EUDR
Holmen welcomes the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) and can guarantee that our products do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation.
Holmen Wood Products and the EUDR
The EUDR is intended to prevent trade in products that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide and is an initiative within the EU Forest Strategy for 2030. Holmen fully supports the initiative and has worked actively, both centrally and at business area level, to ensure compliance with the requirements set out in the EUDR.
Initially, the EUDR was intended to enter into force on 30 December 2024, but this date was later postponed to 30 December 2025. The European Parliament and the Member States have now formally approved further amendments to the legislation, which will enter into force before the end of the year. As a result of these changes, the implementation date is postponed by an additional year.
In addition, the amendments also say that:
- The rules will apply from 30 December 2026 for medium-sized and large companies, as well as all operators covered by the Timber Regulation (EUTR).
- Only the operator who first places the raw material on the market is responsible for submitting a Due Diligence Statement (DDS) to the EU information system.
- Traceability requirements are simplified.
- Reference numbers only need to be collected by the “first downstream operator” and the information must be retained for five years. Operators further downstream in the supply chain have no obligation to collect and pass on reference numbers.
- A further review of simplifications will also be carried out no later than 30 April 2026, which may result in a new legislative proposal.
Holmen will continue to work actively to ensure compliance with the requirements of the EUDR, with a target date of 30 December 2026. We are also closely monitoring developments and will provide continuous updates.
Q&A
Here we answer some frequently asked questions:
How should EUDR compliance be practically reported?
Only businesses that first place a relevant product on the EU market are responsible for submitting due diligence statements – not the operators or traders who commercialise it later in the chain.
The operator that first places a relevant product on the EU market is referred to as the upstream operator, or the first operator. This operator submits a Due Diligence statement (DDS) including the geolocations of the commodity's origin, into the EU information system. By doing so, the operator assumes the legal responsibility for ensuring that the commodity complies with the EUDR.
How will EUDR compliance for Holmen's products work?
There is no conversion on Holmen land from forest to agriculture use. We have had long-standing procedures in place for tracing all timber purchased, established well before the EUDR.
The upstream operator for our sawmills in Sweden is Holmen Forest. This enables you, when necessary, to demonstrate that products purchased from us are EUDR compliant.
What obligations exist for downstream operators and traders?
Downstream operators and traders are businesses further along the value chain that place products on the EU market using material already covered by a Due Diligence Statement (DDS). Their input materials are already “EUDR declared” as deforestation free by an upstream operator. Their obligations are described in short in a press release by the European Parliament, to be clarified more in detail during spring 2026.
EUDR Compliance – Our Plan Ahead
Holmen has long practiced sustainable forestry methods and maintains well-established traceability processes, providing a solid foundation for EUDR compliance.
We have both worked and will continue to work actively on the implementation of the EUDR to ensure compliance with the regulatory framework. Among other things, IT solutions are being developed to manage traceability and the exchange of information with the EU’s information system.
We want to refine these processes to ensure robust traceability and to achieve compliance with relevant parts of the EUDR in the most seamless way possible – both for Holmen and Holmen's business relationships.
The aim is for all products that contain wood (and a number of other raw materials) to be traceable back to the place of production, which for forest is the area where the wood was harvested.
The Swedish Forest Industries Federation on the EUDR
The Swedish Forest Industries Federation supports the overarching objective of the EUDR, which is to prevent deforestation and forest degradation linked to specific raw materials and products.
How is compliance with the EUDR checked?
The Swedish Forest Agency is the competent Swedish authority that will check compliance with the provisions of the EUDR. The EUDR replaces the EUTR (the Timber Regulation).