Proactively overcome the EUDR "barrier"

Complying with the European Union - EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is considered a "vital" requirement for the Dak Lak coffee industry in the 2025 - 2026 crop year. Instead of passively waiting, the province has taken drastic action, directing functional sectors and localities to accelerate information transparency, considering this not only a "barrier" to overcome but also an opportunity to restructure the industry in a sustainable direction.

Báo Đắk Lắk•05/11/2025

The new coffee crop year begins in a market context with many favorable prices, but also faces increasingly stringent requirements from importing countries. The largest of these is the EUDR, expected to be applied in the near future. This regulation strictly prohibits the import of goods, including coffee, if they are related to areas that cause deforestation or forest degradation after December 31, 2020. This is a mandatory requirement, creating great pressure on an industry where up to 90% of the production area is small-scale farming households like in Dak Lak .

However, with the province's initiative and pioneering actions from enterprises and cooperatives, Dak Lak coffee industry is firmly consolidating its position as the "coffee capital" in the international market. A typical example is 2/9 Import Export Company Limited (Simexco Daklak), the first enterprise in Vietnam as well as in the world to be granted two 4C-EUDR Certificates by the 4C Association, with a total area of 9,437 hectares. This result proves that Dak Lak coffee can completely meet the most stringent standards when there is a close connection between enterprises and farmers.

Not only large enterprises, cooperatives are also proactively implementing solutions to meet EUDR. For example, Cu Sue 2-9 Sustainable Agriculture Cooperative (Quang Phu commune), although newly established in 2021 with 169 participating households (of which 95 are ethnic minority households), the cooperative has identified product traceability as a vital requirement in the context of global economic integration.

Drying specialty coffee at a business in the province.

Mr. Dang Dau Thanh, Director of Cu Sue 2-9 Sustainable Agriculture Cooperative, said that the unit has 175 hectares, with an average annual output of about 210 tons of kernels. With the support of partners (IDH, JDE Peets, Simexco Daklak) and local authorities, the Cooperative has conducted surveys and collected information for 100% of its members. Key data such as GPS locations, garden information, farm household information, etc. are all fully collected, ready to meet EUDR.

According to Ms. Phan Thi Van, Director of IDH Vietnam Coffee Program, IDH is implementing a Sustainable Landscape Coffee Program in Dak Lak with a scale of 94,432 hectares, focusing on responsible production, reducing emissions and meeting new standards of the European market such as EUDR or CSRD (Corporate Sustainable Development Reporting Directive).

To date, the program has achieved many remarkable results: 153,000 farmers have improved their sustainable production capacity; 74 models of land cover management; 168 commitments to forest protection; 1.5 million coffee trees have been replanted and 580,000 intercropped trees have been supported. In addition, 18 cooperatives and 20 agricultural service teams have been established, thousands of acres of land and coffee beans have been analyzed, and chemical residues have been controlled.

With the participation of large enterprises such as Simexco Daklak, Dakman Intimex, Sucden Coffee, Nedspices, Chanh Thu, and technical support from IDH and JDE Peets, the landscape approach model is gradually being replicated, aiming at the goal of "green coffee - green livelihood" for farmers in Dak Lak in particular and the Central Highlands in general.

The 2025-2026 coffee crop year can be considered a year of transformation. The EUDR regulation, although a barrier, is pushing the Dak Lak coffee industry in the right direction: responsible production, transparency in traceability and sustainable development.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung said that according to the national risk classification list published by the European Commission - EC, Vietnam is classified in the "low risk" group. However, this does not change the legal obligations for exporters from Vietnam, enterprises must still fully comply with all EUDR requirements. Currently, the EC is considering postponing the application of EUDR for another year (until December 30, 2026). The one-year extension creates an important "buffer", helping Vietnamese coffee enterprises have more time to review the supply chain, invest in traceability technology and strengthen EUDR compliance capacity. To meet EUDR requirements, with partners in the supply chain, enterprises need to stick to the growing area, produce sustainably certified coffee, build digital maps, and trace the origin to each farmer. And the solution is to build a database of growing areas linked to forest maps. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has committed to soon develop and issue a "Guideline for compliance with the EUDR Regulation" for the coffee industry so that localities, enterprises and components participating in the export chain to the European market can implement it.

In Dak Lak - the "coffee capital" of the country, adaptation to EUDR is identified as a key task. The province's plan is to deploy to meet the demand of about 150,000 hectares. The province will continue to coordinate with the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, along with organizations, especially IDH and enterprises to continue building a database related to forestry planning; conduct propaganda, mobilization, and at the same time handle cases of households encroaching on forests to grow coffee.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/kinh-te/202511/chu-dong-vuot-rao-can-eudr-981008a/