Dejan Jasnic · Co-founder & Compliance Lead, Trusty · 20+ years anti-fraud & compliance · ACFE Swiss Chapter Board
The EUDR sets the framework; each member state sets the actual penalties. Article 25 requires maximum fines of at least 4% of a company’s total annual EU turnover, plus confiscation of goods and revenue and up to 12 months’ exclusion from public contracts. Most member states must also make intentional breaches a crime with prison terms of up to at least five years. As of mid-October 2026, most national penalty laws are still drafts, but that does not delay a company’s own obligations.
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Your defence against EUDR penalties is a documented file. EUDR Passport keeps every supplier request, assessment, decision and statement in one audit trail.
What every member state must provide
Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 asks for penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and lists what they must include:
- Fines proportionate to the environmental damage and the value of the products, with a maximum of at least 4% of the company’s total annual EU-wide turnover in the previous financial year, raised where needed to remove the economic benefit of the breach.
- Confiscation of the products concerned.
- Confiscation of revenue made from them.
- Temporary exclusion, for up to 12 months, from public procurement and from access to public funding.
- A temporary ban on placing, making available or exporting relevant products, for serious or repeated breaches.
- Loss of simplified due diligence for serious or repeated breaches.
Companies with final judgments against them can also be named on the Commission’s public list of infringements. For a company with €50 million in EU turnover, the maximum fine must be at least 4% of turnover, so the national maximum fine must be at least €2 million.
The criminal law layer
The Environmental Crime Directive, (EU) 2024/1203, makes placing EUDR products on the market or exporting them in breach of the regulation a criminal offence. Member states bound by it must set a maximum prison term of at least five years for intentional breaches. Ireland and Denmark are not bound, though Ireland’s draft law includes prison terms anyway.
Lawyers quoted in the trade press expect national courts to use prison sparingly. The point for compliance teams is different: in most member states, a knowingly non-compliant shipment is no longer only an administrative matter.
EUDR penalties by member state (status mid-October 2026)
Member state | Competent authority | Status of the national law | Penalties known so far |
|---|---|---|---|
Germany | Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), with Länder authorities for primary production | Government bill (Drucksache 21/8278) before the Bundestag; planned to apply from 30 December 2026 | Fines up to €100,000, or up to 4% of total turnover for companies; up to €20,000 for breaching control measures; prison up to 5 years for intentional breaches, up to 3 for gross negligence, up to 10 for particularly serious environmental damage |
Ireland | Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine | General Scheme published 7 August 2026, in pre-legislative scrutiny | On indictment, the greater of €10 million, 4% of EU turnover or the economic benefit gained; prison up to 3 years; some lesser offences carry only a Class A fine (up to €5,000) |
France | Joint authority: ministries for ecological transition and agriculture; customs at the border | EUDR customs procedure in place (document code C716 plus the DDS reference number) | National amounts not yet published; Article 25 requires a maximum of at least 4% |
Netherlands | NVWA, with Dutch Customs | Implementing bill (Kamerstuk 36518) adds administrative fines under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) | Fine levels not yet published; periodic penalty payments and cost recovery for repeat breaches possible |
Italy | Ministry of Agriculture (MASAF) and its ICQRF inspectorate; a forestry directorate for timber | Delegation granted in Law 91/2025; no legislative decree adopted yet | No national fine levels adopted yet; Article 25 requires a maximum of at least 4% |
Spain | Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO); a new state office against trade-related deforestation is planned, with regions checking the internal market | Draft law approved for processing in June 2025 | Amounts not yet adopted |
National laws are moving quickly. We will update this table as parliaments vote.
stopped shipment
The first of the EUDR penalties is a stopped shipment. No DDS reference number, no customs clearance. EUDR Passport files due diligence statements to TRACES with no fees per shipment.
No national law yet? You are still bound
The EUDR is a regulation, so it applies directly in every member state from 30 December 2026. A missing national penalty law does not suspend it. Authorities can still use the corrective measures the regulation itself sets out, such as ordering withdrawal or recall of non-compliant products, and late member states face infringement proceedings from the Commission.
The first penalty is a stopped shipment
Fines take investigations and decisions. A shipment without a valid due diligence statement reference number stops much sooner: at customs, before anyone discusses a fine. In France, for example, the customs declaration must carry document code C716 followed by the DDS reference number.
Checks are risk-based. Each year, competent authorities must check at least 1% of operators sourcing from low-risk countries, 3% from standard-risk countries and 9% from high-risk countries. Where you source from shapes how likely a check is; our guide to EUDR country risk classification explains the tiers.
How to keep the risk of EUDR penalties low
The defence in every country is the same: a documented due diligence file for each supply chain. That means supplier and plot data, a recorded risk assessment, evidence of how flagged risks were resolved, and statements kept for five years.
EUDR Passport keeps every supplier request, assessment, decision and statement in one audit trail that exports in one click for an inspection. Collecting supplier data is free; the risk assessment costs €90 per product profile per year, with unlimited due diligence statements to TRACES.
Not sure which obligations apply to you? Check your EUDR obligations in two minutes, or book a walkthrough.
Frequently asked questions
The regulation does not cap fines: each member state's maximum fine must be at least 4% of the company's total annual EU turnover. Ireland's draft goes further, with the greater of €10 million, 4% of EU turnover or the economic benefit gained.
In most member states, yes, for intentional breaches. The Environmental Crime Directive requires a maximum of at least five years. Germany's bill sets five years, and up to ten for particularly serious damage.
The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), with authorities in the Länder responsible for primary production, under the government bill now before the Bundestag.
No. Article 25 sets common requirements, including a maximum fine of at least 4%, but fine levels, criminal offences and enforcement bodies differ by member state.
Yes. The EUDR is directly applicable from 30 December 2026, whether or not national penalty rules are in place.
30 DECEMBER 2026
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