EU to ban imports of goods linked to deforestation

Brussels/Sao Paulo  — The EU reached an agreement to ban imports of several products including coffee, beef and timber linked to deforestation around the world, the European Commission said.

The law will require companies to produce a due diligence statement showing that their supply chains are not contributing to the destruction of forests before they sell goods into the EU — or they could face hefty fines.

“I hope that this innovative regulation will give impetus to the protection of forests around the globe and inspire other countries at the COP15,” said the European parliament’s lead negotiator, Christophe Hansen.

Deforestation is responsible for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and will be in focus at a UN COP15 conference this week, where countries will seek a global deal to protect nature.

Negotiators from EU countries and the European parliament struck the deal on the law early on Tuesday.

It will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, timber, cocoa and coffee, and some derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture. Rubber, charcoal and some palm oil derivatives were included at the request of EU legislators.

Importing companies will have to show where their products come from and prove that they are deforestation-free with “verifiable” information that they were not grown on land deforested after 2020. For example, Europe’s heavy demand for rubber has been linked to deforestation of 520km² in West Africa.

Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 4% of a company’s turnover in an EU member state.

Burdensome

Countries that will be affected by the new rules, including Brazil, Indonesia and Colombia, say they are burdensome and costly. Supply certification is also difficult to monitor, especially as some chains can span multiple nations.

In Brazil, the country responsible for the most deforestation, some environmental advocates praised the law, while also saying it did not go far enough. The law did not extend protection as they hoped to “other wooded land” that has trees but is not a dense, closed forest.

That means 600,000km² of woodland in the Cerrado savanna — the fastest-growing frontier of agricultural expansion in Brazil — would not be subject to the law, according to the Brazilian non-profit Cerrados Institute. That is an area roughly as big as Ukraine.

“The European Union thinks it’s acceptable to consume products linked to losses of the most biodiverse savanna on the planet? That doesn’t seem smart,” said Yuri Salmona, director of the Cerrados Institute.

The EU said in a statement it will review whether to add protections for “other wooded land” in the first year and other critical ecosystems in the second year.

Indigenous people

Brazilian and European campaign groups also criticised its requirement for companies to prove they respected the rights of indigenous people — but only if those rights are already legally protected in the producer country.

Brazil’s foreign ministry did not respond to request for comment. The country’s coffee exporters association Cecafe said it respected global environmental concerns but worried that the industry’s progress towards sustainable production was not being adequately recognised.

EU countries and the European parliament must now formally approve the legislation. The law can enter into force 20 days later, after which large companies have 18 months to comply, and smaller firms 24 months.

EU member nations will be required to carry out compliance checks covering 9% of companies exporting from countries with a high risk of deforestation, 3% from standard-risk countries and 1% for low-risk countries.

The EU said it would work with affected countries to build up their capacity to implement the rules.

Reuters