The investigation, published on Thursday, found that 24 major US companies, trade associations and industry organisations discussed the EUDR in at least 173 meetings with members of the European Parliament and 178 meetings with senior European Commission officials between July 2024 and July 2026.
Organisations with the highest number of meetings with the European Commission included the National Alliance of Forest Owners, the Advanced Woody Biomass Alliance, the US Soybean Export Council, Bunge, the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union and Cargill. Cargill had two meetings, Bunge had one, and Mondelēz had eight.
Mighty Earth said lobbying was also conducted through the US Congress, the US Department of Agriculture, the Office of the US Trade Representative and the White House. The report noted that two weeks after a July 2025 meeting between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the law was further delayed.
The EUDR prohibits imports of cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood from deforested land. When originally put forward in 2003, then European environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius described it as "the most ambitious legislative attempt to tackle these issues worldwide ever". Some US lawmakers had said it should serve as a model for similar rules in the United States.
In the years since, implementation has been postponed twice and the original traceability requirements were revised so extensively that some initial supporters claim the policy has been effectively dismantled. The law is scheduled to come into effect in December.
US company representatives and industry groups deny there was a coordinated campaign to derail the deforestation rules, stating that their engagements with EU officials raised legitimate concerns about implementation.