EUDR: Impact on India Coffee, Rubber and Leather Exports to EU

EUDR (EU 2023/1115) requires operators to ensure their products: (a) have not been produced on land deforested after 31 December 2020, and (b) are produced in compliance with relevant laws of the country of production. Regulated commodities: cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, wood, rubber, and derived products including leather, chocolate, paper, furniture, and tyres.

Indian coffee exporters: India exports USD 800M+ in coffee to EU annually. Under EUDR, Indian coffee exporters must geo-locate coffee plots with GPS coordinates, demonstrate plots were not established through post-2020 deforestation using satellite monitoring evidence, provide compliance declarations through EU TRACES portal, and verify compliance with Indian environmental and land use laws.

Indian rubber exporters: Kerala dominates Indian rubber production. Indian rubber and rubber products (tyres, latex goods) fall under EUDR. The challenge: Kerala rubber cultivation is longstanding but plot-level geo-location documentation systems are not universally established across smallholder farmers who dominate Indian rubber production.

Indian leather exporters: India is the world third-largest leather exporter. Leather as a cattle-derived product is covered by EUDR. Indian leather manufacturers must trace hides and skins to cattle farms and verify those farms are not on deforested land — requiring supply chain transparency back to the farm level.

Action required now: Identify which products fall under EUDR scope. Map supply chain to farm or plantation level. Register on EU TRACES NT portal. Implement geo-location for key sourcing areas. Engage with EU buyers EUDR compliance coordinators.