The AHA Platform delivers geolocation data to identify the counties where U.S. hardwoods contained in consignments are derived. AHEC and AHA believe that county geolocation should be considered to ensure compliance with the objectives and requirements of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 (“EU Deforestation Regulation” or “EUDR”) for U.S. hardwoods exports to the EU.

The joint AHEC/AHA paper summarises the legal and technical justification for this position. The paper is based on in-depth technical work undertaken over two years starting in 2023 by AHEC to develop the AHA Platform, and on advice and recommendations provided between July and September 2025 by AHEC’s external counsel, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (CGSH).

There are reasonable legal arguments in the context of EU law for departing from an interpretation of the notion of “plot of land” laid down in Article 2(27) EUDR as one based on a “single real-estate property” for hardwoods originating in the United States, a country recognised by the European Commission (EC) to pose “negligible risk to global deforestation”.

The AHA county-level interpretation of the EUDR’s geolocation requirement for U.S. hardwoods avoids conflict with certain supra-legislative sources of EU law. These include the general principles of proportionality, the freedom to conduct a business, and the fundamental right to the protection of personal data, as well as international trade law agreements binding upon the EU. It also preserves the effectiveness of the EUDR’s geolocation data requirements and ensures fulfilment of EUDR objectives in the context of U.S. hardwoods.

AHEC and AHA are calling on the EC to amend EUDR guidance to provide for formal recognition of county geolocations for U.S. hardwoods, drawing on the legal and technical arguments summarised in this paper.

Nevertheless, users of the AHA Platform and their customers should be aware that, until such time as EC formal guidance is amended to take account of these arguments, there is no guarantee that EU regulators will accept the interpretation of EU law set out in the joint AHEC/AHA position statement, or that the recipients of consignments supported by AHA Statements will not be subject to legal sanction for failure to provide geolocation data in accordance with a strict interpretation of the text of EUDR and current EC guidance.