in force 2025-12-26 MODIFIED+2,030 −491§
Amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 32025R2650
applies from: unchanged
The definition of operator now excludes downstream operators, and two new definitions are added: micro or small primary operator, covering natural persons or micro/small undertakings established in a low-risk country under Article 29 that place or export relevant products they themselves produced, and downstream operator, meaning a person who places or exports relevant products made using relevant products already covered by a due diligence statement or simplified declaration.
The definitions of trader and of in the course of a commercial activity are revised to also reference downstream operators alongside operators and traders, while the definition of authorised representative is narrowed to refer only to operators, removing the earlier reference to traders.
The definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises is reworded to refer to undertakings irrespective of legal form and to cite Article 3(1), Article 3(2) first subparagraph, and Article 3(3) of Directive 2013/34/EU, rather than simply citing Article 3 of that Directive as before.
Cited: Art. 2, v2 · Art. 2, v1
text before / after
02023R1115-20241226 → 02023R1115-20251226
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
(1) relevant commodities means cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood;
(2) relevant products means products listed in Annex I that contain, have been fed with or have been … 525 unchanged words … grown, harvested, obtained from or raised on relevant plots of land or, as regards cattle, on establishments;
(15) operator means any natural or legal person who, in the course of a commercial activity, places relevant products on the market or exports them; them, excluding downstream operators;
(15a) micro or small primary operator means an operator who is a natural person or a micro-undertaking or small undertaking, within the meaning of Article 3(1) and Article 3(2), first subparagraph, respectively, of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p. 19, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2013/34/oj)., irrespective of its legal form, established in a country classified as low risk in accordance with Article 29 of this Regulation, and who, in the course of a commercial activity, places on the market or exports relevant products that this operator itself has grown, harvested, obtained from or raised on relevant plots of land, or, as regards cattle, on establishments located in that country; this includes operators who exceed the limits of at least two of the three criteria set out in Article 3(1) and (2), first subparagraph, of Directive 2013/34/EU but who can demonstrate that the parts of their balance sheet total, net turnover and average number of employees during the financial year, related to the relevant commodities and the relevant products, do not exceed the limits of at least two of three of those criteria;
(15b) downstream operator means any natural or legal person who, in the course of a commercial activity, places on the market or exports relevant products made using relevant products, all of which are covered by a due diligence statement or by a simplified declaration;
(16) placing on the market means the first making available of a relevant commodity or relevant product on the Union market;
(17) trader means any person in the supply chain other than the operator or downstream operator who, in the course of a commercial activity, makes relevant products available on the market;
(18) making available on the market means any supply of a relevant product for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;
(19) in the course of a commercial activity means for the purpose of processing, for distribution to commercial or non-commercial consumers, or for use in the business of the operator, downstream operator or trader itself;
(20) person means a natural person, a legal person or any association of persons which is not a legal person, but which is recognised under Union or national law as having the capacity to perform legal acts;
(21) person established in the Union means:
(a) in the case of a natural person, any person whose place of residence is in the Union;
(b) in the case of a legal person or an association of persons, any person whose registered office, central headquarters or a permanent business establishment is in the Union;
(22) authorised representative means any natural or legal person established in the Union who, in accordance with Article 6, has received a written mandate from an operator or from a trader to act on its behalf in relation to specified tasks with regard to the operator’s or the trader’s obligations under this Regulation;
(23) country of origin means a country or territory as referred to in Article 60 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(24) country of production means the country or territory where the relevant commodity or the relevant commodity used in the production of, or contained in, a relevant product was produced;
(25) non-compliant products means relevant products that do not comply with Article 3;
(26) negligible risk means the level of risk that applies to relevant commodities and relevant products, where, on the basis of a full assessment of product-specific and general information, and, where necessary, of the application of the appropriate mitigation measures, those commodities or products show no cause for concern as being not in compliance with Article 3, point (a) or (b);
(27) plot of land means land within a single real-estate property, as recognised by the law of the country of production, which enjoys sufficiently homogeneous conditions to allow an evaluation of the aggregate level of risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with relevant commodities produced on that land;
(28) geolocation means the geographical location of a plot of land described by means of latitude and longitude coordinates corresponding to at least one latitude and one longitude point and using at least six decimal digits; for plots of land of more than four hectares used for the production of the relevant commodities other than cattle, this shall be provided using polygons with sufficient latitude and longitude points to describe the perimeter of each plot of land;
(29) establishment means any premises, structure, or, in the case of open-air farming, any environment or place, where livestock are kept, on a temporary or permanent basis;
(30) micro, small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs means micro, small and medium-sized undertakings as defined in undertakings, irrespective of their legal form, within the meaning of Article 3 3(1), Article 3(2), first subparagraph, and Article 3(3), respectively, of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p. 19).; 2013/34/EU;
(31) substantiated concern means a duly reasoned claim based on objective and verifiable information regarding non-compliance with this Regulation and which could require the intervention of competent authorities;
(32) competent authorities means the authorities designated under Article 14(1);
(33) customs authorities means customs authorities as defined in Article 5, point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(34) customs territory means territory as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(35) third country means a country or territory outside the customs territory of the Union;
(36) release for free circulation means the procedure laid down in Article 201 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(37) export means the procedure laid down in Article 269 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(38) relevant products entering the market means relevant products from third countries placed under the customs procedure release for free circulation that are intended to be placed on the Union market and are not intended for private use or consumption within the customs territory of the Union;
(39) relevant products leaving the market means relevant products placed under the customs procedure export;
(40) relevant legislation of the country of production means the laws applicable in the country of production concerning the legal status of the area of production in terms of:
(a) land use rights;
(b) environmental protection;
(c) forest-related rules, including forest management and biodiversity conservation, where directly related to wood harvesting;
(d) third parties’ rights;
(e) labour rights;
(f) human rights protected under international law;
(g) the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), including as set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
(h) tax, anti-corruption, trade and customs regulations.