Croatian Forests Launch EUDR Portal with Geo-Data for Wood Processors

Croatian Forests (HŠ) are expected to fully implement a portal by the beginning of 2026, from which wood processors will be able to download geolocation data about the timber they procure in Croatia. This has been confirmed to Lider by Croatian Forests.

This application will allow buyers of timber from Croatia to easily fulfill part of their obligations under the EU Regulation on preventing deforestation (EUDR). The stringent and fresh EU regulation on deforestation obliges business entities engaged in wood processing, as well as those placing foreign wood on the common European market, to collect and store a range of data that will establish that the material does not originate from forests cut down after December 31, 2020.

What the Croatian Forests portal brings

– Croatian Forests are currently implementing one of the most technologically significant projects in recent years – the development of an integrated system for full compliance with the European Union Regulation on preventing deforestation (EUDR). In the second phase of the project, which is currently underway, field computers are being modernized, and the internal mobile application for forestry production is being upgraded to record all relevant data in the forest and send it to the central EUDR service and the basic production system, with business logic and validation carried out on a specially developed server system. This ensures rapid validation, precise linking of accompanying documents with the section, and secure communication – HŠ detailed in which phase of application development they are currently.

The beta version of the portal for wood processors will be available in October 2025, and HŠ expects the system to be fully implemented by January 1, 2026.

Integration with Internal Traceability Systems of Wood Processors

– The third phase of the project directly responds to the needs of wood processors and buyers – the development of a special portal for buyers is planned. The portal will provide transparent and easy access to relevant documents, including geolocation data and assigned DDS identifiers – they stated to Lider from HŠ.

Such solutions should enable market participants to relatively easily integrate mandatory data with their own traceability systems. However, as we have already reported, the Croatian wood sector is facing not only the challenges posed by the EUDR but also a crisis caused by the slowdown of the economy in the most important wood processing markets – Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

Also Affected: Coffee, Soy, Cocoa, Beef, Palm Oil, and Rubber

It is, however, favorable that Croatia is classified in the category of low-risk countries for deforestation, which should facilitate business for domestic producers and perhaps reduce the volume of new administrative obligations in the future. It should be noted that, in addition to wood and products created from its processing, the EUDR also covers coffee, soy, cocoa, beef, palm oil, wood, and rubber. Of course, products that can be obtained from them are included as well.