EUDR faces a 12-month delay

The EU’s flagship deforestation regulation ‘EUDR’ is set to face a delay of 12 months, as confirmed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month. The regulation, which was passed into law in June 2023, was set to take effect from the end of December 2024 for large business, and 30^th December 2025 for MSMEs.

The EU Deforestation Regulation aims to ensure that any goods derived from beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, natural rubber, soy or wood placed within the EU marketplace will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world. The new regulation is set to replace the existing EU Timber Regulation, defining “deforestation-free” products as those grown on land not deforested after 2020, it would mean compliance requirements placed on importing businesses and those higher up the supply chain, such as retailers and manufacturers.

There are also fears that the EUDR could wipe out smaller businesses and rural companies, with stakeholders critical that with less than 100 days remaining before the EUDR was set to come into force, little guidance had been provided for companies to prepare.

The EU’s decision to delay follows petition from numerous origin countries, as well as industry bodies and companies set to be impacted. In fact, at the end of September days before the delay was announced 28 organisations, including Farming body Copa-Cogeca (responsible for 22 million farmers in the EU), co-signed a letter arguing that the implementation of the EUDR before the end of the year would be “simply unfeasible”[i].

Delay sparks NGO anger

Unsurprisingly the delay has been met with anger from NGOs, when according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) between 1990 and 2020, 420 million hectares of forest (an area larger than the European Union) were lost to deforestation[ii].

Mighty Earth’s senior policy director Julian Oram said: “Delaying the EUDR is like throwing a fire extinguisher out of the window of a burning building. It’s an act of Nature vandalism that will serve only to drive more industrial destruction of tropical forests, threatening the people and wildlife who depend on them, while pushing climate and nature goals out of reach.”[iii]

In an article on the matter, NGO Fern’s Nicole Polsterer said: “In the end, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen caved in to industry and political pressure and opted to delay the law’s implementation.”[iv] Offering reasons for the delay, Polsterer stated that:

“The Commission failed to release needed guidelines in due time. Companies’ answers to their questions on how to comply were late and unclear, creating anxiety and offering an opportunity for opponents to double-down on their criticisms. Secondly, as the Commission implicitly recognised in its statement announcing the delay, the EU has also failed to seriously work with those countries that will be most deeply affected by the law.”[v]

Defending the delay, the European Commission has said: "Given the EUDR's novel character, the swift calendar, and the variety of international stakeholders involved, the Commission considers that a 12-month additional time to phase in the system is a balanced solution to support operators around the world in securing a smooth implementation from the start"[vi].

References

[i] Agri-food bodies join call for EU to delay deforestation law (just-food.com)

[ii] EU Deforestation Regulation implementation (europa.eu)

[iii] Mighty Earth Responds to EUDR Delay: “Delaying EUDR is like throwing a fire extinguisher out of the window of a burning building” - Mighty Earth

[iv] Delay to EU deforestation law must not lead to dilution (climatechangenews.com)

[v] Ibid

[vi] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/IP_24_5009/IP_24_5009_EN.pdf

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