EUDR enforcement in Germany: who checks, what is examined and which penalties apply

The short version

• The BLE becomes the central enforcement authority. Under the draft implementing act it monitors imports, exports, processing and trade and also imposes fines in that area. The federal states (Länder) only check the first stage of German production, meaning farmers with their own soya or cattle and forest owners with their own felling.
• Checks follow minimum rates. Each year at least 1 per cent of the companies concerned for goods from low-risk countries, 3 per cent for standard risk and 9 per cent for high risk. For importers not already covered by the Timber Trade Safeguarding Act, the Federal Government expects 600 to 2,300 checks a year, four in five of them as reviews of submitted documents.
• Fines of up to EUR 100,000, for legal persons above a turnover threshold up to 4 per cent of turnover. The ceiling depends on the infringement: EUR 100,000 for failing to exercise due diligence, EUR 50,000 for example for a wrong or late due diligence statement, EUR 20,000 for record keeping and registration. Negligence is enough.
• Placing goods on the market contrary to Article 3 is a criminal offence. Intent carries up to five years in prison, gross negligence up to three and catastrophic environmental damage up to ten years. Negligible quantities are exempt, except where serious environmental damage is caused.
• The side effects can weigh more than the fine. Confiscation of the goods, exclusion from public contracts, an entry in the Competition Register from a fine of EUR 5,000 and bans on placing products on the market for up to one year.
• It is still a draft. The bill has been before the Bundestag since 30 September 2026 and is to enter into force on 30 December 2026. The Bundesrat wants fines limited to intent; the Federal Government rejects this.

The legal basis: EU regulation and German act

The Deforestation Regulation only sets the framework for checks and penalties. Articles 16 to 24 lay down how often and what the authorities check, Article 25 lists the penalties every Member State must provide for at a minimum. Which authority checks, what powers it has and how high fines and penalties are is left to national law. The obligations behind the checks are explained in the EUDR guide.

In Germany the Entwaldungsfreie-Produkte-VO-DurchführungsG, the German implementing act, is to fill this gap. It is Article 1 of an omnibus bill that the Federal Government introduced in the Bundestag on 30 September 2026 as printed paper 21/8278 (in German). The bill also amends the Timber Trade Safeguarding Act, the Act against Restraints of Competition and the Competition Register Act. Everything is to enter into force on 30 December 2026, the day the Regulation's obligations begin for large and medium-sized companies. According to the bill, the act does not require the consent of the Bundesrat.

This article reflects the government bill. The Bundestag can still change it; the points in dispute are set out below. We track the progress of the procedure in EUDR current status.

Who checks in Germany

As a rule, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) is competent. It checks imports, exports, processing and trade of relevant commodities and products throughout Germany and is also the authority that imposes fines in that area. The federal states only take products whose commodity was produced in Germany, and only at the first stage: farmers who place on the market or export soya they grew themselves or cattle from their own farm, and forest owners who sell roundwood or firewood from their own felling (section 3 of the bill).

The explanatory memorandum draws the line with an example. If a farmer sells live cattle, the federal state is competent. If the buyer passes the animals on, or slaughters them and places the meat on the market, the BLE checks.

The BLE may entrust individual tasks to private bodies that are competent, independent and reliable, and must publish such an entrustment in the Federal Gazette (section 4). According to the explanatory memorandum this is only meant as a fallback if the BLE lacks staff. The bill budgets around EUR 13.6 million as a one-off for a digital evidence and inspection portal: a workflow system the BLE uses to select and carry out checks, draw up annual control plans, run fine proceedings and report to the Commission, plus a service portal where companies under inspection upload evidence. From 2028 around EUR 2 million a year is added for operation. For checks and fine proceedings the bill puts the additional need at 34 posts at the BLE, on top of existing EU Timber Regulation staff.

Customs is not an enforcement authority within the meaning of the act. However, the person lodging the customs declaration for import or export must provide the reference number of the due diligence statement or the declaration identifier of a simplified declaration; export by a downstream operator is exempt (Article 26(4)). Customs checks are based primarily on risk analysis. Once the electronic interface between customs systems and the information system is in place, due by 1 December 2029 at the latest, customs suspends the release of goods flagged as high risk, initially for three working days and for perishable goods for 72 hours, extendable by further three working days. Until then the competent authority suspends placing on the market itself in such cases through interim measures (Articles 17, 26 and 28 of the Regulation). How the number gets into the declaration is covered in the article on the reference number.

How often companies are checked

The Regulation sets minimum rates by the risk of the country of production (Article 16(8) to (10)). Each year the authorities must check at least 1 per cent of the companies that place on the market, make available or export goods from low-risk countries, 3 per cent for standard risk and 9 per cent for high risk. For high risk, 9 per cent of the quantity of each product comes on top. The count includes operators as well as downstream operators and traders that are not SMEs, and the rates apply to each commodity separately. The German bill takes over these figures in section 5.

Who gets checked is set out in an annual plan based on risk criteria. They include the commodity, the length of the supply chain and any mixing, the degree of processing, whether the plots border forests, the country risk and past infringements. Where substantiated concerns from third parties come in, for example from environmental organisations, the authority checks in addition. As a rule, checks are not announced (Article 16(3), (5), (12) and (13)).

For its cost estimate, the Federal Government assumes 58,000 to 151,000 operators that import relevant products from third countries into Germany. Around 25,000 of them are already subject to inspection and information duties under the Timber Trade Safeguarding Act. For the remaining 33,000 to 126,000, an assumed check rate of around 1.8 per cent gives 600 to 2,300 checks a year. Domestic primary producers, downstream operators and traders are not included in this estimate. Four fifths of them are to be reviews of documents submitted electronically and one fifth on-site checks; the split is based on experience with the EU Timber Regulation.

What a check examines

For operators the authority always examines two things: the due diligence system with its risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures, together with the documents showing that it works, and for individual products the documents showing that they comply with the Regulation, including the due diligence statements (Article 18(1)). If questions remain, it can go further. It can compare the goods on site with the documents, review corrective measures, have samples analysed anatomically, chemically or by DNA for species and origin, use satellite data, for example from the Copernicus programme, and carry out spot checks including on-site inspections, in a third country too if that country agrees (Article 18(2)).

For downstream operators and traders the check is narrower. It covers the documents under Article 5(1) to (4): the details of suppliers and customers with the reference numbers or declaration identifiers, where the supplier is an operator, registration for companies that are not SMEs, and retention for five years (Article 19). What applies to which role is explained in the article on operators and traders.

The inspectors' powers are set by the German act (section 7). They may enter land, business premises, offices and means of transport during normal business hours, outside those hours only to prevent urgent dangers, and never living quarters. They may inspect business records and data, demand copies and printouts, take photos and request information, including from employees with their own area of responsibility. They take samples against a receipt; a counterpart remains sealed at the company, and testing is carried out for example by the Thünen Institute (section 8). The company must tolerate and support the check, meaning it has to identify and open rooms and allow sampling. Anyone obliged to provide information may refuse to answer questions that would expose them or close relatives to criminal or administrative-offence proceedings (section 9).

When the authority finds something

If the authority finds an infringement, it first asks the company to take corrective action within a set period (Article 24). The Regulation lists the options: correct formal errors, hold back the goods, withdraw or recall them, donate them for charitable purposes or dispose of them. The company must close gaps in its due diligence system in any case. If nothing happens, the authority enforces the correction itself once the period has expired.

Where a check, substantiated concerns or a risk flagged by the information system give rise to a suspicion sufficiently substantiated by facts, it may intervene (section 6). It can temporarily ban placing on the market, making available or export, seize goods, or order the company to have a test carried out and report the result, prohibiting sales until then. The explanatory memorandum sets a high bar for that suspicion: assumptions and speculation are not enough, and the authority must establish the facts itself.

A fine or criminal procedure can run in parallel. Under the bill, whether the authority refrains from a fine for a first error that was quickly remedied is at its discretion. The Bundesrat wanted a fixed rule under which a first infringement is corrected first and only sanctioned afterwards; the Federal Government considers it unnecessary.

Fines under the bill

Under section 14 of the bill, it is an administrative offence to breach certain obligations of the Regulation intentionally or negligently. The maximum amounts are graded by seriousness. For negligence the fixed ceiling is halved under section 17(2) of the Administrative Offences Act. Against legal persons and associations above a turnover threshold, the authority can instead impose up to 4 per cent of total turnover, meaning EU-wide turnover in the financial year before the decision, which the authority may also estimate. Like the maximum amount, the threshold depends on the type of infringement.

The amounts are ceilings, not standard rates. To skim off the economic gain from an infringement, however, a fine may exceed the ceiling (section 17(4) of the Administrative Offences Act); the explanatory memorandum expressly relies on this, because the Regulation requires exactly that, as well as higher penalties for repeat infringements (Article 25(2)). Whether and how the authority pursues a fine is at its due discretion; the explanatory memorandum names the significance and effects of the act, the degree of fault, the risk of repetition and conduct after the act.

Negligence is one of the main points of dispute. The Bundesrat wants fines only for intent and, for a first infringement, only once a company has failed to implement an ordered correction in time. The Federal Government has rejected both.

When it becomes a criminal offence

The criminal provision in section 12 of the bill transposes the EU directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. It punishes anyone who places on the market, makes available or exports a relevant commodity or product contrary to Article 3 of the Regulation. Article 3 only allows this for goods that are deforestation-free, were produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production and are covered by a due diligence statement or, for micro or small primary operators, a simplified declaration.

• Intent carries a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine, and the attempt is already punishable.
• Gross negligence carries a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine.
• If the act destroys or damages an ecosystem of considerable size or ecological value, a habitat in a protected area, or water, soil or air so extensively that the damage cannot be remedied or only after several years, the penalty is one to ten years, in less serious cases six months to five years.

Intentional, attempted and grossly negligent acts are not punishable if they concern only a negligible quantity; this exemption does not apply where serious environmental damage is caused (section 12(5)). Whether a quantity is negligible depends above all on mass, volume or number of items and on the cost of restoring the environment after deforestation.

The Bundesrat wanted to limit criminal liability to goods that are not deforestation-free or not legally produced; a missing due diligence statement or simplified declaration alone would then no longer be a criminal offence. It also wanted gross negligence punished by one year at most and no minimum sentences for serious environmental damage. The Federal Government rejects this too.

Further consequences: confiscation, exclusion, sales bans

Goods to which a criminal or administrative offence relates can be confiscated (section 15). Section 16 adds measures that authorities or contracting authorities can impose and that for many companies weigh more than the fine itself:

• Exclusion from public contracts and concessions for up to one year, until self-cleaning has been proven, after a conviction or a final fine of at least EUR 5,000. The contracting authority decides on this. Such convictions and fines are entered in the Competition Register, which public contracting authorities consult.
• Exclusion from public funding for up to one year on the same conditions.
• A ban on placing on the market, making available or exporting relevant commodities or products for up to one year, after a conviction, a fine of at least EUR 10,000 or repeated fines.
• A ban on using simplified due diligence under Article 13 for up to one year, on the same conditions; this ban applies only to operators and downstream operators.

Germany also reports final decisions against legal persons to the Commission, which publishes them on its website with the company's name (Article 25(3)). Whether the sales bans will be limited to serious and repeated infringements, as the Bundesrat requests, is something the Federal Government says it will examine.

What is still disputed in the Bundestag

The Bundesrat delivered its opinion on the bill on 25 September 2026 and the Federal Government replied. Both are part of the printed paper. The main points of dispute:

The Bundestag now decides on any changes. According to its documentation and information system, the bill had been referred to it and not yet debated as of 7 October 2026.

How to prepare for a check

If you meet the Regulation's obligations, you have done most of the work. In a check what counts is being able to prove it, quickly and for every single shipment.

1. Keep documents ready per shipment. Geodata, supplier details, risk assessment, risk mitigation decisions, due diligence statement, reference and verification number. Due diligence statements and all due diligence documents must be kept for five years (Article 4(3), Article 12(5)).
2. Put the due diligence system in writing. Inspectors look first at the risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures. Risk assessments and risk mitigation decisions must be documented and reviewed at least once a year (Article 10(4), Article 11(3)).
3. Assign responsibilities for the day of a check. Because checks usually come unannounced, it should be clear in advance who gives information, opens rooms, compiles documents and accompanies sampling.
4. Settle the reporting route for new information. Anyone who learns that goods already supplied may not comply must immediately inform the competent authority and the downstream operators and traders they supplied; this applies to operators, downstream operators and traders alike (Article 4(5), Article 5(5)). Under the bill, failing to do so can cost up to EUR 50,000.
5. As a downstream company, keep the supplier and customer list up to date. Name, address, email address and, for deliveries from operators, the reference numbers or declaration identifiers; companies that are not SMEs also check their registration in the information system.
6. Run through the real thing once. Can you produce the complete chain of evidence for any shipment from the last quarter within one day? If not, that is where you should start.

How the due diligence statement itself gets into the system is shown in the guide on submitting the due diligence statement.

How Polygon One helps: the software captures products, geodata and evidence in a structured way and immediately shows what is still missing. It compares every plot by satellite with its state on 31 December 2020, and an AI reads certificates and other evidence and assigns them to the right supplier, country and commodity. Polygon One stores reference numbers together with the verification number for every shipment, so you can find them at once during a check. More on the EUDR module product page.

• Download: Preparing for an EUDR check, checklist with fines overview 2026 (PDF)

Frequently asked questions

Who enforces the EUDR in Germany?

Under the draft implementing act, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) for imports, exports, processing and trade. The federal states only check the first stage of German production, meaning farmers with their own soya or cattle and forest owners with their own felling. In its area, the BLE is also the authority that imposes fines.

When do checks start?

From 30 December 2026, when the Regulation's obligations begin for all downstream operators and traders and for all other operators; the German act is also to enter into force that day. Operators that were established as natural persons or micro or small undertakings by 31 December 2024 follow on 30 June 2027, except for products covered by the Annex to the former EU Timber Regulation. The Regulation provides for no grace period.

Does the BLE announce a check?

As a rule, no. Article 16(13) of the Regulation requires checks without prior notice unless notification is necessary to ensure that the check is effective.

How high are the fines for EUDR infringements?

Under the bill, up to EUR 100,000 for failing to exercise due diligence, up to EUR 50,000 for example for a wrong or late due diligence statement and up to EUR 20,000 for record keeping and registration. Against legal persons above a turnover threshold, depending on the infringement EUR 500,000, EUR 1.25 million or EUR 2.5 million in total turnover, up to 4 per cent of EU-wide total turnover is possible.

Is a negligent mistake enough for a fine?

Yes, under the Federal Government's bill. The Bundesrat wanted to limit fines to intentional infringements and, for a first infringement, to require a correction first. The Federal Government rejected both: it considers covering negligence necessary in view of Article 25 of the Regulation, and a special rule for first infringements unnecessary because the authority decides at its due discretion whether to pursue an infringement anyway. For negligence, however, the fixed ceiling is halved.

Can an EUDR infringement lead to prison?

Yes. Anyone who intentionally places on the market, makes available or exports goods contrary to Article 3 of the Regulation faces up to five years in prison under section 12 of the bill, up to three years for gross negligence and up to ten years for catastrophic environmental damage. Negligible quantities are exempt, except where serious environmental damage is caused.

Do traders and downstream companies have to expect checks too?

Yes, all actors can be checked. Only downstream companies and traders that are not SMEs count towards the minimum rates, however. For them the check covers whether they hold the details of suppliers, customers and reference numbers and keep them for five years and, if they are not SMEs, whether they are registered in the information system (Article 19).

Are infringements made public?

Germany reports final decisions against legal persons to the Commission, which publishes them on its website with the company's name (Article 25(3)). Under the bill, convictions and fines of EUR 5,000 or more are also entered in the Competition Register.

What happens with a formal error in the due diligence statement?

The authority first asks for a correction; the Regulation expressly lists remedying formal infringements as a corrective measure (Article 24). A fine is possible as well, under the bill up to EUR 50,000 for a defective statement. Whether the authority imposes it is at its discretion.

Does the German act already apply?

No. It is before the Bundestag as a government bill (printed paper 21/8278) and is to enter into force on 30 December 2026; things can still change until promulgation. The Regulation, by contrast, applies directly, and its obligations begin on 30 December 2026 even without the German act.

Sources and status: Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, Articles 3 to 5, 8 to 13, 16 to 26, 28, 33 and 38. Directive (EU) 2024/1203 on the protection of the environment through criminal law. Federal Government bill on the reorganisation of the law on deforestation-free products, Bundestag printed paper 21/8278 of 30 September 2026, with explanatory memorandum, opinion of the Bundesrat of 25 September 2026 and the Federal Government's reply. Documentation and information system of the Bundestag, procedure 338344. Status 7 October 2026.

Photo: Pickawood via Unsplash.