JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – A growing number of governments, international trade organizations and businesses are asking the European Union to reconsider a regulation on deforestation that will take effect in December.
Critics of the regulation say it will discriminate against countries with forest resources and hurt their exports. Supporters of the EU Deforestation Regulation, EUDR for short, say it will help combat forest degradation on a global scale.
Some commodity associations have said they support the regulation’s objectives, but that gaps in its implementation could hurt their businesses.
Environmental organizations have expressed support, saying the EUDR will help slow global deforestation, which is the second largest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels.
Here’s a look at the EU Deforestation Regulation:
What is EUDR and what products is expected to affect?
Currently scheduled to come into effect on December 30, the EU’s Deforestation Regulation will outlaw the sale of forest-derived products within the 27-nation bloc unless companies can prove their goods are not linked to deforestation. Its scope is wide, including cocoa, coffeesoybeans, cattle, palm oil, rubber, wood and products derived from these commodities.
To sell these products in Europe, large companies will have to prove they come from land where forests have not been cut since January 1, 2021, regardless of whether deforestation was legal in the countries of origin. Small businesses further down the supply chain are subject to the same obligations and bear legal liability if regulations are breached. But they are not responsible for due diligence on parts of their products that were already subject to review.
Non-compliance can result in financial penalties and restricted access to the EU market.
The regulation also introduces a comparison system which ranks countries or regions based on the risk of non-compliance with the EUDR into three categories: low, standard or high.
“We have been working very closely with a whole range of stakeholders to help them prepare for the entry into force of the regulation,” European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz said at a recent press conference in Brussels.
“We keep the situation under constant review. We are working hard to meet all the conditions for a smooth implementation of the law”, he said.
On Wednesday the EU offered to delay by a year the introduction of new rules that would outlaw the sale of forest products after an outcry from some governments who claimed it would hurt trade and hurt small farmers.
The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, said it would “make the law applicable on December 30, 2025 for large companies and June 30, 2026 for micro and small enterprises,” if the bloc’s 27 member states and parliament agree.
Why are there calls for delays in EUDR implementation?
Officials from major exporters of the affected commodities – including Brazil, Indonesia and Ivory Coast – oppose the regulation, saying it could act as a trade barrier, negatively impact small farmers and disrupt supply chains.
“This regulation disregards local circumstances and capabilities, national legislations, certification mechanisms, their efforts to combat deforestation and multilateral commitments of producing countries, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” said the Indonesian embassy in Brussels, where it is the headquarters of the EU. said in a statement. Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of palm oil and exports many other forest-derived goods.
Even politicians within the EU have raised concerns or asked for a postponement. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for the regulation to be suspended. Austria and several agriculture ministries in EU member states have also sought to weaken the regulation.
The Commission acknowledged that “the state of preparation among stakeholders in Europe is also uneven. While many expect to be ready on time, thanks to intensive preparations, others have expressed concerns.”
The head of the World Trade Organization has reportedly asked Brussels to reconsider the ban on imports from deforested areas, saying the EU has yet to issue clear compliance guidelines.
The World Trade Organization declined a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Lobbying groups representing businesses that will be affected – such as animal feed and tire manufacturers – have also expressed concerns about the regulation’s strict traceability requirements and a flawed data entry and database system, where companies must submit their due diligence statements.
How do conservationists hope the EUDR will help protect forests?
Europe ranks second in the amount of deforestation caused by its imports in 2017, according to a World Wildlife Fund Report 2021. Environmental organizations have said the EUDR will help reduce this.
In Brazil – where fires rage d during a record drought — 25 environmental groups voiced their support for the regulations in a letter sent to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, saying that companies and government offices were preparing to implement the new requirements.
“This innovative regulation is the most ambitious legislative effort to address these issues worldwide,” the Brazilian organizations wrote in their letter. “Every second counts to protect human lives today, as well as humanity’s future, to avoid climate change and stop biodiversity loss.”
The regulation could also help set a precedent for other countries considering legislation that would have a similar effect, said Julian Oram, a policy director for the international environmental organization Mighty Earth.
“It’s a catalyst for governments around the world to say enough: that we can’t continue to import or produce goods linked to deforestation, that there has to be a tipping point – and it’s now.”
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Associated Press reporter Aniruddha Ghosal in Hanoi contributed to this report.
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