BIC Publishes its EUDR Guidance
Press Release
Thursday 14th August 2025
London, UK
BIC Publishes its EUDR Guidance
Book Industry Communication (BIC) today announced the publication of its European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) Guidance. The EUDR regulations come into effect at the end of 2025 and require that seven commodities (cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, wood, rubber, and cattle, and their derivatives) are deforestation or land degradation free before they can be imported into or exported from the EU. For books, that means tracing the paper and board used in their manufacture all the way back to the geolocation where the trees grew and the species of those trees, plus creating Due Diligence Statements that attest that the products have been verified as deforestation free.
Being outside the EU but inextricably linked with the EU market, the EUDR regulations pose unique challenges to the UK book publishing industry. As a result, it was felt that it was vital to harness the expertise and knowledge of the BIC membership through a project aiming to offer concise help and guidance to the industry as is it navigates its way through these unique compliance requirements.
BIC’s EUDR Guidance is the result of a fast-tracked BIC member collaboration between informed representatives from key industry organisations across the supply chain, including printers, publishers, retailers, wholesalers, shippers and system suppliers.
Amidst current industry uncertainty with regards to the EUDR, BIC’s guidance aims to inform and educate the reader on the real-world practicalities of this complex and far-reaching regulation. Given the current lobbying and outstanding questions yet to be addressed by the EU, BIC’s guidance is acknowledged to be a living document and as such will be updated over time as the situation with regards to the EUDR evolves and the BIC EUDR project continues. BIC therefore encourages periodic revisits to its site to ensure readers are using the latest version of the guidance.
Given the importance to the UK publishing supply chain of successfully navigating the requirements of the EUDR, this BIC documentation is made free-to-all and is intended to inform our industry’s response to EUDR, help guide the formulation of the best possible solutions to the challenges ahead and give insights into how others are tackling this. The guidance currently includes data flow maps, hints and tips, explanations of key terms, suggested ways of working, plus links to key EU and other documents.
BIC’s Executive Director Karina Urquhart, today expressed her thanks and gratitude to Simon Crump (BIC Consultant and BIC EUDR Guidance Project Lead) and the wider BIC member project group for their time, dedication, persistence, and overall collaborative efforts in delivering the guidance within a rapid timeframe. The project group will continue to meet as the EUDR evolves over time and any material changes will be reflected in subsequent updates to the BIC EUDR Guidance.
More information about BIC’s work for the book industry, including its organisational structure can be found on the BIC website: www.bic.org.uk
End of press release
About BIC:
BIC is a not-for-profit members organisation working at the heart of the UK book industry to promote supply chain efficiency in all sectors of the book world through e-commerce, best practice, training, events, and the application of standards. BIC helps organisations become more efficient, save money, become less wasteful and ultimately greener. Holding a unique position of trust, BIC facilitates UK and international industry-wide collaboration to reach agreement on dependable standards and best practice in the supply chain.
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