Was it produced legally? Understanding and applying the 'legality requirement' in the EU Deforestation Regulation

The EU Deforestation Regulation (“EUDR”) requires that the products to which it applies must have been produced legally - in accordance with local laws - in order to be imported into, bought and sold in the EU. This is known as the ‘legality requirement’. EU companies must conduct due diligence on their supply chains to ensure that their products satisfy the legality requirement - as well as being deforestation-free.

This extensive briefing unpacks the legality requirement, including explaining how it should be interpreted - based on the legal opinion of a retired Court of Justice judge - and which local laws should be included in a company's due diligence. It also flags common practical challenges to identifying local laws and assessing compliance with them, which should be taken into account when conducting due diligence on the legality of commodity production activities, with case studies describing the relevant laws and risks of illegality in the soy, cattle, cocoa and oil palm sectors in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia. 

The full briefing is divided into two parts:

• Part 1 explains the legality requirement – detailing the relevant EUDR provisions, their meaning, and implications for the supply chain due diligence that EU companies must complete.
• Part 2 describes practical considerations for conducting due diligence on the legality requirement. In includes detailed case studies exploring the legal framework, relevant laws, their legal requirements and implementation, and sectoral dynamics in the soy, cattle, cocoa and oil palm sectors in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia.

You can explore these sections as separate documents:

Part 1: Understanding the legality requirement
Part 2: Implementing the legality requirement

Country case studies: 

Brazil,
Côte d’Ivoire,
Ghana, and
Indonesia.