EUDR for freight forwarders and customs brokers: declarations, codes, liability

The container has been sitting at the terminal for two days. The declaration cannot go out because one field is empty, and the person on the phone is not the importer, it is you. That is what the EUDR looks like from a forwarder's desk: you do not carry the due diligence obligation, but you are the first to notice when somebody else has not met it.

The due diligence duty does not bind you; Article 26(4) binds your declaration. That sounds like a quibble and it is the everyday difference between a consignment that moves and one that does not.

As a customs representative you are never the operator

Under Article 2(15) an operator is a person who, in the course of a commercial activity, places relevant products on the market or exports them and is not a downstream operator. That third element is new; it arrived with Regulation (EU) 2025/2650.

The Commission Guidelines add a rule of thumb you can work with day to day: on import the operator is as a rule the person entered as importer in the customs declaration, specifically data element 13 04 000 000 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, previously DE 3/15, box 8 “consignee” on the old single administrative document. On export it is the exporter in data element 13 01 000 000, previously DE 3/1, box 2.

The Guidelines frame this as a general rule (“generally”), not an automatism: a private consumer is never an operator, even when entered as importer in the declaration.

A customs representative lodges the declaration but places nothing on the market. The Commission puts this beyond doubt in FAQ 3.15, and the wording leaves no room: whatever the circumstances, customs representatives are never an operator under the EUDR, as they neither place on the market nor export relevant products.

“Whatever the circumstances” is the part that matters. It covers direct and indirect representation alike, and it holds even when the same firm also acts as an authorised representative under Article 6.

The Guidelines are blunter still and name the trade. Service providers offering logistical or technical support, for instance freight forwarders, shipping agents or customs representatives, who do not possess ownership or similar rights over the products they handle, are neither operators nor traders under the Regulation, as long as they do not themselves place, make available or export anything. Note the condition at the end of that sentence. On import, things tip over once you act as importer yourself, regardless of who owns the goods; the article comes back to this below.

Two mandates to keep apart

A company may offer both. It then needs two explicit, separate appointments and discharges two separate sets of duties. An authorised representative registers in the information system in its own right, picks the role “Representing Operator” there, and may act for several clients. The role “Representing Trader”, which earlier versions of the Commission FAQ listed alongside it, is no longer in the current version: since Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 traders no longer submit due diligence statements, and only operators appoint authorised representatives (Article 2(22), Article 6(1)). Responsibility for the product complying with Article 3 does not travel with the mandate. It stays with the operator, and the operator's name goes in the statement.

If you are thinking about offering the authorised representative mandate as a service, it is permitted, but it is a different business from customs clearance. You would be submitting statements built on data your client supplies and owns, which calls for a clean contractual split of who answers for what.

Article 7: when the duties do reach you

Article 7 covers the case where a person established outside the Union places relevant products on the market. The Guidelines apply this to imports: where the person acting as importer at release for free circulation is not established in the Union, the first natural or legal person established in the Union to make the product available on the market also counts as an operator, although they are not one under Article 2(15) or (15a), and they are subject to the operator obligations under Article 7. The Guidelines state the purpose plainly: there should always be a responsible actor established in the EU.

For a forwarder that means: as long as you remain a representative and the goods go to a named EU importer, this does not make you an operator. It gets uncomfortable when your client sits outside the EU, no EU importer is named, and you make the goods available yourself, for instance by reselling them in your own name. A service provider can turn into a duty holder that way. That is a contracting question, not a customs question, and it belongs on the table before the first container moves.

Which customs procedure triggers the obligation

The EUDR does not attach to the arrival of the goods but to two specific customs procedures.

The Guidelines are direct here. Imported products do not acquire Union goods status until they have been brought into the customs territory and released for free circulation by customs. Products placed under other customs procedures do not count as placed on the market. The Guidelines give customs warehousing, inward processing, temporary admission and transit as examples, prefaced with “e.g.”, so the list is not exhaustive.

You can work with that.

A transit movement through Germany to Switzerland triggers no due diligence statement, because nobody places anything on the market. The same holds for goods sitting in a customs warehouse, even for months. The obligation arises the moment somebody applies for release for free circulation, and it falls on whoever is then acting as importer.

That is precisely where a warehouse keeper or a forwarder can become an operator without meaning to. Release goods from your own customs warehouse in your own name and for your own account, perhaps because you bought them in the meantime or because the original buyer walked away, and you are the importer in the declaration. You then owe the due diligence, with geolocation, risk assessment and everything else. Noticing it on the day of release is too late, because the statement has to exist beforehand.

Inward processing followed by re-export stays outside. Release the processed goods for free circulation instead and the Regulation applies at that moment to the product declared for release.

What goes in the customs declaration

Article 26(4) is short: the person lodging the customs declaration for release for free circulation or for export makes the reference number of the due diligence statement available to the customs authorities, or for micro and small primary operators the identification number. That person is normally you. For courier and express shipments it is the courier; there is a separate guide to the reference number for courier shipments.

Two exceptions belong with it. The duty falls away once the statement is provided through the electronic interface under Article 28(2), which is not yet the case. And since the amendment by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 it does not apply to export by a downstream operator. That case has codes of its own, more on them shortly.

In FAQ 5.20 the Commission draws the consequence that governs the sequence: the statement has to be submitted and the reference number obtained before the customs declaration is lodged. There is no version of this where the declaration goes first and the number follows.

FAQ 5.20 holds something else that matters for planning. One statement can cover several consignments, so the same reference number may appear in several customs declarations. The reverse also works: several reference numbers may go into one declaration, for example with groupage from different suppliers.

Imports are declared with ten-digit TARIC codes, exports with eight-digit CN codes. The document codes are the same in both directions except four: C720 and C725 only on re-import, Y188 and Y196 only on export. What applies on export and re-import in detail is set out in our article on export, re-import and re-export.

The fifteen document codes

Four of these codes carry the role logic that arrived with Regulation (EU) 2025/2650. On re-import a downstream operator declares the number it received itself (C720 or C725, by size), and on export it is exempt from the Article 26(4) duty altogether (Y196 or Y188). Without those four you end up chasing a downstream operator's own reference number that need not exist in these cases.

Y190 covers packing material presented with the goods and declared separately. More on packaging in our article on pallets and cartons.

C717 carries the same trap as Y141. Older code tables from before the TARIC revision of 23 September 2026 still assign C717 to the Article 4(8) exemption, the case where a product is already covered by a due diligence statement. The revision reassigned the code: it now stands for the identification number of the simplified declaration under Article 4a. Article 4a did not exist back then; it was inserted by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, which also deleted Article 4(8). Working from the old table means using the code for the wrong situation.

The same note applies to Y141, for the same reason. Older code tables give 31 December 2020 as the cut-off and 29 June 2025 as the end date. The TARIC revision of 23 September 2026 gives 31 December 2024 and 29 June 2027. The later revision governs. Anyone still working from the old table drops the code two years early.

Y129 belongs only to “ex” headings, that is commodity codes covering both products in scope and products outside it. Which headings those are follows from Annex I as amended by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102; the details are in our article on Annex I and its CN codes.

When the authority steps in

What happens next depends on whether the electronic interface under Article 28(1) is in place. Article 26(5)(a) governs the interim: until the interface exists, paragraphs 6 to 9 do not apply, and customs authorities and competent authorities exchange information under Article 27 instead. The interface has to be in place by 1 December 2029 at the latest. Until then the competent authority can suspend placing on the market by interim measures (Article 17(2)(a), Article 23) or delay making the reference number available (Article 7(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3084); the periods in Article 17(3) apply to that as well.

Once the interface runs, the sequence in Article 26(6) to (9) applies. Customs reads the status the competent authority has given the statement in the information system. If the status shows that the product has been identified under Article 17(2) as requiring control before being placed on the market or exported, customs suspends release. Under Article 17(3) the suspension ends within three working days, or 72 hours for perishable products. Neither period runs from the customs suspension; both run from the moment the high risk was identified in the information system. Where the competent authority needs more time it extends by further three-working-day periods.

If the competent authority concludes that the product is non-compliant, it tells customs, and release is not granted. Who is responsible in Germany and how checks are carried out is described in our article on enforcement in Germany.

One sentence is worth knowing. Article 26(10): release for free circulation or export does not constitute evidence of compliance with Union law and in particular with this Regulation. That a consignment went through does not show that the Regulation was complied with.

Liability: what you answer for

The EUDR due diligence obligations fall on the operator. The operator gathers the information, assesses the risk, submits the statement and answers for compliance. Lodging the declaration does not change that, and neither does acting as an authorised representative; even then responsibility stays expressly with your client.

Your own exposure sits in customs law. As a customs representative you share responsibility with your client for the accuracy and completeness of the information in the customs declaration under Article 15(2) UCC, in direct and indirect representation alike. In direct representation you act in the name and on behalf of your client, in indirect representation in your own name on its behalf (Article 18(1) UCC); you are then the declarant yourself and, on import, also a customs debtor (Articles 5(15) and 77(3) UCC). Anyone who does not state that they act as a customs representative, or lacks authority, is deemed to act in their own name and on their own behalf (Article 19(1) UCC).

Enter a document code that does not apply, Y129 for a consignment that is in fact covered, and the declaration is incorrect. For you the consequences follow customs law, because the EUDR penalties only reach operators, downstream operators and traders (Article 25(1)); for your client the goods have been placed on the market without a statement.

In practice: do not set an exemption code on your own initiative. Get the classification from your client in writing, with reasons, and file it with the declaration. That is not distrust, it is the division of labour that follows from Articles 4 and 26(4). Have your own counsel look at the contracts; this article is not legal advice.

The briefing you need from your client

These points belong on the table before the first consignment, ideally as one line per client in your system.

A model letter for requests along the supply chain is in our article on the supplier questionnaire; the mechanics of the reference number itself, including the 72-hour rule for amendments, are explained in our article on the EUDR reference number.

Seven typical configurations

In the fifth case a purely logistical service turns into a full due diligence obligation because you act as importer yourself; geolocation data and evidence then have to be in place before the declaration. If your model includes buying goods out of the warehouse, you need the same dataset as an importer.

How Polygon One helps

For forwarders who act as importer themselves, the job is the same as for any importer: collect plots, check them, submit the statement, get the reference number back. In Polygon One suppliers enter their plots through a portal without login, every plot is screened by satellite against the cut-off date of 31 December 2020, and the due diligence statement goes straight to TRACES.

For forwarders who stay representatives, the benefit lies with their clients: whoever submits the due diligence statement with Polygon One gets the reference number back into the record automatically, ready for the customs declaration. Which role and which obligations apply to a product is shown by the EUDR check in two minutes; the EUDR product page covers the rest of the module. To see it in action, book a demo.

Frequently asked questions

Do I become an operator as a customs representative if I act in indirect representation?

No. Commission FAQ 3.15 states that, whatever the circumstances, customs representatives are never an operator, as they neither place on the market nor export relevant products. The form of representation does not change that. What it changes is your position as declarant under customs law.

May I submit the due diligence statement for my client?

Yes, but only as an authorised representative under Article 6, with a written mandate, established in the EU and registered in the information system under the role “Representing Operator”. That is a different mandate from customs representation and needs its own agreement. Responsibility for compliance stays with your client.

Does a transit movement need a due diligence statement?

No. The Guidelines name transit, customs warehousing, inward processing and temporary admission as procedures that do not amount to placing on the market. The obligation arises only on release for free circulation or on export.

What do I do when the client does not supply the reference number?

The declaration cannot be lodged, because the number has to be made available under Article 26(4). In practice: chase, set a deadline, the goods wait. An exemption code is not a workaround where the exemption does not apply.

How long can customs hold the goods?

Once the electronic interface is in place (by 1 December 2029 at the latest), customs suspends release under Article 26(7). Until then the competent authority can suspend placing on the market by interim measures (Article 17(2)(a), Article 23) or delay making the reference number available (Article 7(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3084). In every case the periods in Article 17(3) apply: three working days, or 72 hours for perishable products, counted from the identification of the high risk in the information system, not from the suspension, and extended by further three-working-day periods. If the authority finds non-compliance, release is not granted.

Does a released consignment mean everything was in order?

No, and the Regulation says so. Under Article 26(10) release for free circulation or export does not constitute evidence of compliance. A check by the competent authority can still follow.

Do I need my client's verification number?

For the customs declaration you need the reference number. Under Article 3(f) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3084 as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1565, the verification number is a security code the information system assigns to the statement to give the data in it additional protection. It lets you check the validity of the statement in the information system (FAQ 7.25); the contents of the statement are visible there only to registered users granted access by the submitter, under FAQ 3.6 non-SME downstream operators and traders (Article 10(3) of the Implementing Regulation). So it does not belong in open distribution lists, and it is not a mandatory entry in the customs declaration.

Does all of this apply to exports too?

In principle yes, but not identically. Since the amendment by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 the Article 26(4) duty does not apply to export by a downstream operator; the Commission confirms this in FAQs 5.6.1 and 7.21. Under the TARIC revision the export declaration then carries Y196 for non-SMEs or Y188 for SMEs. Re-import by downstream operators has C720 and C725. On top of that comes the difference in coding the goods: ten-digit TARIC codes on import, eight-digit CN codes on export.

Sources and status: Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, Article 2(15) to (19) and (22), Articles 3, 4, 4a, 5, 6, 7, 17, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 38. Commission Guidelines, OJ C/2026/3896 of 20 July 2026, chapter 1 (placing on the market, making available, export), chapter 2 (roles, data elements, service providers, Article 7) and chapter 4(c) (Article 4a). Commission FAQ on EUDR implementation, version 5 (April 2026, revised 21 August 2026), questions 3.6, 3.15, 3.21, 5.2.1, 5.3, 5.6.1, 5.20, 7.21, 7.25 and 9.2; on the former role “Representing Trader”, question 5.2.1 of version 4. TARIC data for Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, working document of the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, revision 1 of 23 September 2026. Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (Union Customs Code), Article 5(15), Articles 9, 15, 18, 19 and 77. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, Annex B, data elements 13 01 000 000 and 13 04 000 000. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3084 as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1565, Article 3(f), Articles 4a, 7 and 10. Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, Annex (timber to which the later date of application does not apply). As of 18 October 2026. This article is not legal advice.

Photo: Wolfgang Weiser / Unsplash