EUDR geolocation: what the GeoJSON file must contain

Updated 11 October 2026 · 4 min read

Under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), operators declare where commodities such as cocoa and coffee were produced, using plot coordinates in a GeoJSON file uploaded to the EU Information System. This guide sets out what that file must contain, based on the EU Information System's own documentation, in plain English.

Who this is for

Exporters, cooperatives and consultants who prepare plot maps for an EU buyer or for a due diligence statement (DDS). The EUDR covers cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood. Products must be deforestation-free, meaning produced on land not deforested after 31 December 2020.

The format: GeoJSON in WGS 84, longitude first

• Coordinate system: WGS 84 (EPSG:4326), in decimal degrees. If your coordinates are in another system, such as UTM metres, convert them before upload.
• Order: each position is [longitude, latitude]. Longitude comes first. This is the opposite of how many phones and spreadsheets show coordinates, and it's a common source of swapped points.
• Precision: the EU Information System FAQ defines geolocation as coordinates with at least 6 decimal digits. The system truncates coordinates to 6 decimals before storing them, so sending more is wasted space. Six decimals of a degree is roughly 0.1 m on the ground at the equator (estimate: one degree of latitude is about 111 km, so 0.000001° ≈ 0.11 m).

Which shapes are allowed

Two shape rules catch many files:

• No holes. Polygons with holes ("doughnuts") are not supported. The EU's documented workaround is to draw two half-doughnut polygons instead.
• No crossing lines. A boundary that crosses itself, like a figure eight, is not processed. Neither are shapes whose sides overlap or fold inward, or "shapes" that are really a straight line.

The EU description sets no rule about whether corners run clockwise or anticlockwise.

The 4-hectare rule: point or polygon?

The FAQ says polygons are required for plots of land larger than 4 hectares, except for cattle. For a point, the Area property (in hectares) is what tells the system how big the plot is:

• If a point has no Area, the system sets it to 4 ha by default.
• A point with an Area above 4 ha is an error unless the commodity is cattle.
• When Area is given, it must be at least 0.0001 ha.

Properties the system reads

Each feature can carry these optional properties. The names are case-sensitive: productionplace is not the same as ProductionPlace. Any other properties are ignored.

Type I and Type II files

The structure is the same; the properties differ.

• Type I is used through the API and the UI import at producer level. It contains the geometries and may include any of the optional properties.
• Type II is used through the UI import at commodity level and groups several producers by ProducerName and ProducerCountry. Every feature must include ProducerCountry.

Size and count limits

• All geolocation data in one DDS together may not exceed 25 MB. The EU suggests removing unnecessary points along straight boundaries, and using single points for plots under 4 ha, to keep files small.
• No more than 1,000 producers per commodity and 10,000 per DDS.

A minimal valid example

This is a fictional two-plot file: one small plot as a point with its area, one polygon.

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    { "type": "Feature",
      "properties": { "ProducerName": "Example Farmer", "ProducerCountry": "CI",
                      "ProductionPlace": "Plot A", "Area": 1.8 },
      "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-5.547312, 6.821947] } },
    { "type": "Feature",
      "properties": { "ProducerName": "Example Farmer", "ProducerCountry": "CI",
                      "ProductionPlace": "Plot B" },
      "geometry": { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[
        [-5.551204, 6.818113], [-5.548871, 6.818402], [-5.548530, 6.815990],
        [-5.550962, 6.815731], [-5.551204, 6.818113] ]] } }
  ]
}

Note: longitude first, six decimals, the polygon's last corner repeats its first, the country is a 2-letter code, and Area is a number.

Simplified declarations

The Information System documentation notes that the EUDR was amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650. Micro or small primary operators in low-risk countries can file a one-time simplified declaration, and may give a postal address instead of geolocation. Check whether that applies to you before mapping every plot.

Before you upload

1. Open the file in a GIS tool or checker and look at it on a map: are the plots where they should be?
2. Check for swapped coordinates, open rings, self-crossing boundaries and holes.
3. Check property names, country codes and number formats.
4. Check the total file size against the 25 MB limit.

For the problems that most often get files refused, see common reasons EUDR plot files get rejected. Lire ce guide en français.