Registering in TRACES and your first statement
step by step.
From 30 December 2026 an importer of timber and other Annex I products must submit a due diligence statement in the EU information system before the goods are released for free circulation (natural persons and micro and small undertakings established by the end of 2024 have until 30 June 2027 for products outside the EUTR annex; not for sawn timber and other timber from that annex). The steps below follow the Commission’s user guide for economic operators, version of 16 September 2026.
What to prepare
- An EU Login account in the name of a specific person (not a generic address such as info@).
- The EU Login mobile app or a security key for the second factor – EU Login does not accept SMS as a second factor.
- Your company’s EORI number – mandatory for registration if you import or export.
- The commodity code of the goods (check it with our code check).
- From your supplier: the scientific and common name of the tree species, net mass, country of production and the geolocation of the plots of land where the wood was harvested.
- The documents your due diligence relies on (legality of harvest, supply chain).
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1Create an EU Login account
On the start page of the EUDR system (eudr.webcloud.ec.europa.eu/tracesnt) click “Request an access” – it takes you to the EU Login registration. The account must belong to an actual person – the Commission’s guide expressly says “in the name of a REAL PERSON, NOT a generic account”.
The password-setting link arrives by e-mail and is valid for 90 minutes.
Set up the second factor with the EU Login mobile app or a security key. SMS is not accepted as a second factor.
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2Try it out first
The Commission runs two environments. PRODUCTION (eudr.webcloud.ec.europa.eu/tracesnt/login) is live – statements submitted there have legal effect. ACCEPTANCE (acceptance.eudr.webcloud.ec.europa.eu/tracesnt/login) is for testing and statements there have no legal value.
A registration in one environment does not carry over to the other – you register separately in each.
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3Register your company as an “Operator”
After signing in choose the role “Operator”, select the “Country” and type your company name into “Search”. The “+ Create a new operator” button only appears after this first search.
Fill in “Operator Details”, “Addresses” and “Operator Identifiers” (at least one identifier). A company that imports or exports must include its EORI number among the identifiers – without it the system will not offer the Import activity in the statement.
Under “Activity details” choose the type of activity. A timber importer chooses “EUDR Operator”. Other options include “EUDR Micro or Small Primary Operator”, types for downstream operators and traders, and “EUDR Authorised Representative” for authorised representatives.
Confirm “Create a new operator” and “Send Authorisation request”. Operators established in the Member States are validated automatically; the company’s first user gets access straight away. Further colleagues are then approved by an administrator (ADMIN) – the guide strongly recommends having more than one administrator.
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4Create the due diligence statement
In the menu open “Documents” › “EU Deforestation” › “Create” › “As Operator”. A representative submitting on behalf of a client chooses “Representing Operator” and fills in the name, address and at least one identifier of the represented company.
Choose Import as the “Activity”. Your company details are pre-filled.
For each product enter the commodity code (at least at the level listed in Annex I), a description and the quantity. For imports the net mass in kilograms is mandatory; for codes 4403, 4406, 4408 and 4410 to 4413 the system also requires the volume in m³. For wood the scientific name of the tree species is mandatory and the system’s validation rules also require the common name.
Add the place of production (“+ Add Production Place”): country of production, area in hectares and geolocation. You can enter it manually, draw it on the map or upload a GeoJSON file in WGS 84 coordinates.
A plot larger than 4 ha must be entered as a polygon, not as a point. The system truncates coordinates to six decimal places. The geolocation data for one statement must not exceed 25 MB.
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5Submit and keep the numbers
Click “Submit” and then “Confirm & Sign”. The statement moves from SUBMITTED to AVAILABLE and you receive a reference number and a verification number.
The reference number goes into the customs declaration – where exactly is explained on a separate page. Passing on the verification number is not mandatory (Commission FAQ, question 3.6.1).
Within 72 hours of the AVAILABLE status the statement can be amended (“Amend”) or withdrawn (“Withdraw”). This is no longer possible once the reference number has been used in a customs declaration or the product has been placed on the market or exported, nor while a check of which you have been notified is in progress (Commission FAQ, question 7.6).
After six months the system moves the statement to ARCHIVED. This is only technical archiving – the statement remains valid and retrievable.
Rather not do it yourself?
Start with the free check: within 24 hours on working days you will know exactly what applies to your company. For a small importer or manufacturer (up to 3 commodities) there is Map Start for €199 excl. VAT: what to request from suppliers and how to submit the statement, usually within 5 working days.
Before you start.
Do I have to submit a statement for every truck?
Not necessarily. According to the Commission’s guide one statement can cover several shipments – the mass is then the total quantity you intend to place on the market in that period. According to the Commission FAQ the same reference number can be used in several customs declarations and, conversely, several numbers in one. The Commission (FAQ, question 5.19) states, however, that a statement should not cover shipments over a period longer than one year from submission.
We import sawn timber from Ukraine. Does the simplified regime apply to us?
Ukraine is in the low-risk category under the Commission’s country benchmarking (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1093). If the timber was harvested and processed in low-risk countries and you can show the authority that the risk of circumvention or mixing is negligible (beware of timber from Belarus, which is in the high-risk category), you do not have to carry out risk assessment and risk mitigation (Articles 10 and 11, Article 13). You still collect the Article 9 information including geolocation and submit the statement itself. The simplified declaration under Article 4a is only for micro or small primary operators that grew or harvested the commodity themselves – an importer cannot use it.
We are a small company. Don’t we have until June 2027?
Not for timber and timber products that were covered by the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), such as sawn timber. The deferral to 30 June 2027 for natural persons and micro and small undertakings established by the end of 2024 does not apply to them (Article 38(3)). The obligation therefore applies from 30 December 2026.
Can someone submit the statement for us?
Yes. The Regulation allows you to give a written mandate to an authorised representative established in the EU to submit the statement on your behalf (Article 6). Your company remains responsible for the compliance of the product, and the representative must provide a copy of the mandate to the authority on request.
Where do I find official help?
The Commission runs online training sessions on the information system, all starting at 14:00 CEST (27 October: 14:00 CET): on submitting due diligence statements on 13 and 22 October 2026, and on the simplified declaration for micro or small primary operators on 8, 15 and 27 October 2026; registration and further dates are on the Commission’s page The Information System of the Deforestation Regulation. Technical support for the system: sante-traces@ec.europa.eu. In Czechia questions are answered by the Národní lesnický institut (NLI, the Czech national forestry institute): eudr@nli.gov.cz, on the system is.eudr@nli.gov.cz, on geolocation geolokalizace.eudr@nli.gov.cz. In Slovakia the competent authority is the Slovenská lesnícko-drevárska inšpekcia (SLDI, the Slovak Forestry and Timber Inspectorate) in Zvolen under Act No. 81/2025 Coll.; its contact details are in the Commission’s list of competent authorities.
Sources: EUDR User Guide for Economic Operators v3.0 (European Commission, 16 September 2026); Commission page The Information System of the Deforestation Regulation (Green Forum, updated 7 October 2026); Commission EUDR FAQ, version 5 (April 2026); Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1093; Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as last amended by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102; Národní lesnický institut (nli.gov.cz); Slovak Act No. 81/2025 Coll. Screen labels are given as the system shows them; the interface may differ slightly. The information is general and is not legal advice.