In short: Deforestation in the Legal Amazon fell to 3,335 km² between August 2025 and July 2026, the lowest figure in the PRODES/INPE historical series, which began in 1988, according to data released by the federal government on October 16, 2026. The drop comes as the EUDR is set to apply on December 30, 2026 for large and medium-sized European operators. The two commodities most associated with the Amazon, soy and beef, are on the list of products regulated by the European rule. Companies that export to the European Union need documented, georeferenced origin, not a generic declaration of compliance.
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) measured 3,335 square kilometers of deforestation in the Legal Amazon in the cycle that ended in July 2026, a 41.8% drop from the 5,731 km² of the previous cycle. It is the lowest number in the PRODES historical series, which started in 1988. Pará, Mato Grosso and Amazonas accounted for the largest deforested areas, with declines of 45.3%, 46.7% and 46.4%, respectively. Roraima was the only state with a slight increase, of 0.4%.
The number arrives at a time when the question "what is the future of the Amazon" is no longer only environmental but also commercial. Starting December 30, 2026, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115) will require large and medium-sized operators to prove that products such as soy, beef and wood sold into the European Union do not come from land deforested after December 31, 2020. Micro and small operators have until June 30, 2027. The date has already been postponed twice since the regulation was originally approved in 2023, and the European Commission confirmed in May 2026 that the current timeline stands.
One scope caveat is worth noting. In July 2026, the European Commission issued a delegated act removing leather, hides and tanned leather from Annex I of the EUDR, effective September 18, 2026. The change does not take cattle out of the regulation: beef and other animal-derived products remain on the list of regulated products. Only leather itself left the scope.
Why the requirement weighs more heavily on soy and beef
Soy and beef account for a significant share of the historical pressure on the forest, which makes both commodities a direct target of the European regulation. To keep selling to the EU after December 2026, a soy or beef exporter must present a due diligence statement with geographic coordinates of the production area, not just a certificate of origin for the batch.
This requirement changes the kind of document that moves through the supply chain. An invoice describes volume and destination. A georeferenced polygon describes where that volume originated, and that is the data European customs authorities will cross-check against satellite deforestation maps. A supplier that cannot produce that coordinate loses the order, regardless of whether it complies with Brazilian environmental law.
How the supply chain responds to this requirement today
Large trading companies have been collecting supplier farm coordinates for years, under pressure from buyers and through voluntary traceability programs. The weak point is the next link: Tier 2 and Tier 3, the suppliers' suppliers, which rarely have their own georeferencing systems and whose data arrives by spreadsheet, scanned PDF or WhatsApp.
This is where automated processing of supplier documents comes in. Blockforce runs a platform that reads invoices, certificates of origin and transport documents, extracts the relevant data and raises an alert when geolocation information is missing or when a document does not match the supplier's record. Each step is recorded on a dual-ledger blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric for private data and Cardano for public anchoring, creating auditable evidence that does not depend on the word of whoever sold the batch. The platform already processes more than 95,000 traced invoices, connecting more than 6,200 suppliers and more than 9 million items recorded on blockchain, with more than 1.5 million transactions.
What companies need to do before December
The December 30, 2026 deadline leaves no room to build a traceability process from scratch. Companies that sell soy, beef or wood to Europe and still lack visibility into the geographic origin of their Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers need to map that supply chain now. The first practical step is to identify which direct (Tier 1) suppliers already have registered coordinates and which operate only with paper documents. The second is to test whether the volume of documents that arrives today by email and spreadsheet can be turned into structured data within the time that remains.
The 41.8% drop in deforestation is real environmental news, measured by satellite and released by INPE. But for exporters, the number that decides whether a product gets into the European Union from December onward is not the national deforestation rate. It is the geographic coordinate of each batch, documented and auditable.
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Frequently asked questions
When does the EUDR actually take effect?
For large and medium-sized operators and traders, the application date is December 30, 2026. Micro and small operators have until June 30, 2027. The European Commission confirmed this timeline in May 2026, after two earlier postponements since the regulation was approved in 2023.
Does the drop in Amazon deforestation ease EUDR requirements for Brazilian exporters?
No. The EUDR requires individual proof of origin for each batch, with a geographic coordinate and a reference date of December 31, 2020. The national deforestation rate, however good, does not replace the due diligence statement required for each shipment.
Does bovine leather still need proof of origin to be exported to the EU?
Not since the July 2026 delegated act, which removed leather, hides and tanned leather from Annex I of the EUDR, effective September 18, 2026. The change applies only to those specific products. Beef and other cattle-derived products remain within the regulated scope.
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