained, will spend far less than those that scramble per shipment.
Does EUDR apply to small brands or only large companies?
The obligations apply regardless of company size, though the regulation phases in with different timelines for micro and small enterprises versus larger operators. Being small does not exempt you; it mainly affects when the obligations bite and the support available. Check the current phase-in dates for your size category.
What if our supplier cannot provide geolocation data?
Then you cannot complete the due diligence, and placing the goods on the EU market would be non-compliant. Your options are to help the supplier build the capability, switch to a supplier that has it, or reformulate away from covered commodities. None of these are quick, which is why starting the conversation now matters.
Do digital products or services fall under EUDR?
No. EUDR covers physical commodities and derived products. If you sell purely digital goods or services into the EU, the regulation does not apply to you. But if you ship any physical merchandise, packaging, or printed materials, assess those.