What TRACES Is (and Why EUDR Uses It)
TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) is the EU's long-running platform for certifying and tracking imports of animals, food, feed, and plants. Rather than standing up a separate portal for deforestation compliance, the EU built its Information System for the EUDR as a module inside TRACES — so DDS filing runs through the same login that EU import and export professionals may already use for other trade certificates.
Step-by-Step: Getting Set Up and Filing
Create or reuse an EU Login account
TRACES access runs through the EU Login authentication system. If your company already deals with EU customs or import systems for other goods, you may already have a usable account.
Register your organization in TRACES
Register your company profile under the correct role: operator if you're placing goods on the EU market for the first time, or trader if you're making already-placed goods available further down the chain.
Get your company verified
There's typically a verification step by the competent national authority before you can submit statements. This isn't instant — register with lead time before your first shipment deadline, not the week of.
Enter the Due Diligence Statement details
Fill in the commodity and HS code, quantity, country of production, supplier information, and geolocation data — points for smaller plots, polygons for larger ones. See our full DDS filing guide for what each field actually requires.
Attach or confirm your risk assessment conclusion
The system requires a statement that due diligence was carried out and risk was found to be negligible — or a record of what mitigation measures were applied if it wasn't, initially.
Submit and receive your reference and verification numbers
Once submitted, TRACES issues a DDS reference number and a verification number. This pairing is what accompanies the shipment through customs.
Share the numbers down the chain
If you're upstream of another operator or trader, you pass along the reference number rather than requiring them to file a duplicate DDS for the same product.
Retrieve an existing DDS if you're downstream
If you're a trader referencing goods someone else already filed for, look up the existing statement by its reference number inside TRACES rather than creating a new submission.
Practical Notes From Actually Using the System
The interface supports multiple languages, but data entry conventions — units, geolocation format — are stricter than they look. Invalid geolocation formatting is one of the more common causes of a rejected submission.
Retry and resubmission are supported if a submission is rejected, without having to rebuild the whole record from scratch. But the reference number issued only becomes valid once the submission is actually accepted — a pending or rejected filing doesn't clear customs.
How Timberlark Fits In
Timberlark's chain-of-custody data — GPS coordinates, harvest dates, species, and custody handoffs — is captured automatically as jobs happen, then used to populate a Due Diligence Statement in the same structure TRACES expects, including live-tested submission against the EU's TRACES environment.
FAQ
Do I need a TRACES account if my buyer files the DDS?
Not necessarily for filing, but you'll likely still need to supply the exact data fields TRACES requires, so it helps to know the format even if you're not the one submitting.
Is TRACES free to use?
Registering and filing through TRACES itself doesn't carry a government fee. Your real cost is in assembling accurate geolocation and legality data to enter.
What if TRACES rejects my submission?
Check geolocation formatting and HS code accuracy first — these are the most common rejection reasons — then resubmit. Your reference number isn't valid for customs purposes until the submission is accepted.