The EUDR: Five readiness steps for relationship managers

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is due to apply from the end of 2026. Whilst the regulation has been subject to several delays and changes, the direction of travel is clear: companies trading forest-risk commodities will increasingly need to demonstrate where their products come from and that their supply chains are free from deforestation.

For banks, preparation should not wait. Relationship managers (RMs) are particularly well placed to understand how clients are responding and where risks, or opportunities for support, are emerging.

Our first piece explored why the EUDR matters for banks – the risks it creates and the opportunities it opens. This piece turns to what that means in day-to-day client work, broken down into five practical steps relationship managers can take.

Missed the first piece? Our earlier blog looks at why the EUDR matters for banks — the risks it creates and the opportunities it opens.

Read the blog

ZSL’s EUDR Guide for Relationship Managers sets out five practical steps for client engagement. These steps are outlined below:

1. Raise Awareness

Start by establishing whether clients understand how the EUDR could affect them. This matters beyond companies directly regulated in the EU. Producers and suppliers elsewhere may need to provide EU buyers with detailed traceability and legality information to maintain market access.

One approach is to simply ask whether clients know if they are directly or indirectly affected or how they are preparing their supply chains. Whether responsibility for EUDR preparedness has been assigned to a named employee or team internally is also a strong signal of how far along a client is.

2. Build the Business Case for Action

EUDR preparedness is not simply a compliance exercise. The consequences of no action, including fines and loss of EU market access, are genuine financial, legal and reputational risks. Conversely, early action can strengthen supply-chain resilience, maintain access to key markets and create opportunities for sustainable finance.

RMs can help clients identify both sides of that equation, including whether they need financial or technical support to strengthen traceability and compliance systems.

3. Incentivise Due Diligence and EUDR Compliance

Information collection, risk assessment and risk mitigation measures are particularly important areas in which to understand how far clients have progressed, and where risks remain. Clients should be actively developing the ability to trace relevant commodities to their origin, assess deforestation and legality risks, and act where risks are identified.

For RMs, the objective is not to audit compliance. It is to ask informed questions, understand preparedness and identify where further support or scrutiny may be required.

4. Promote Collaboration

Deforestation does not stop at the boundary of an individual company’s supply chain. Industry platforms, landscape initiatives and collaboration with producers, governments and civil society can help address shared challenges such as traceability, monitoring and smallholder inclusion. RMs can encourage clients to explore where collective action could strengthen both EUDR preparedness and longer-term supply-chain resilience.

5. Monitor Progress

Finally, monitoring EUDR preparedness should be part of ongoing client engagement. RMs can track improvements in traceability and risk mitigation through periodic reviews, while sharing relevant insights with sustainability, risk and compliance teams. Over time, these conversations can help banks understand not only individual clients but emerging patterns of risk and opportunity across their portfolios.

Time to prepare

With the EUDR due to apply from the end of 2026, companies and financial institutions should be preparing now. Relationship managers can play a practical role by raising awareness, assessing client readiness and identifying where further action or support is needed.