The due diligence statement is filed in the EU Information System before a covered product is placed on the EU market or exported. The submission itself is short; the work is in the preparation. This page walks through both, so you know what must be ready before anyone signs in to submit.
A practical preparation workflow
- 1
Collect the Article 9 information: product, CN code, quantity, country, plots, and suppliers.
- 2
Complete the risk assessment and mitigate any identified risk to a negligible level.
- 3
Submit through the Information System with EU Login and record the DDS reference number.
What must be finished before the DDS
A due diligence statement declares that due diligence was exercised, so the due diligence itself comes first. Under the regulation that means three blocks: the Article 9 information set (description, trade name, CN code, quantity, country of production, geolocation of all plots, production period, supplier and owner identities, and legality evidence), the Article 8 risk assessment covering deforestation risk, legality risk, and supply-chain complexity, and, where risk was identified, mitigation measures such as additional documents, independent surveys, audits, or testing until the risk is negligible. Filing a DDS without these blocks being reviewable is the failure mode regulators look for first.
The EU Information System and EU Login
Statements are submitted in the Information System established for the EUDR, which runs on the TRACES platform. Access requires an EU Login account, and organisations nominate authorised representatives who are allowed to act for them. Before the first submission, confirm who in your company holds EU Login credentials, that the organisation registration is correct, and whether a customs broker or authorised representative will submit on your behalf. The system itself guides you through screens, but it cannot tell you whether the underlying data is defensible.
What the DDS asks for
The statement covers the description of the products including trade name and CN code, the quantities, the country or countries of production, the geolocation of all plots of land with production dates, the names and addresses of suppliers and of the owners where different, the reference numbers of any earlier statements being relied upon for subsequent shipments, and the declaration that due diligence was exercised. For cattle, the geolocation of establishments replaces plots. For wood, species and harvest details matter. Each value should trace back to confirmed case evidence, not to an unreviewed spreadsheet.
The reference number and customs
Once accepted, the Information System issues a DDS reference number. The number connects the customs declaration to the due diligence behind it, and downstream buyers may ask for it, since traders can rely on an upstream operator's statement. Record the number, the submission timestamp, the submitter identity, and the exact evidence versions behind the filed values in the case file, so a later audit can reconstruct what was submitted and why.
Corrections, rejections, and reviews
If an operator learns that a filed statement was incorrect, the regulation requires rectification through the system without delay. Competent authorities can reject or revoke reference numbers, for example when geolocation is missing or inconsistent, the product falls outside scope, or the declaration is unsupported. A rejection surfaces at the worst possible moment: with goods held at customs. The practical defence is a preflight that checks completeness and conflicts before submission, which is what the free DDS Preflight on this site does.
How Filovara fits the manual submission
Filovara does not submit for anyone. It prepares the submission: confirmed values mapped to DDS fields, validated geolocation files, evidence indexes, open-issue lists, and a frozen Filing Pack that shows exactly which version of every fact was filed. An authorised user then signs in to the Information System, transfers the prepared values, submits, and records the official receipt back into the case.
What to check
- Product description and CN code confirmed
- Geolocation complete for every plot
- Risk assessment conclusion recorded
- Reference number stored with the case
This page summarizes the submission workflow; it is not legal advice, and the Information System interface can change.
Questions teams ask
When must the DDS be submitted?
Before the covered product is placed on the EU market or exported, and the reference number must be available for the customs declaration.
Can someone else submit for my company?
Yes, authorised representatives can act for an organisation, and a broker can be mandated; the due diligence responsibility stays with the operator.
Does the DDS need geolocation for every plot?
Yes, latitude and longitude for all plots of land where the relevant commodities were produced, points or polygons depending on plot size.
What happens if a filed DDS turns out to be wrong?
The operator must rectify the statement through the Information System without delay once aware of the failure.
Is Filovara a submission service?
No. Filovara prepares reviewable DDS materials and the evidence pack; the authorised user submits manually and records the receipt.