EUDR GeoJSON Requirements: Format, Points vs Polygons and the 4‑Hectare Rule

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By Prabir Mishra, Founder & CEO, TRST01 · 15 November 2026 · EUDR Guides

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Every EUDR Due Diligence Statement has to show exactly where the commodity was produced. In practice that means a GeoJSON file of plot locations uploaded to the EU Information System. Get the file wrong and the statement will not go through, however good your supply chain is. This guide sets out what the regulation requires, what the system accepts, and the mistakes we see most often in supplier data.

What the regulation says

Article 2(28) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 defines geolocation as the latitude and longitude of the plot of land, described by at least one point with at least six decimal digits. For plots of more than four hectares used to produce relevant commodities other than cattle, the perimeter must be described as a polygon with enough points. Cattle are geolocated by the establishments where they were kept.

Two things follow. First, smallholder plots of four hectares or less can be a single point, although a polygon is always allowed and gives a stronger deforestation check. Second, a point with a circle drawn around it is not a polygon. Plots over four hectares need their real boundary.

The technical format the Information System accepts

• Coordinate system: WGS 84 (EPSG:4326), decimal degrees. Convert UTM or national grid data before upload.
• Axis order: [longitude, latitude]. Swapped axes are the most common silent error: an Indian plot ends up in the Arabian Sea or Antarctica.
• Precision: six decimal places (about 10 cm). The system truncates extra digits, which can create duplicate vertices.
• Structure: a FeatureCollection of Feature objects, each with one geometry.
• Geometry types: Point, MultiPoint, Polygon and MultiPolygon. Lines are rejected.
• Properties (case-sensitive): ProducerName, ProducerCountry (ISO two-letter code), ProductionPlace and, for points, Area in hectares as a number. A point without an area is treated as 4 hectares.
• Size: up to 25 MB of geolocation per statement. Very large supply bases need splitting across statements or simplifying vertices, not dropping plots.

Point or polygon: a quick rule

• Plot of 4 ha or less (non-cattle): a point is acceptable; give its area. A polygon is better if you have it.
• Plot over 4 ha (non-cattle): polygon required, tracing the actual boundary.
• Cattle: the establishment's geolocation; points are acceptable whatever the size.
• Several separate fields farmed by one producer: map each field. Use a MultiPolygon or separate features, not one polygon around all of them.

Polygon rules

• At least four coordinate pairs, with the first and last identical so the ring is closed.
• No self-intersections (figure-of-eight shapes) and no edges that fold back on themselves.
• No holes. If a plot surrounds a pond or homestead, split it into two shapes.
• Avoid overlaps between different producers' plots. Overlaps are usually a mapping error, and authorities treat them as a red flag for double counting.

The twelve errors we see most in supplier files

1. Latitude and longitude swapped
2. Self-intersecting polygons
3. Open rings (last point not equal to first)
4. Holes inside polygons
5. Fewer than six decimals, or duplicate vertices after truncation
6. Plots over 4 ha submitted as points
7. Point features with no area, or area stored as text
8. Lines or GPS tracks instead of polygons
9. Coordinates in UTM or a national grid
10. Overlapping plots from different producers
11. Wrong or mis-cased property names, invalid country codes
12. KML, shapefile, Excel or PDF uploaded instead of GeoJSON

Geometry is only half the check

A file can be perfectly valid and still be a compliance problem. Each plot also has to be deforestation-free after 31 December 2020 and not inside protected areas where production is illegal. Checking geometry and deforestation together, before the data reaches your buyer, saves rework on both sides.

How to check your file in minutes

Upload your GeoJSON, KML or shapefile to the free EUDR Polygon Validator. It flags every error above, converts formats, and screens each plot for protected-forest overlap and deforestation risk against the 2020 cutoff. New accounts start with 500 free credits. When the file is clean, EUDR Hub can use it to file the Due Diligence Statement directly. Our step-by-step TRACES filing guide shows where the file goes.

Collecting better data in the first place

Most errors come from collection, not conversion: handheld GPS walks that do not close, points taken at the farmer's house instead of the field, or spreadsheets with coordinates in one column. Mobile mapping apps that work offline, with in-app checks for closure and area, prevent most of them. That is how TRST01Chain has mapped smallholder rubber, coffee and soy plots, including more than 31,000 plots for Golden Rubber in Côte d'Ivoire.

This guide reflects the EUDR as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 and the Commission's 2026 implementing measures, as at 15 November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. Check the official texts linked below before you act.

Official sources

• Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Article 2(28) and Article 9
• European Commission EUDR implementation page, including the Information System's GeoJSON file description