Products Linked to Deforestation? Not On Our Watch!

The European Union (EU) Council is going ahead with a new regulation aiming to minimize deforestation from products being either imported on its territory or exported from it, ensuring that consumption and trade don’t further degrade forest ecosystems.

Operators and traders of products such as palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber, and soy will be subjected to mandatory due diligence rules. Moreover, only products produced on land not subjected to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020 will be allowed on the EU market or exported from the EU.

A benchmarking system will assign a level of risk – low, standard, or high – related to deforestation and forest degradation to countries both within the EU and outside of it through inspections and controls. That way, high-risk countries will be subject to enhanced monitoring, and low-risk countries will have access to simplified due diligence. Effective and dissuasive penalties are also included in the regulation, including fines proportionate to the environmental damage set at the level of at least 4% of the operators’ annual turnover in the EU.