How to Navigate EUDR Soy Compliance in 2025

Soy is everywhere in global agriculture, but it’s also one of the main reasons forests are disappearing. That’s why the EU has decided to crack down. If you’re moving soy into or out of the EU, you now have to prove where it came from and show that it wasn’t grown on land cleared after 2020.

But this isn’t just paperwork. It means building systems that can trace soy back to the farm, handle messy supply chains, and flag problems when the data doesn’t add up. Whether you’re the first importer or part of a longer chain, the new rules expect you to take compliance seriously and stay on top of the details. So, what does that actually involve? Let’s walk through it.

Why Soy Is Under the EU’s Spotlight

Soy turns up in a lot of products – animal feed, oil, meat substitutes, even biodiesel. But its production, especially in places like Brazil and Argentina, is linked to huge amounts of deforestation. That’s the big issue the EU is trying to address.

The EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) came into play in 2023, and now anyone trading soy has to prove it wasn’t grown on land cleared after December 31, 2020. This applies whether you’re dealing with raw beans or processed oil. If your product’s going into the EU, you can’t skip this step.

What the EUDR Expects from Soy Traders

The EUDR isn’t just a generic sustainability checklist. It sets out specific expectations and timelines that traders and operators must follow.

Here’s what you need to have in place:

• Accurate geolocation data for all soy production sites
• Full traceability across the entire supply chain, back to the farm
• Proof of legality from the country of origin
  Evidence of zero deforestation since the 2020 cut-off date
• A due diligence system that can assess and manage risk
• Submission of a due diligence statement (DDS) before import or export

If you’re the first to place soy on the EU market, you’re considered an operator under the regulation. Everyone else involved in the trade or resale is classified as a trader and still has reporting obligations.

Which Soy Products Fall Under the Regulation?

The EUDR doesn’t just apply to whole soybeans. It covers a wide list of soy-derived products, and each one must meet the same compliance requirements.

Products include:

• Whole soybeans, with or without shells
• Soybean flour and meal
• Soybean oil (refined or crude, but not chemically modified)
• Oilcakes and solid residues from soybean oil extraction

No matter how processed the product is, it must be traceable to the original farm plot.

Traceability Isn’t Easy, Especially for Soy

The soy supply chain is messy by nature. It starts with thousands of smallholder farmers and ends in bulk exports from crushing plants and ports. Along the way, soy from different farms is often mixed. That’s where the real compliance challenges begin.

In a typical scenario:

1. Soy is harvested from many farms and brought to a local silo
2. It’s mixed with other loads during transport or storage
3. It gets crushed, refined, or further processed
4. By the time it’s exported, the origin data might be gone

To stay compliant, companies must put systems in place to prevent mixing or at least track each load separately. This may involve using segregated silos, clear batch coding, and a first-in-first-out approach at storage facilities.

What Good Geolocation Data Looks Like

The regulation is very clear: every soy shipment must be linked to precise geolocation coordinates. That means providing either:

• Point coordinates (latitude and longitude) for small plots
• Polygon boundaries for larger or irregular fields

But collecting this data isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. Some small farmers don’t have GPS equipment. Others may give approximate or outdated coordinates. In remote areas, map accuracy is also a problem.

Here’s what strong geolocation practices should include:

• Validated coordinates with no overlaps or inconsistencies
• Regular satellite monitoring for land-use changes
• Local verification teams to check field boundaries
• Centralized databases to store farm-level data

Building a Real Due Diligence System

A due diligence system isn’t just a document. It’s an ongoing process for identifying risks and making sure your soy stays compliant.

To build one, you’ll need to:

1. Map out your entire supply chain, including intermediaries
2. Collect legal proof, like land tenure documents and farming permits
3. Assess the risk using real-world factors, like:
   
   • Country risk scores
   • Proximity to protected or forested areas
   • Presence of Indigenous communities
   • Historical deforestation trends
     
4. Set up mitigation plans to deal with any red flags

Mitigation might involve field audits, remote sensing tools, or even switching suppliers in extreme cases.

What Happens When You Find a Risk?

Let’s say you identify soy coming from an area with a history of deforestation. Or maybe a supplier can’t prove land rights. The regulation doesn’t expect perfection, but it does require action.

You’ll need to:

• Ask for more documentation
• Delay or block the shipment
• Commission a local inspection
• Work with suppliers on corrective steps
• Flag the load as high risk in your system

Only once the risk is reduced to “negligible” can you submit your due diligence statement.

Submitting the Due Diligence Statement (DDS)

Once your data checks out, you’re required to submit a DDS to the EU’s centralized system. This statement includes:

• Commodity details
• Geolocation coordinates
• Documentation of legality
• Confirmation of zero deforestation
• Description of your due diligence process

After submission, you’ll get a reference number that must be used during customs clearance. If you can’t produce that number, your shipment could be delayed or rejected.

Ongoing Monitoring: It Doesn’t Stop After One Shipment

EUDR compliance isn’t a one-time thing. It requires continuous monitoring, especially for high-volume or high-risk supply chains.

Best practices for long-term monitoring include:

• Regular satellite imagery checks on known farm plots
• Routine supplier updates and re-verification
• System alerts for land-use changes or flagged areas
• Annual risk re-evaluations and updates to your DDS

Some platforms even integrate these features automatically, helping you spot compliance gaps in real time.

Supporting Smallholders Without Losing Compliance

Many soy traders rely on smallholder producers. But these producers are often the least equipped to provide the required documentation or coordinate data.

Instead of cutting them out, companies should consider:

• Offering training on mapping and documentation
• Helping digitize their field records
• Using mobile tools for geolocation collection
• Creating shared compliance platforms that multiple buyers can access

This not only helps with EUDR alignment, but also strengthens long-term supply partnerships.

Helpful Tools That Can Speed Things Up

When it comes to EUDR soy compliance, we’ve seen firsthand how complex and time-consuming the process can get. That’s exactly why we built our platform – to make things simpler, faster, and more accurate for businesses of all sizes.

A Conformità EUDR, we help you streamline the entire compliance workflow with automated satellite-based monitoring, traceability insights, and real-time risk assessments. Instead of chasing down farm coordinates or manually checking supplier documentation, our system brings it all together in one place. You get a clear view of your soy supply chain, down to the field level, with verified geolocation data and sustainability metrics you can trust.

We designed our platform to be both accessible and affordable, so you don’t need a huge team or complex tech to stay on top of EUDR requirements. Whether you’re dealing with raw soybeans or processed oil, we make it easy to collect the right data, assess risks, and generate due diligence reports that meet EU standards. Everything is built around accuracy, transparency, and helping you avoid costly mistakes.

Our system also handles:

• Automated collection of geolocation and origin data
• Smart field-level risk scoring
• Built-in compliance reporting tools with unique DDS reference numbers
• Simple dashboards for ongoing monitoring and updates

And we know EUDR compliance doesn’t end after one shipment. That’s why we support ongoing monitoring, with tools that adapt as your supply chain evolves. From small operators to large traders, we help you move from reactive to proactive compliance.

Of course, there are other platforms out there like Meridia Verify, LiveEO, and Osapiens HUB – and each has its strengths. But if you’re looking for a solution that’s smart, reliable, and easy to get started with, we’d be happy to walk you through how our tools can fit into your workflow.

Final Thoughts

The EUDR is here, and it’s not going away. For soy traders, exporters, and processors, the time to act is now. Whether you’re dealing with raw beans or processed oil, you need traceability, geolocation, legal proof, and a strong due diligence system.

It’s not just about avoiding penalties. It’s about staying competitive in a market where deforestation risks are under the microscope. Companies that get ahead now won’t just meet the requirements. They’ll be ready for whatever comes next.

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