A major shift is coming for the leather industry in Europe. To prepare, Italy’s tanning association UNIC – Concerie Italiane is creating a new digital platform that will help companies follow the upcoming EU rules on deforestation.

The new regulation, called the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), will apply from 2026 and will include leather at all stages of production. That means every hide and every tannery in the supply chain will need to prove they are not contributing to deforestation.

UNIC is teaming up with a tech company to build a smart system that can handle this. The platform will allow factories to upload documents, generate reports automatically, certify digitally, and connect with the official EU system.

UNIC and other industry groups like Cotance are still trying to get leather removed from the EUDR list. They argue that leather is not a major cause of deforestation.

Still, UNIC isn’t waiting. It’s building a tool to help companies stay ready.

UNIC says the platform was inspired by earlier work with the wood industry and the experience of the software company involved.

The system will also use satellite data to check whether forests near the supply chain have been damaged. And thanks to its API (application programming interface), it can talk directly to the official EU platform. That means automatic uploads and downloads of due diligence reports.

This new tool could set the standard for how leather businesses across Europe deal with the EUDR.