Source: European Parliament
The Commission published the benchmarking methodology on 22 May 2025[1]. The benchmarking system under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)[2] will facilitate operators’ due diligence processes and enable competent authorities to effectively monitor and enforce compliance.
Additionally, it serves as an incentive for producer countries to enhance the sustainability of their agricultural production systems and minimise their deforestation impact.
The quantitative data is used to identify countries in the different risk categories by primarily examining deforestation both in absolute terms, in hectares of forest lost per year between 2015 and 2020, and in relative terms, considering the percentage of forest loss per year between 2015 and 2020 as a proportion of its overall forest area.
As outlined in the Implementing Act and its related Staff Working Document on the methodology[3], the benchmarking system is based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) .
The FAO FRA database is the only internationally recognised global inventory of forests. This ensures that the classification process is fair, objective and transparent.
Following the methodology, a large majority of countries worldwide are classified as low risk. This gives the opportunity to focus collective efforts and resources to protect forests in those geographic areas where deforestation challenges are more acute.
The Commission envisages a first review of the country classification in 2026, following the publication of the new FAO FRA data in October 2025.
- [1] https://green-forum.ec.europa.eu/deforestation-regulation-implementation/eudr-cooperation-and-partnerships_en.
- [2] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, p. 206-247.
- [3] https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/34861680-e799-4d7c-bbad-da83c45da458/library/bb6fc64c-8911-4ae6-9a41-88aad0d9ab8d/details?download=true.