The European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB) has advised that the forthcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will not have significant implications for customers using wood pallets and packaging for transport.
The organisation, which represents the European pallet and packaging sector, issued a customer information statement to customers on the forthcoming regulation, which requires businesses to prove products on the EU market have not been sourced from recently deforested land or contributed to its degradation.
In a newsletter to FEFPEB’s membership, the organisation’s secretariat said packaging would only become subject to the new EUDR rules when placed on the market for the first time as a standalone product, with its status changing as immediately when it is used.
“As soon as the pallet or packaging is used to support, protect or carry another product, it is no longer covered by the EUDR, even if it is listed separately on the invoice of a product or when it is returned by a retailer to its supplier,” it said. “Once the concerned packaging becomes a packaging material used exclusively as packaging material to support, protect or carry a product, it is then not covered by the scope 27 of the Regulation.”
It added that selling or renting used packaging material to other companies – as happens in pallet pooling systems, for example – is not subject to EUDR.
“Similarly, empty packaging material already used for the first time to support, protect or carry another product, for instance when traded within a closed loop exchange system (i.e., pallets transferred from one company to another to be reused for transport) is not covered by the Regulation,” said FEFPEB’s advice.
FEFPEB Secretary General Fons Ceelaert said: “FEFPEB’s membership and association pooling businesses are fully supportive of EUDR’s aims to protect forests around the world. We have produced this guidance to share with customers and the supply chain to give clarity on the implications of these regulations.”
About FEFPEB
The European Federation of Wooden Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers (Fédération Européenne des Fabricants de Palettes et Emballages en Bois – FEFPEB) is the leading voice of Europe’s wooden pallet and packaging sector. Established in 1946, FEFPEB represents national professional associations across Europe, covering the pallet, lightweight packaging, and industrial packaging industries.
As a not-for-profit organization, FEFPEB’s mission is to promote the benefits of timber packaging and safeguard the interests of the European wooden pallet and packaging industry. Its full members are national associations of wooden pallet and packaging manufacturers, while suppliers of timber, timber blocks, machinery, and equipment participate as associated or individual members. The federation also brings together major European pallet pools—including EPAL, CHEP, LPR, IPP Logipal, and PRS—creating a unified platform for collaboration, innovation, and advocacy within the sector.
Source: FEFPEB
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Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
