Error PROP-005

Plot over 4 hectares given as a point: a polygon is required

The regulation requires a polygon for any plot larger than four hectares. The Information System raises an error for a point with a larger area, unless the commodity is cattle.

Severity
Error. The Information System rejects the file, or silently stores something other than what you meant.
Fixed automatically?
No, this needs a decision only you can make.
In short
Map the boundary of the plot and supply it as a polygon. If this is a cattle establishment, set the commodity to cattle and this becomes advisory.

What the Information System does

It raises an error: "If the commodity is not cattle and the user provided a value higher than 4ha then the system will raise an error" (Information System validation rules, Geolocation area for point). The regulation requires that for plots "of more than four hectares used for the production of the relevant commodities other than cattle", geolocation "shall be provided using polygons" (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Art. 2(28)).

Why it happens

Four hectares is the line the regulation draws. At or below it, one point with the plot's area is enough. Above it, the perimeter has to be described with a polygon "with sufficient latitude and longitude points to describe the perimeter of each plot of land" (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Art. 2(28)).

The file does not say which commodity it is for, so the checker cannot know whether the cattle exception applies. It assumes it does not, and says so; setting the commodity to cattle in the checker changes the answer.

Very often the point is not the problem, the Area is: a plot of 25,000 square metres entered as 25000 instead of 2.5. The checker shows the value it found.

A broken example

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "properties": {
        "ProducerCountry": "CI",
        "ProductionPlace": "Big point",
        "Area": 12.5
      },
      "geometry": {
        "type": "Point",
        "coordinates": [-5.123456, 6.123456]
      }
    }
  ]
}

What the checker reports for this file:

  1. This point declares 12.5 hectares. Anything over four hectares must be given as a polygon describing the perimeter of the plot., line 9, column 17
Before1
Before. Numbered circles mark where the checker located the problem. Centred on 6.1235° N, 5.1235° W.

Fix it in EUDRplot

  1. Open the file in the checker. Each point whose Area is over four hectares is listed.
  2. Map the boundary. The plot needs a polygon: its perimeter, walked with a GPS app or drawn on satellite imagery. There is no automatic fix: a point does not say where the boundary is.
  3. If this is cattle. Set Commodity to Cattle in the checker. For cattle the rule is different, and the message becomes a note. See cattle.
  4. If the Area is wrong. If the plot is really four hectares or less, correct the Area. Check its units: square metres entered as hectares is a common cause.

Fix it in QGIS

  1. Find the large points. Select by expression: "Area" > 4.
  2. Digitise the boundaries. Create a polygon layer (Layer › Create Layer › New GeoPackage Layer, geometry type Polygon, CRS EPSG:4326), add a satellite basemap, and draw each plot's boundary with Add Polygon Feature. Copy the properties across.
  3. Export. Save the polygon layer as GeoJSON, EPSG:4326.

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.

Related errors

Guides

Free tools

Commodities

Sources

Rule PROP-005, 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 .