EU considers postponing anti-deforestation law as pressure from agro-industry mounts

An ambitious anti-deforestation law in the EU could be delayed for at least a year following pressure from foreign governments and producers, who said they were struggling to meet upcoming deadlines for the new trade regulation. The EU deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) was scheduled to go into force on January 1, requiring exporters to prove that beef, soy, rubber and other harmful commodities weren’t sourced to deforested land. Now, a 12-month delay could leave forests exposed to an unchecked agricultural industry, critics said. “It’s clear that the EU is giving a green light for deforestation for at least one more year,” João Gonçalves, Senior Director for Brazil at Mighty Earth, told Mongabay. The EUDR entered into force the middle of last year but allowed an 18-month transition period that was originally scheduled to end in 2025, requiring exporters of cocoa, cattle, rubber, soy, wood, palm oil and coffee to demonstrate their products don’t come from land deforested after December 31, 2020. Exporters will have to provide a due diligence statement with geographic coordinates of the land and an explanation of how the information was gathered. A “benchmarking system” will classify countries as low, standard or high risk for deforestation, determining how much due diligence a country needs to do before trading with the EU. Deforestation in Bolivia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Many producers said the regulations were complicated and expensive. In countries like Brazil, cattle ranching is notoriously difficult to track, with falsified ear tags and transportation permits helping…This article was originally published on Mongabay