A teak deck will soon need proof of origin

Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation free products, EUDR for short, replaces the previous timber regulation. It covers seven commodities, among them wood and natural rubber. Anyone placing a covered good on the EU market for the first time, or exporting it, must be able to show that it was produced legally and that no forest was cleared for it after 31 December 2020.

Showing that means more than an invoice from a dealer. What is required includes the species under its scientific name, the country of production and the geographic coordinates of the plot on which the wood grew, as a polygon for larger areas. The information goes into an EU system as a due diligence statement, which issues a reference number for it.

For boatbuilding the interest lies in the scope. The finished boat is not on the list of covered goods, however much wood is in it. What is covered is the stage before: sawn and profiled timber, joinery, plywood, part of the wooden furniture range, and for natural rubber among other things fenders and rubbing strakes. Trading a finished boat therefore does not make you an operator. Importing teak or marine plywood yourself very much does.

The deadlines are staggered. From 30 December 2026 the regulation applies to large and medium sized companies, from 30 June 2027 to small and micro enterprises. Caution is advised for timber under this staggering, because timber was already covered by the predecessor regulation; anyone working in the timber chain should not rely on the later date without checking it for their own business.