EUDR operator vs trader

An operator first places relevant products on the EU market or exports them. A trader makes them available

Direct answer. In the consolidated text of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, CELEX 02023R1115-20251226, Article 2(15) defines an operator as any natural or legal person who, in the course of a commercial activity, places relevant products on the market or exports them, excluding downstream operators. Article 2(16) defines placing on the market as the first making available of a relevant commodity or relevant product on the Union market. Article 2(17) defines a trader as any person in the supply chain other than the operator or downstream operator who, in the course of a commercial activity, makes relevant products available on the market. Article 2(18) defines making available as any supply for distribution, consumption, or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether paid or free of charge. Article 4 requires the operator to exercise due diligence under Article 8 before placing or exporting, and not to place or export without prior submission of a due diligence statement. Article 5 is the duty set for downstream operators and traders: collect and keep supply-chain information, including a due diligence statement reference number or declaration identifier only when the supplier is an operator, for at least five years. Application dates are the scope guide. This page is not legal advice.

EUDR Records Manager (Shopify App Store · Write a review) keeps a supplier and commodity-lot registry with DDS reference numbers per product. The listing does not say the app submits a due diligence statement or decides whether you are an operator or a trader. What a statement contains is the due diligence statement example.

Related: CRALedger Duty Records — CRA duty records before an Article 14 incident. Does not file ENISA notifications.

Free check first: EUDR product scope check runs in your browser and sends nothing. Type a product or HS code and see which EUDR Annex I lines it may touch.

Checklist before you pick a role

Due diligence, the statement, and what a trader keeps

Article 4(1) says operators shall exercise due diligence in accordance with Article 8 prior to placing relevant products on the market or exporting them, in order to prove that the products comply with Article 3. Article 8(1) repeats that prior due diligence for operators. Article 8(2) says due diligence includes the Article 9 information, the Article 10 risk assessment, and the Article 11 risk mitigation. Article 4(2) says operators shall not place relevant products on the market or export them without prior submission of a due diligence statement, and that operators who conclude the products comply shall, before placing or exporting, make that statement available to the competent authorities through the information system. Article 4(3) says operators shall keep a record of the due diligence statements for five years from the date the statement is submitted. Article 4(7) says operators shall communicate to downstream operators and traders further down the supply chain the reference numbers of the due diligence statements or, if applicable, the declaration identifiers associated to those products. What the statement fields look like is the statement example. This page does not redraw Annex II.

Article 5(1) says downstream operators and traders shall place or make available on the market or export relevant products only if they are in possession of the information required under Article 5(3). That information is the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, the postal address, the email address and, if available, a web address of the operators, downstream operators, or the traders who have supplied the relevant products, and — only in the event that their supplier is an operator — the reference numbers of the due diligence statements or the declaration identifiers associated to those products; plus the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, the postal address, the email address and, if available, a web address of the downstream operators or the traders to whom they have supplied the relevant products. Article 5(4) says they keep that information for at least five years from placing, making available, or export, and provide it to the competent authorities upon request. Article 5 does not say a trader submits a new due diligence statement.

What the consolidated text says about smaller operators and non-SME traders

Article 2(30) defines micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, by reference to Article 3(1), Article 3(2), first subparagraph, and Article 3(3) of Directive 2013/34/EU. This page does not copy that directive’s thresholds.

Article 2(15a) defines a micro or small primary operator as an operator who is a natural person or a micro-undertaking or small undertaking, established in a country classified as low risk under Article 29, and who places on the market or exports relevant products that this operator itself has grown, harvested, obtained from, or raised on relevant plots of land or, for cattle, on establishments located in that country. Article 4a(1) says the obligations in Article 4(2), the second sentence of Article 4(3), and Article 4(4), point (c), shall not apply to those operators. Article 4a(2) says they submit a one-time simplified declaration in the information system before placing or exporting, and are assigned a declaration identifier. Article 4a(5) says, for those operators, the geolocation in Article 9(1), point (d), may be replaced by the postal address of all plots of land or the postal address of the establishment from which the relevant commodities that the relevant product contains, or has been made using, were produced. Plot and polygon rules for everyone else are EUDR geolocation.

Article 5(2) says downstream operators that are not SMEs (‘non-SME downstream operators’) and traders that are not SMEs (‘non-SME traders’) shall register in the information system prior to placing, making available, or exporting. Article 5(6) is also limited to non-SME downstream operators and non-SME traders: if they obtain information indicating a product is not in compliance, before they place, make available, or export, they shall immediately inform the competent authorities, and in the case of substantiated concerns they shall verify that due diligence was exercised and that no or only a negligible risk was found. They shall not place, make available, or export unless that verification demonstrates no or only a negligible risk of non-compliance. The other paragraphs of Article 5 are addressed to downstream operators and traders without that non-SME limit.

Online sale: first placing, or a later supply

The role follows the definitions, not the fact that the sale is online. The person who first makes the relevant product available on the Union market, or who exports it, and who is not a downstream operator, is the operator in Article 2(15) and Article 2(16). A person who places or exports products made using relevant products that are all already covered by a due diligence statement or a simplified declaration is a downstream operator under Article 2(15b). A person who supplies the product further, and who is neither of those, is a trader under Article 2(17). Article 7 adds one deeming rule: if a natural or legal person established outside the Union places relevant products on the market, the first natural or legal person established in the Union who makes those products available on the market shall be deemed an operator. This page does not add a shop type, a marketplace, or a drop-ship story on top of those sentences.

When the duties apply is EUDR scope: 2026 vs mid-2027. This page does not restate those dates.

What this page is not

Related pages

Not legal advice. Confirm Articles 2, 4, 4a, 5, 7, and 8 on the live consolidated text before you treat a seller as an operator or a trader. The app stores records you enter. It does not submit a due diligence statement.