The state that due diligence must reach: on the basis of the information collected and the risk assessment, there is no or only negligible cause for concern that the product is not deforestation-free or was not produced legally. The term is defined in Art. 2(26) of the EUDR.
As long as the risk cannot be classified as negligible, an affected product may not be placed on the EU market or exported.
What does "negligible" mean?
Negligible does not mean "zero", but so low that, after a careful assessment, no reasonable doubts remain about deforestation-free status and legality. The EUDR therefore does not require absolute zero risk, but a robust, documented assessment that the requirements are met. The benchmark is in particular whether the plot of production was deforested after 31 December 2020 and whether production was legal.
How is the risk assessed?
The risk is determined as part of the risk assessment – the second step of due diligence. Factors that play a role include:
- the country of production and its risk classification
- the precision and plausibility of the geolocation data
- the complexity of the supply chain
- available evidence such as FSC/PEFC or FLEGT
What if the risk is not negligible?
If it turns out that the risk is above "negligible", the third step applies: risk mitigation. Additional measures must then be taken – such as obtaining further evidence, refining geolocation data or auditing suppliers – until the risk is reduced to a negligible level.
Tip: Document how you arrived at the "negligible" assessment. The authority – in Germany the BLE – can request your assessment, and the documents must be retained for five years.
Who is affected?
The threshold applies to every operator who carries out due diligence themselves and files a due diligence statement – for example importers or forest owners making a direct sale. Only once negligible risk has been established may the statement be submitted via TRACES NT. Traders and downstream operators do not carry out their own risk assessment, but must check where there is substantiated concern and may only pass goods on where the risk is negligible.
Relationship to other obligations
Negligible risk is the goal of the entire due diligence process and the precondition for the due diligence statement. It thus connects all the other terms in the glossary: without precise geolocation data and a sound assessment, it cannot be substantiated.