← Return to Compliance Portal
EUDR Technical Standard Art. 3(a) & 3(b)

Forensic Coverage & Methodology Matrix

A definitive guide to sensor applicability, sovereign data registries, and expected clearance dossier verdicts across regulated EUDR commodities and origins.

Commodity Applicability & Clearance Outcomes
Commodity Target Origins Primary Sensors & Datasets Clearance Verdict Customs Acceptance
Soy & Cattle Brazil (Cerrado/Amazon), Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 (L-Band SAR), GEDI LiDAR, Sentinel-2 EVI Phenology DUE_DILIGENCE_DOSSIER 100% Autonomous Technical Clearance
Coffee & Cocoa (Sun/Open) Colombia, Peru, Honduras, Vietnam, West Africa L-Band SAR (23cm canopy penetration), GEDI relative height profile DUE_DILIGENCE_DOSSIER 100% Autonomous Technical Clearance
Cocoa & Coffee (Shade-Grown) Ghana, Ivory Coast, Central America (Agroforestry) Multi-temporal Phenology + GEDI canopy vertical distribution COMPLIANT_FLAGGED Advisory Dossier (Requires Agroforestry Certificate)
Palm Oil & Rubber Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Latin America, West Africa 23cm L-Band Radar Dielectric Telemetry + Multi-Year Phenology DUE_DILIGENCE_DOSSIER 100% Autonomous Technical Clearance
Industrial Timber & Pulp
Commercial Plantations		 Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Peru, Malaysia Industrial Silviculture Consensus + PostGIS Sovereign Guard DUE_DILIGENCE_DOSSIER 100% Autonomous Clearance (Eucalyptus, Pine, Acacia)
Natural Forest Timber
Selective & Concession Logging		 Africa, North America, Europe, Rest of World UNEP-WCMC (WDPA IUCN I-VI) + ALOS Stem Volume Telemetry INTERNAL_RISK_REPORT Art. 3(b) Legality Clearance (Supplemental to logging permits)
Technical Deep Dives & Edge Case Handling

🪵 Industrial Timber & Pulp

Commercial Silviculture

Commercial plantations of eucalyptus, pine, and acacia undergo cyclical harvest rotations that trigger false optical deforestation alarms.

  • Registered Plantations (Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Peru, Malaysia): Automated classification as VERIFIED_AGRICULTURAL_PLANTATION mathematically overrides optical clear-cut flags and generates an autonomous public DUE_DILIGENCE_DOSSIER.
  • Natural Forest Concessions (Global): Tree height (>5m) telemetry generates an INTERNAL_RISK_REPORT verifying Article 3(b) sovereign legality (WDPA non-overlap) to be paired with statutory national harvest permits.

🌴 Global Palm Oil & Rubber Plantations

SAR Dielectric Telemetry

Oil palms are biological monocotyledons lacking true secondary xylem (wood), yet frequently trigger false canopy alarms over 5-meter thresholds.

  • Physical Sensor Telemetry: 23cm L-Band radar penetrates non-woody monocot structures, returning low cross-polarized (HV) backscatter that mathematically distinguishes palms from natural forest.
  • Global Deterministic Proof: Multi-temporal radar and phenological stability confirm established plantation land-use across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and West Africa prior to the December 31, 2020 cut-off date.

🌳 Shade-Grown Agroforestry

Art. 14–16 Pre-Audit

Cocoa and coffee cultivated beneath native forest canopies preserve overstory tree biomass, triggering LiDAR tree height detections.

  • Automated Classification: Flagged as COMPLIANT_FLAGGED to alert compliance officers prior to EU customs submission.
  • Audit Protection: Provides complete mathematical baselines to accompany cooperative agroforestry certifications.

📍 Smallholders & Polygons (< 4 ha)

Geometry Standard

While EUDR Art. 9 permits single-point GPS coordinates for smallholders under 4 hectares, satellite raster auditing requires surface area.

  • Point-to-Buffer: Single centroids are buffered into equivalent circular geometries (e.g., 56m radius for 1 ha) for pixel extraction.
  • Cooperative Boundaries: Cooperative-level aggregate polygons can be processed in batch via GeoJSON or Shapefile.

⏱️ Biennial Temporal Delta (2022–2026)

Multi-Epoch Physics

Differentiating standing forest stands from active post-cutoff clearing via automated biennial radar and optical telemetry sweeps.

  • Multi-Epoch Tracking: Continuous pixel-level arbitration comparing Q4 monitoring windows across 2022, 2024, and 2026 directly against the December 31, 2020 baseline.
  • Dual-Condition Clearing Detection: Triggers deterministically on JAXA ALOS L-band trunk backscatter loss (<2660) OR hybrid Sentinel-1 C-band collapse (≥2.5 dB drop) coupled with photosynthetic vigor decline (Sentinel-2 EVI <0.35).
  • Statutory FAO Resolution: Quantifies physical biomass loss against the statutory 0.5 ha (5,000 m²) FAO threshold, preventing false positives from micro-scale edge noise.
Sovereign Land Legality Registries (Article 3b)
🛰️ Native PostGIS Spatial Indexing Engine
All uploaded geometries undergo real-time topological intersection against sovereign cadastral datasets before biophysical analysis:
Operational Advisory: High-Risk Scenarios & What to Expect

⚠️ Natural Forest Timber (Africa, Europe, North America)

Dual-evidence compliance protocol applies.

For natural timber harvesting outside registered plantation origins (Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Peru, Malaysia), satellite auditing strictly serves as a sovereign legality and protected area screen.

  • What you receive: An INTERNAL_RISK_REPORT verifying Article 3(b) legality (WDPA non-overlap) and biomass baseline.
  • Action required: You must combine our report with official statutory harvest licenses, concessions, and FSC/PEFC/FLEGT paper permits for EU customs clearance.

⚠️ Shade-Grown Agroforestry (Coffee & Cocoa)

Expect an advisory flag, not an instant green pass.

Crops cultivated under preserved native forest canopies will trigger LiDAR tree height detections, resulting in a COMPLIANT_FLAGGED status.

  • How to use: Do not submit raw flags without documentation. Use this dossier to satisfy EU customs Articles 14–16 enhanced due diligence by attaching certified cooperative agroforestry records.

⛔ Genuine Post-2020 Deforestation

Deterministic refusal of clearance.

If land meeting statutory FAO forest criteria on Dec 31, 2020 underwent physical clearing, our biennial multi-sensor delta engine (2022, 2024, 2026) isolates and measures the loss footprint with mathematical certainty.

  • Detection Threshold: Cumulative canopy and woody core destruction ≥5,000 m² (≥0.5 ha) verified via C-band SAR amplitude drop (≥2.5 dB) and L-band trunk backscatter collapse.
  • Outcome: NON_COMPLIANT_CRITICAL dossier documenting the exact square meter loss footprint under Article 3(a).
  • Policy: This terminal cannot be used to whitelist, smooth over, or obscure confirmed physical forest eradication.

📍 Single GPS Points (< 4 Hectares)

Geometrical preparation required.

While EUDR Article 9 allows single-point coordinates for plots under 4 ha, spatial raster engines require geometric boundaries.

  • Requirement: Convert centroid coordinates into standard circular buffer polygons or upload aggregated cooperative polygon perimeters before running batch audits.