Preparedness check of Liberia for the EU Deforestation Regulation

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), in force since June 2023, prohibits placing coffee and other commodities on the EU market unless they are deforestation-free, legally produced, and supported by due diligence and traceability information. Its main obligations will apply from December 2026, with extended timelines for small operators. 

This preparedness check aims at providing an overview of existing policies, tools and data in Liberia that could support cocoa operators’ EUDR due diligence efforts, as well as identifying outstanding challenges for the compliance of the Liberian cocoa supply chain. While the responsibility for compliance lies solely with cocoa operators, national supply chain policies and tools can play an essential role in facilitating due diligence. This paper provides a state of play, as of February 2025, of the cocoa sector when it comes to chain of custody traceability, deforestation and legality and standards.