New deforestation-free requirements for seven products – coffee, cocoa, soy, wood, rubber, palm oil, and cattle – are going into effect in the European Union. The implementation date of the EU Deforestation Regulation was supposed to be the end of this year, although on 23 September the European Commission announced the intention to delay by a year. Importers will need to show that these products haven’t been grown on land that was deforested since the cut-off date of 31 December 2020.

Unlike some of the other products on that list, coffee and cocoa are grown mainly by smallholder farmers, usually working on less than five hectares of land. Many of these cooperatives are limited by lack of information, technical capacity, and resources to collect the necessary information – risking being excluded from the European market.

When it comes to Fairtrade, there are more than 900 certified cocoa and coffee farmer cooperatives, representing about one million farmers and their families. Europe is an important market for Fairtrade producers – about 90 percent of Fairtrade cocoa and 70 percent of Fairtrade coffee ends up in Europe each year. That’s why Fairtrade has been an advocate for a fairer EU Deforestation Regulation, including calling for more guidance and support to be provided to smallholder farmers so they aren’t bearing an unfair share of the burden of this regulation.

In the meantime, we’ve also been working hard to support Fairtrade farmers to get ready. We’re a trusted partner for producers and companies looking to maintain their supply chains of Fairtrade – and deforestation-free – products to the EU.

Here’s how.

1. Fairtrade Standards align with EU Deforestation Regulation data requirements

Our standards for cocoa and coffee have an earlier cut-off date than the EUDR, and they require producer organisations to collect and share farm geolocation data in the format required by the EUDR.

Fairtrade also has requirements related to regular risk assessments and deforestation prevention and mitigation planning by cooperatives. Certified coffee and cocoa traders are required to support the cooperatives they buy from to implement those plans. Standards also include requirements related to human rights, land use rights, and other environmental protections. In addition, our general standard for small-scale producer organisations requires cooperatives to respect relevant national laws.

2. Training and support to farmers to collect validated geolocation data

Geolocation information for individual farms is the backbone of the EUDR. Importers must submit this farm data to the EU for each shipment they want to bring into the EU, which will be compared with satellite imaging showing forest coverage as of the cut-off date in order to identify any overlap between formerly forested land and current day farm plots.

But the capacity to collect and manage this kind of data is not a given for many smallholder farming cooperatives. While some traders have geolocation data for some farms, it’s not always shared with the cooperatives themselves, and the data may not be very accurate. Our approach supports farmers to own their own data, and be able to provide it to trading partners, whether for EUDR purposes or others.

Fairtrade’s three regional producer networks are also working to support cocoa and coffee cooperatives to understand the regulation and collect their own geolocation data. Each producer network has hired data analysts to train farmers – like these in Papua New Guinea – and check data quality. This work is funded in part through support from national Fairtrade organisations as well as the European Commission and the International Climate Initiative (IKI). Fairtrade Africa and Fairtrade NAPP in the Asia Pacific region have also developed apps to support farmers with data collection. 

So far, the training and support has resulted in 86 percent of targeted Fairtrade coffee cooperatives submitting their geolocation data for initial analysis, and 100 percent of targeted Fairtrade cocoa cooperatives. These targets are based on prioritising cooperatives with current or potential sales to Europe, which together account for roughly 80 percent of the total. . Fairtrade producer networks are working with cooperatives that need to correct data errors so their risk reports can be generated and put to use.

3. Deforestation monitoring and risk assessments – free for Fairtrade producers

We have partnered with Satelligence, a leading nature tech company, to create high-quality deforestation risk analyses for each Fairtrade coffee and cocoa producer organisation. We provide this at no cost to producers.

Satelligence uses best-in-class custom satellite imaging, visualisation, and risk identification technologies, which reduces false positives and generates alerts for farms on or near deforested land or protected areas. Satelligence also ensures that cooperatives get their data sets back in the format that importers need to upload to the EUDR system, known as TRACES.

With these reports, cooperatives take action on any alerts – which may be due to something like an incorrect data point or to actual suspected deforestation – and submit this information to Fairtrade. Cooperatives then have the information they need to deliver their trade contracts. What’s more, they also know which areas may be higher risk (for instance, within a 200-meter buffer of a designated protected area), and they create plans for ongoing monitoring and risk mitigation – a further protection for forest boundaries. 

4. Secure and consent-based geolocation data exchange

Fairtrade is also enhancing our data systems so cooperatives can easily and securely share their geolocation data with buyers. This functionality is under development and will be ready in November 2025.

For coffee, for example, once a trade contract exists between a cooperative and an exporter, the exporter will be able to request and then securely access EUDR-required geolocation data from their Fairtrade producer organisation suppliers through a new digital consent “handshake” in Fairtrace – the platform for Fairtrade certified entities to record sales transactions and share information with supply chain partners.

The geolocation data travels with the coffee lot as it is conveyed through further sales recorded in Fairtrace. This traceability provides an auditable record of document exchange from the producer to importer, along with the data file needed for generating EUDR due diligence statements. This process can also be used for non-Fairtrade volumes, allowing producer organisations to streamline data management across multiple buyer relationships.

5. Insights for risk assessments

In addition to the risk analyses from Satelligence that cooperatives can choose to share with their buyers, companies also have access to the Fairtrade Risk Map to support their own risk assessments as required by the EUDR. The risk map provides the latest information about deforestation-related risks for the commodities and origins that Fairtrade certifies, with insights validated by producers themselves.

6. Going beyond compliance

When it comes to true forest protection, we have to think beyond the EUDR.

Sourcing Fairtrade products helps mitigate deforestation risks by addressing root causes. This includes supporting stable incomes with the guaranteed Fairtrade Minimum Price; encouraging further income improvement through strategic use of the Fairtrade Premium, living income reference prices, and income diversification programmes; and hands-on training from Fairtrade producer networks in climate-resilient farming practices and forest protection. 

Strong cooperatives are key to sustainable forest protection. Research shows that Fairtrade coffee and cocoa producers are more likely to be able to meet the EUDR requirements than comparative non-certified producers, especially due to organisational capacity and the extra funds that cooperatives have from the Fairtrade Premium, which they can choose to invest in forest protection or EUDR-related actions.

What to do now

We encourage traders and brands to invest in strengthening their supply chains, so that small-scale farmer cooperatives bear less of the burden in preparing for the EUDR, and supply chains are ready by the end of the year. 

If you’re a company already sourcing Fairtrade cocoa or coffee and you know your suppliers, you can reach out to your national Fairtrade organisation for information and guidance. In addition, if traders have farm geolocation data through other sources, we encourage that these data be shared back with the relevant cooperative.

We will be providing more resources to small- and medium-sized businesses in Europe related to EUDR implementation, thanks to a grant from the EU LIFE Programme. If you are an SME based on Europe, take a quick, confidential survey on your company’s needs.

You can learn more about Fairtrade’s approach to forest protection here. 

This article was updated on 24 September 2025 to reflect the European Commission's announcement of the plan to delay implementation of the EUDR by another 12 months.