How to file a DDS in TRACES, step by step

This guide explains EUDR filing in TRACES, including how to complete a due diligence statement (DDS) and submit it yourself in TRACES-NT, the EU EUDR Information System, after accessing it through EU Login. It starts with the filing decision, turns Article 9 evidence into form-ready data, tests risk under Article 10, and ends with a reference number and a five-year record. It assumes you have a real consignment to declare. For a reusable field reference, keep the DDS template and field guide open beside this walkthrough.

Step 1: confirm who files and what the DDS covers

The upstream operator that first places an in-scope product on the EU market, or exports it, completes the DDS before the product moves. After the December 2025 simplification, downstream operators and traders do not re-file a DDS: the upstream operator passes its reference number to the first downstream buyer, which records it. A micro or small primary operator established in a low-risk country uses a one-time simplified declaration instead. For ordinary upstream filings, the clean operational baseline is one DDS per consignment, with every product line, supplier lot and production plot in that consignment mapped to it.

Step 2: create an EU Login for a real person

TRACES-NT is the EU system where you submit the DDS, and you reach it through EU Login, the Commission identity service. Create the login for a named natural person at your company, not a shared mailbox persona. That user needs the right role or permission for the operator organisation before working on a statement. Set up two-factor authentication and add a second registered user so holidays or staff departures do not block a shipment. The ACCEPTANCE environment is a separate training replica: register there as well if you want to rehearse without legal effect before using PRODUCTION. For machine-to-machine submission, follow the TRACES-NT API credentials guide for the separate web-service access path.

Step 3: register the operator and verify the EORI

In the EUDR Information System, create the company as an operator or request access if a colleague already registered it. Use the company legal name and address, select the real activity, and register in the Member State of establishment. An import or export profile needs a valid EORI number. Check the EORI before starting a statement, because the operator identity flows into the DDS and the reference must later reconcile with customs.

Step 4: assemble the Article 9 evidence pack per consignment

• Product and quantity: HS code from Annex I, free-text description, trade name, net mass in kilograms, and any tariff supplementary unit. Add common and full scientific species names for wood.
• Origin and production: country of production, relevant region, and production date or time range for every source lot.
• Geolocation: every production plot. A latitude/longitude point is sufficient for a plot of 4 hectares or less; a perimeter polygon is required above 4 hectares. Validate the TRACES-ready GeoJSON before upload.
• Supply-chain trail: names, postal addresses and email addresses of suppliers and business customers, plus lot, invoice and transport references that connect the consignment to its plots.
• Deforestation-free evidence: conclusive, verifiable plot screening against the 31 December 2020 cutoff, with the dataset, result and review date retained.
• Legality evidence: documents covering the applicable law of the production country, including land-use rights, environmental and forest rules, third-party rights, labour and human rights, tax, trade, customs and anti-corruption rules where relevant.

Not every supporting document is pasted into the DDS. Article 9 defines the evidence you collect and retain; Annex II defines the smaller set of data and the declaration entered in TRACES-NT. Your file must make the bridge between them auditable.

Step 5: document the Article 10 risk assessment and any mitigation

Verify the Article 9 pack, then record how you assessed every applicable Article 10 criterion. A practical nine-part review covers:

1. country benchmark, forest presence, and prevalence of deforestation or forest degradation;
2. presence of Indigenous Peoples, good-faith consultation, and reasoned land-use or ownership claims;
3. source reliability, validity and corroboration between documents;
4. corruption, document falsification, weak enforcement, human-rights violations, armed conflict or sanctions;
5. supply-chain complexity, processing stages and the ability to trace the product back to plots;
6. risk of circumvention or mixing with unknown or non-compliant origin;
7. relevant conclusions published by Commission expert groups;
8. substantiated concerns and the compliance history of supply-chain actors;
9. any other risk signal, with certification or third-party evidence used as supporting evidence, not a substitute for due diligence.

If risk is more than negligible, stop and mitigate under Article 11, for example by requesting better documents, commissioning an independent survey or audit, correcting traceability, or excluding a plot. Submit only after the documented residual risk is no or negligible. Low-risk sourcing can qualify for simplified due diligence, but new information or a substantiated concern still reopens the assessment.

Step 6: create and complete the DDS in TRACES-NT

In PRODUCTION, create a new due diligence statement. Complete the operator and activity context, add your internal consignment reference, then create each product line with its HS code, description, trade name and quantity. Add the country of production and every plot to the relevant product, drawing coordinates or importing GeoJSON. Use a point only at 4 hectares or less and a polygon above 4 hectares. Review the legal declaration and responsible person details, then reconcile product lines, total quantity, plot list and shipping documents before you submit. Geolocation confidentiality can protect the plot map from downstream users, but competent authorities retain access.

Step 7: submit, wait for AVAILABLE and capture the numbers

Submission is a legal act: it confirms due diligence was carried out and found no or only negligible risk of breach of the deforestation-free or legality requirements. The statement moves from SUBMITTED through system risk profiling to AVAILABLE or REJECTED. Once available, capture the system-issued reference number and verification number. Put the DDS reference in the customs declaration for an import or export and do not move the consignment until the statement is usable.

Step 8: pass the reference downstream and retain the file

Link the reference and verification numbers to the consignment in your ERP or shipment register. Give the DDS reference to the first downstream operator or trader. That buyer records the upstream number rather than filing another DDS, and all applicable supply-chain records are kept for at least five years. The operator also retains the DDS for five years from submission and the Article 9 evidence for five years from placing on the market or export. Use the five-year evidence-file checklist so an authority can reproduce the decision without rebuilding it.

Worked example: one Brazilian coffee consignment

Assume Verde Porto Coffee SRL imports one container of green coffee into Italy. The names and identifiers below are illustrative, but the workflow is the same in a live DDS.

1. Operator: Verde Porto Coffee SRL, Via Porto 14, Trieste, with illustrative EORI IT123456789012 and internal consignment VP-2026-041.
2. Product: green coffee, HS 0901, trade description "Brazil Arabica green beans", net mass 18,000 kg.
3. Origin and chain: Brazil, Minas Gerais, supplied by Cooperativa Vale Verde; purchase invoice, lot CVV-44 and bill of lading link the container to two farms and the January to March 2026 production range.
4. Plot 1: Fazenda Boa Vista, 3.2 hectares. A six-decimal latitude/longitude point is sufficient because the plot is no larger than 4 hectares.
5. Plot 2: Fazenda Lago Azul, 12.6 hectares. The file uses a perimeter polygon identified as BR-CAF-002 because the plot is above 4 hectares.
6. Evidence and risk: CAR references BR-MG-001 and BR-MG-002, land-use documents and supplier invoices support legality but are not accepted uncritically. Plot screening finds no forest loss after 31 December 2020. An initial boundary mismatch is mitigated by a corrected GeoJSON and an independent document check, after which residual risk is recorded as negligible.
7. TRACES-NT entry: one DDS for this consignment, one HS 0901 product line, 18,000 kg, Brazil, both plot geometries, the operator identity and signed Annex II declaration.
8. After submission: once AVAILABLE, the importer records the system-issued reference and verification numbers, puts the reference in customs data, sends it to the first downstream buyer and archives the full file for five years.

Corrections: use the 72-hour window carefully

TRACES-NT allows amendment or withdrawal within 72 hours after the reference number is provided, unless the DDS has already been used in customs, referenced where permitted, selected for a check, or the product has moved under it. An amendment overwrites the statement under the same reference; after the window, a material correction normally requires a new DDS and reference. File early enough to validate the returned statement before customs needs it.

Volume filing still follows the same control points

The EUDR Information System also supports machine-to-machine submission for volume workflows. Automation changes data entry, not responsibility: the operator must still control the Article 9 evidence, Article 10 conclusion, quantities, plots and final declaration. plotvera prepares validated geometry, screening evidence and TRACES-ready DDS data; you submit it in TRACES-NT and retain the issued numbers.

Failure modes to pre-empt before submission

• Wrong filer or route: confirm upstream operator status and whether the micro or small primary operator declaration applies.
• Missing or mismatched EORI, operator name, HS code or quantity between DDS and customs documents.
• Incomplete origin set: one supplier lot or production plot in the consignment is absent.
• Invalid geometry, including a point used above 4 hectares, an unclosed polygon or reversed coordinates. Check the geolocation rules before upload.
• Legality documents collected but not checked, or a risk conclusion that does not show how Article 10 criteria were applied.
• Submitting while mitigation is open or residual risk is still more than negligible.
• Failing to capture the reference after AVAILABLE or to link it to customs, the buyer and the five-year record.

For the filing deadline and role edge cases, use the 2026 and 2027 deadline guide and the operator, downstream operator and trader guide.