Severity: Warning. The file may be accepted, but something is probably wrong, or the evidence in your statement is weaker than it should be.
Fixed automatically?: Yes, in one click. The change is listed in the change log.
In short: Save the file as UTF-8 without BOM. We can strip it for you.

What the Information System does

The Information System's documentation does not say how it treats a byte order mark. The GeoJSON standard says producers must not add one and that readers may ignore it (RFC 7946, §12), which leaves room for either outcome, so this is a warning, not an error. The risk is a syntax failure (GeoJSON File Description, Common errors 8) you cannot see in any editor.

Why it happens

A byte order mark is three invisible bytes, EF BB BF, that some programs write at the start of a UTF-8 text file. No text editor shows it. A JSON parser that does not expect it sees a character before the first { and stops.

It is usually added by:

Windows Notepad (older versions) and some Windows editors when saving as "UTF-8".
Excel's "CSV UTF-8" export, which then carries into GeoJSON built from the CSV.
Scripts in .NET or PowerShell that write files with default encoding settings.

It does no harm when it is removed: the rest of the file is byte-for-byte the same.

A broken example

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "properties": {
        "ProducerName": "Coopérative Example",
        "ProducerCountry": "CI",
        "ProductionPlace": "Parcelle 1",
        "Area": 1.2287
      },
      "geometry": {
        "type": "Polygon",
        "coordinates": [
          [
            [-5.123456, 6.123456],
            [-5.122456, 6.123456],
            [-5.122456, 6.124456],
            [-5.123456, 6.124456],
            [-5.123456, 6.123456]
          ]
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Before. Centred on 6.1240° N, 5.1230° W.

Fix it in EUDRplot

Open the file in the checker. The warning appears at the very start of the file.
Remove it. Choose Remove the byte order mark, or Fix N safe problems to apply it with the other safe fixes. Nothing else in the file changes.
Download the file. Open Download and choose GeoJSON file.

Fix it in QGIS

Re-save through QGIS. Add the file as a vector layer, then right-click › Export › Save Features As… and choose GeoJSON. The GeoJSON QGIS writes has no byte order mark.

Try it: check the example, or your own file

Drop a GeoJSON, KML, shapefile or CSV here, or .

Open the full checker

Checked in your browser. The file is not uploaded, stored or sent anywhere.

Sources

EUDR GeoJSON File Description (EUDR Information System help, updated 17 August 2026), Common errors 8, European Commission
RFC 7946: The GeoJSON Format, §12, Internet Engineering Task Force

Rule FILE-004, rule set 2026.09.2. The same rule runs in the checker, the free tools and the command-line tool.

Last verified against these sources on 23 September 2026.