The European Union has resisted appeals from various industries and countries to postpone the implementation of its key deforestation policy, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.
The new regulation, set to take effect on December 30, mandates that companies selling products such as soy, beef, coffee, and palm oil within the 27-member bloc must prove their supply chains do not contribute to forest destruction. Additionally, EU companies will be prohibited from exporting products cultivated on deforested land.
Despite pressure from the U.S. government and industry groups, including the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), who have argued for a delay, citing incomplete EU systems for managing the ban, the EU has shown no sign of reconsideration. In a letter dated July 2 to CEPI members, European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius acknowledged these concerns but did not indicate that Brussels was contemplating a delay.
“We are hearing feedback from some stakeholders that preparation for implementation may be challenging. However, we also see encouraging signs in many sectors and countries working to align with EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) requirements,” Sinkevicius wrote. He also noted that work on an online system for companies to submit their due diligence statements was in progress.
The CEPI and other industry groups have raised specific concerns about the feasibility of tracing the origins of materials back to their source, especially for products with complex supply chains. For instance, CEPI Director General Jori Ringman highlighted the difficulties faced by book publishers in tracing the origins of paper back to potentially thousands of forest plots.
