The EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products, known as the EUDR, will apply form 30 December 2026. Although it does not directly affect aquaculture farms, it may have implications for the traceability of certain plant-based raw materials used in feed manufacturing, including soya and palm, among others.
Adaptation will therefore be particularly relevant for feed manufacturers, suppliers of plant-based ingredients and aquaculture companies working with sustainability standards, certification schemes or markets with higher documentary requirements.
Large and medium-size operators will be the first required to comply with the EUDR at the end of this year. For micro and small operators, the regulation will apply form 30 June 2027.
The regulation forms part of the EU’s strategy to reduce the contribution of the Union market to global deforestation. In practice, it will require affected operators and traders to hold verifiable information on the origin of covered products, assess the risk of non-compliance and, where necessary, apply mitigation measures before placing them on the EU market or exporting them from the European Union.
Aquaculture feeds will be affected to the extent that their formulations include covered plant-based ingredients. Feed manufacturers will therefore need to demonstrate the origin of these raw materials, their traceability and the due diligence required to prove that they do not come from deforested or degraded area.
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