EUDR got delayed for a second time in December 2025, and most of the coverage since has carried a version of the same relief: small operators now have until June 2027. That's true — for most sectors. It isn't true for timber. One clause in the postponement regulation keeps wood traders, regardless of size, on the earlier date, and reading only the headline version of the delay is a real way for a small European buyer to end up six months behind on a deadline that already applies to them.
- 30 December 2026 — the EUDR compliance deadline for all timber operators and traders, including micro and small ones (European Commission).
- 30 June 2027 — the later deadline that applies to micro and small operators in every other EUDR-covered sector, not timber.
- 2013 — the year the old EU Timber Regulation (995/2010) already required due-diligence checks from wood traders, the reason timber keeps the earlier date.
- 31 December 2029 — wood harvested before 29 June 2023 can still be sold under the old rules until this date, separate from the operator-size question.
The Headline Delay
The second postponement, Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, was published in the Official Journal on 23 December 2025 and entered into force three days later. It set two new compliance dates: 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators, and 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators, with the extra time explicitly meant "to guarantee a smooth transition, to reduce impact and administrative burden on micro and small operators and to allow time to improve the IT systems." That's the version of the story that traveled — and it's accurate for most of what EUDR covers.
The Clause That Excludes Timber
The same regulation carries a specific exception: micro and small operators and traders handling products already covered by the old EU Timber Regulation (995/2010) — timber, in plain terms — must comply by 30 December 2026, the same date as large operators. Only micro and small operators in product categories newly brought under EUDR, ones that weren't covered by the old Timber Regulation, get the extended June 2027 date. The reasoning tracks the sector's history: wood traders have operated under mandatory due-diligence obligations since 2013 under the old regulation, so the "smooth transition" justification for extra time doesn't apply to them the same way it does to a sector regulated for the first time.
What Doesn't Change: The Legacy-Stock Window
Separate from the operator-size question, one carve-out still stands: wood harvested before 29 June 2023 can be sold under the old rules through 31 December 2029. It's worth checking against actual inventory rather than assuming it covers current-year stock — the cutoff is tied to harvest date, not purchase or shipment date.
What This Means for a European Buyer
For suppliers already operating with geolocation-traceable, EUDR-aligned sourcing — as Trading Globe does across its Argentine and Uruguayan supply — this deadline doesn't change what's already in place. What it changes is the calendar on the other side of the transaction: a small European importer or distributor who assumed they had until mid-2027, because that's the number most general coverage of the delay repeats, is working against 30 December 2026 instead. Confirming which date actually applies is worth doing now, not in November.