EUDR Annex I Product Scope Changes: What the May 2026 Delegated Act Adds, Removes, and Clarifies
Update - 13 July 2026: The delegated act described below as a draft was formally adopted on 13 July 2026. Two things changed since this article was written. First, the newly added products (soluble coffee, certain palm oil derivatives, frozen cattle tongues) do not face immediate obligations - they apply from 30 December 2027, a one-year phase-in after the general application date. Second, the adopted annex removes more than leather and retreaded tyres: it also deletes conveyor and transmission belts (
ex 4010) and other articles of vulcanised rubber (ex 4016), and narrows wooden seats (ex 9401, aircraft and motor-vehicle seats drop out) and soya beans (to1201 90 00, seed for sowing drops out). The act is now in the two-month Parliament and Council scrutiny period and is not yet published in the Official Journal, so the current Annex I remains legally binding until it is. For the final picture, see EUDR Annex I Final: What the 13 July 2026 Delegated Act Actually Decided.
The May 2026 EUDR simplification package covered a lot of ground on operator obligations - but tucked inside it was a separate, narrower instrument that matters just as much for many businesses: a draft delegated act that directly rewrites the product list in Annex I.
This post is about that list, and only that list: which goods are proposed in, which are proposed out, and what the Commission has explicitly clarified either way.
How Annex I Works - and Why CN Codes Are the Starting Point
Annex I is the master list at the back of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115. It names every product covered by the EUDR using Combined Nomenclature (CN) / HS customs codes. If your product's CN code appears in Annex I, the regulation applies to it. If it doesn't, it doesn't - regardless of what commodity it's made from.
That code-level precision matters enormously in practice. Roasted coffee beans and soluble coffee are both made from the same plant, but they carry different CN codes. Until this delegated act, only one of them was explicitly in scope.
Article 34(1) of the EUDR empowers the Commission to adapt Annex I - the list of relevant products - by means of delegated acts. The original impact assessment did not contain a detailed assessment of individual HS codes, and stakeholders quickly realised in practice that individual codes were missing, with the result that deforestation risk could be shifted from the regulated to the unregulated part of the supply chain.
The May 2026 draft is the Commission's attempt to close those gaps - and to remove codes where the compliance burden was judged disproportionate.
The draft delegated act amends Annex I with 17 new product codes added, 3 deleted, and 1 clarified.
What Is Being Added to Scope
The draft delegated act closes loopholes for coffee, beef, and palm oil, while specifying what is explicitly not covered - from reusable packaging to correspondence. The additions follow a clear theme: downstream and derivative products that were previously unregulated despite being made from in-scope commodities.
Soluble Coffee (Extracts, Essences and Concentrates)
Soluble coffee is an interesting case because, while roasted and green coffee beans have been included under the EUDR, soluble coffee had not been previously included - a former exclusion that resulted in what the Commission's report identifies as "a fragmented and incoherent approach for the coffee sector."
If soluble coffee remained out of scope, manufacturers could theoretically process "non-compliant" beans outside the EU and then import the finished instant coffee without the same level of due diligence. By including CN codes for soluble coffee and extracts, the Commission ensures that processed coffee products are held to the same deforestation-free requirements as raw beans, preventing a shift in production toward less-regulated regions.
An importer who brings roasted beans (always in scope) and soluble coffee (HS 2101 11 00) onto the market already carries out due diligence for the beans. With the delegated act, that due diligence must extend to the soluble coffee too, including traceability of the beans used back to the cultivation area.
Palm Oil Derivatives and Soap Products
The largest expansion concerns palm oil derivatives. The current Annex I covers palm oil and its direct fractions in a relatively straightforward way; the delegated act proposes adding a significant number of downstream chemical products synthesised using oil palm, including hydrogenated and chemically modified palm oil.
Notable additions include certain palm oil derivatives, including soap products containing or made using oil palm under CN codes 3401 11 00 and 3401 20.
One important distinction: in the case of composite products such as chocolate (HS 1806), where cocoa is the main product "linked" according to Annex I, due diligence would only relate to the cocoa components - not automatically to any palm oil derivatives contained, even if those derivatives are listed in Annex I in isolation. The scope of obligations therefore depends on whether the palm oil derivatives are imported as a relevant product in their own right or are part of another composite product.
Frozen Bovine (Cattle) Tongues
Frozen cattle tongues are proposed for addition with a view to preventing gaps and the relocation of deforestation risk. Cattle tongues were not previously listed in Annex I despite being a beef product, creating an inconsistency with other bovine cuts already in scope.
What Is Being Removed from Scope
Adopted-annex note: the May draft covered below listed leather and retreaded tyres. The adopted 13 July act removes more: it also deletes conveyor and transmission belts (
ex 4010) and other articles of vulcanised rubber (ex 4016- mats, seals, grommets, mounts), and narrows wooden seats (ex 9401) so that aircraft and motor-vehicle seats drop out. If you handle auto parts, homewares or industrial rubber, check the final analysis.
Bovine Hides, Skins and Leather
The most significant removal is cattle leather. The current Annex I includes raw hides (HS 4101), tanned hides (HS 4104), and further prepared leather (HS 4107) derived from cattle. All three entries are proposed for deletion, meaning leather goods and leather supply chains would no longer fall under EUDR obligations.
Industry arguments in favour of exclusion cite scientific evidence of a weak causal link between leather production and deforestation, with leather cited as a low-value byproduct of the food industry. Industry arguments also raise concerns about disproportionate compliance burdens and competitive disadvantage for EU tanneries relative to non-EU suppliers.
If adopted, this is a meaningful relief for fashion brands, footwear manufacturers, automotive interior suppliers, and anyone else importing or trading bovine leather into the EU.
Retreaded Tyres - Partial Removal
For retreaded tyres, EUDR obligations will in future apply only to the new tread, not the whole tyre. In the adopted act this is expressed as ex 4012 being replaced by 4012 90 30 - tyre treads only. The rubber in the new tread remains in scope, but the casing - which contains no new natural rubber - is no longer treated as a relevant product, and used tyres (4012 20) are out entirely. Companies in the tyre retreading sector should map which portion of their product's CN code relates to the new tread material.
This is a draft, not current law. The delegated act was published for public consultation on 4 May 2026; the feedback period closed on 1 June 2026. It is now pending formal adoption by the Commission and a scrutiny period by the European Parliament and Council. The final adopted text may differ from the draft. Do not treat removals as confirmed until the act is published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Explicit Exclusions and Clarifications
Beyond the specific additions and removals, the draft act codifies a set of horizontal exclusions that have been sources of confusion.
The legal act specifies what is explicitly not covered: waste, used and second-hand products, samples, packaging of any material including reusable packaging, marketing material and correspondence.
For paper and pulp, the delegated act proposes to exclude items of correspondence and marketing and information materials from chapters 47 and 48. In practical terms, this means paper-based communications, brochures, catalogues, and similar materials fall outside the scope of EUDR obligations, whether they ship alongside a product or are distributed independently.
Packing materials and containers currently are only exempt when used to support, protect, or carry another product placed on the market. However, packing materials and containers clearly suitable for repetitive use are often re-exported or made available on the market as a product on their own - the draft act clarifies that such reusable packaging does not fall within scope.
The act also specifies the species boundaries for cattle, palm oil, and rubber, as well as the list of non-relevant woody materials such as bamboo, rattan, and lime bark.
| Product / Category | Proposed Change | Sectors Affected | Key Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soluble coffee, extracts & concentrates (HS 2101 11 00) | ➕ Added | Coffee, food & beverage | Closes loophole vs. roasted beans already in scope |
| Palm oil oleochemical derivatives | ➕ Added | Chemicals, personal care, industrial | Applies when imported as standalone product |
| Soap bars/flakes with palm oil (CN 3401 11 00, 3401 20) | ➕ Added | Consumer goods, retail | Composite product rule applies |
| Frozen bovine tongues | ➕ Added | Meat, food processing | Closes gap vs. other bovine cuts in scope |
| Bovine hides, skins & leather (HS 4101, 4104, 4107) | ➖ Removed | Fashion, footwear, automotive interiors | Full removal proposed; not yet final |
| Retreaded tyres (new tread only) | ➖ Partial removal | Automotive, transport | Obligation now applies to new tread rubber only |
| Waste, used & second-hand products | ✅ Clarified out | All sectors | Explicitly excluded across all commodities |
| Samples / test products | ✅ Clarified out | All sectors | Must be consumed/destroyed or held for compliance purposes |
| Packaging (incl. reusable) | ✅ Clarified out | All sectors | Both single-use and reusable packaging excluded |
| Marketing materials & correspondence | ✅ Clarified out | Paper, pulp (Ch. 47–48) | Brochures, catalogues, letters excluded |
| Bamboo, rattan, lime bark | ✅ Clarified out | Timber, wood products | Non-relevant woody materials explicitly listed |
Status: Adopted 13 July 2026, Now in Scrutiny
The Commission published the draft delegated act amending the list of in-scope products in Annex I of the EUDR, noting that it intends to introduce "limited and targeted technical fixes" to provide certainty on the products that fall within scope. The draft was open for a four-week public feedback period, until 1 June 2026, and was then formally adopted on 13 July 2026.
As a delegated act, this document does not require a full legislative vote. Now that it has been adopted, both the European Parliament and the Council have a scrutiny period of typically two months (extendable) during which either can object, after which it is published in the Official Journal.
The Annex I delegated act was adopted by the Commission on 13 July 2026 and is now in the Parliament and Council scrutiny period. It is not yet published in the Official Journal, so the current Annex I remains legally binding until it is.
The final text may still differ - particularly on contested points like leather, where the proposed exclusion drew organised feedback during the consultation period, with campaigns both supporting and opposing the proposal.
Crucially, the adopted act does provide a phase-in for the additions: newly added products (soluble coffee, certain palm oil derivatives, frozen cattle tongues) apply from 30 December 2027, one year after the general 30 December 2026 application date. That gives companies newly in scope for the first time - such as importers of soluble coffee or certain palm oil derivatives - roughly 17 months from adoption to prepare, rather than the immediate obligations an earlier draft reading implied.
How to Check Whether You're Now In or Out of Scope
The Commission has confirmed it will not reopen the text of the EUDR, so companies should continue preparing for the 30 December 2026 application date (or 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators). The product scope changes don't shift those deadlines - they shift who those deadlines apply to.
Identify the exact Combined Nomenclature codes for every product you import, place on the EU market, or export. The scope question is answered at code level, not commodity level.
Check whether any of your codes appear in the 17 additions (soluble coffee, palm oil derivatives, soap, frozen bovine tongues) or the 3 deletions (bovine hides HS 4101, 4104, 4107). Use the table above as a quick reference.
If palm oil derivatives appear in your product as an ingredient rather than as the primary commodity, check whether you are importing them as a standalone relevant product or as part of a composite. The obligation differs.
Do not treat the draft as final law. Flag any scope changes in your compliance documentation as provisional until the act is published in the Official Journal of the EU.
If you are newly in scope, start geolocation and traceability conversations with suppliers now. There is no transitional period built into the draft — the clock starts at publication.
Watch for formal adoption and publication. The Commission's Have Your Say portal and the EUDR Navigator updates page are the fastest ways to track progress.
Application deadlines remain unchanged: 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators, and 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators. Products newly added by the July 2026 delegated act apply from 30 December 2027.
Not sure whether your specific product code falls inside the current Annex I? Our free scope checker maps your CN code against the regulation in plain English - no sign-up required.
The Annex I delegated act is narrower than the broader simplification narrative, but for businesses in coffee processing, oleochemicals, soap manufacturing, the leather trade, or tyre retreading, it is the most consequential document in the May 2026 package. Map your codes now, treat the current Annex I as binding until the Official Journal publication, and see our final analysis of the adopted act for the complete picture.
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