Hello,
The EUDR filing system opened its doors on Thursday. The deadline did not move an inch. And a leaked draft shows Brussels is still redrawing the scope.
Here's what's moving European forestry this week:
🔍 The Big Story
The EUDR filing system is open. The deadline is not.
What happened
On the 3rd of July, the European Commission reopened the EUDR Information System. The block on new account registrations is gone. Operators and traders can register today.
The production server is live. Due diligence statements filed there now carry legal value. The test server stays open for training and practice runs.
One precision that matters. The Information System is a tool inside the TRACES platform. It is not TRACES itself. Compliance teams should not mix up the two.
Nothing changed in the law itself. The deadlines stand:
30 December 2026 — large and medium operators, plus all timber-sector operators
30 June 2027 — micro and small operators in non-timber commodities
That is 176 days from today for most of this readership.
The scope is still moving
A leaked Commission draft surfaced last week. Euractiv obtained it. Mongabay reported it on the 2nd of July.
The draft moves toward taking leather out of EUDR scope. At the same time, it would pull palm-based oleochemicals in. Those are palm-derived ingredients used in cosmetics, cleaning products, and food.
Here's the twist. In the public consultation, about 81% of citizen submissions on leather wanted it kept in the law. The draft goes the other way.
A draft is not law. But it shows the scope lines are still being drawn — in both directions.
What this means for you
If you trade timber or wood products: Open your Information System account this week. Do not wait for autumn.
If you run compliance: Use the test server now. Upload one sample plot file. Train your team before the year-end rush.
If you watch policy: Track the leather and oleochemicals file. Scope changes cut both ways. Today's exemption debate is tomorrow's inclusion debate. Sources: ATIBT — Reopening of the EUDR Information System | EUSTAFOR — EUDR Information System reopens | European Commission — The Information System | Mongabay — Leaked document on leather exemption
📊 Quick Hits
1. 🇬🇧 An $8 billion timberland giant is born
Gresham House completed its majority buy of Molpus Woodlands Group on 1 July. The UK asset manager now runs a combined ~$8 billion in forestry assets. That is more than 2.2 million acres across the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Why it matters: This creates the third-largest timberland investment manager in the world. The two firms raised about $2.5 billion in timberland mandates since 2020. Over $1 billion of that came in 2025 alone.
The takeaway: Big capital keeps choosing trees. And a UK manager now runs one of the biggest platforms doing it. Source: Gresham House — Completion announcement
2. 🇫🇮 "Put forests in the EU treaties"
Olli Rehn wants forests written into the EU's founding treaties. He is the Governor of the Bank of Finland and a former Commission Vice-President. The treaties currently do not mention forests at all.
Why it matters: Forest policy sits with member states today. But EU climate and environment rules reach into forests anyway. A treaty article would force that tension into the open.
The takeaway: Forest-owner associations just got a heavyweight ally in the subsidiarity debate. Source: forest.fi — Olli Rehn: EU treaties should include provisions on forests
3. 📗 The Forest-Investment Dictionary is live
We launched the Forest-Investment Dictionary on Friday. I wrote it with Danish forest economist Anders Tærø Nielsen. It has 151 pages, 11 chapters, 14 printable tools, and 3 calculators. Investors learn to read a forest. Foresters learn to read a term sheet.
Eight copies sold in the first four days. A product/marketing professional would shoot me in the back of the head and leave me dead in a ditch for crimes like this: launching a product on a Friday evening right before weekend. But it sells 😃. Thank you. The price is €99. Get yours below.
📅 The Weeks Ahead
Wed, 8 July — TDUK designTimber webinar: The Armadillo (online, 13:00 BST). TDUK events calendar
Thu, 16 July — ATIBT Carbon & Biodiversity webinar.
Wed, 22 July — RFSI Forum early-bird registration deadline. rfsi-forum.com
Fri, 24 July — Luke publishes June roundwood trade data for Finland. Luke statistics
Mon, 27 July — Verra's next-generation registry goes live.
Thu, 30 July — Weyerhaeuser Q2 results (call on 31 July). Announcement
16–18 Sep — EFI Annual Conference, Växjö, Sweden.
Tue, 22 Sep — CINEA LIFE Calls 2026 deadline | SoEF 2025 webinar on biological diversity.
Sun, 27 Sep — EU EmpCo Directive applies. Generic green claims become unlawful.
🔴 4–6 Oct — WAN-IFRA World Printers Summit, Rotterdam. I speak on 5 October. Event page
7–8 Oct — RFSI Forum, Denver | 19th European Congress (FOGE), Cologne.
🔴 13–14 Oct — CIFB London: Corporate Investments into Forestry & Biodiversity. Event page
15–18 Oct — INTERFORST 2026, Munich.
20–21 Oct — Global Bioeconomy Summit, Dublin.
4–6 Nov — TDUK Global Market Conference, London | 11th International Hardwood Conference, Antwerp.
Wed, 30 Dec — EUDR applies to large and medium operators, and all timber-sector operators.
💡 One Thing to Try This Week
Run one practice EUDR filing. It takes under 30 minutes.
Create or check your EU Login account.
Register your company in the EUDR Information System.
Upload one test plot on the practice (acceptance) server.
File one dummy due diligence statement.
You will find the rough edges now — not in December.
🤝 ForestryBriefing
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Until Thursday!
Wish you all the best: Peter
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