Irish farmers need clarity on EU deforestation rules
TDs and senators have this week raised concerns around EU deforestation rules.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food held a meeting for pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Deforestation and Forest Degradation Bill 2026.
The main purpose of the bill is to give effect to the EU Deforestation Regulation in Ireland by providing for its regulatory and enforcement requirements, particularly its specified penalties.
'Complex'
Senator Victor Boyhan raised how "complex" the regulation is, saying "if there was ever a need for simplification - this is one".
He added: "We need to prepare the stakeholders for this huge piece of bureaucracy".
He asked for clearer guidance for farmers on what the EU law will mean for them.
Damien Flynn, assistant secretary general in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, outlined the key timeline of the EU Deforestation Regulation's implementation.
"The EU Deforestation Regulation aims to minimise the EU's contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide," Flynn said.
"It covers seven commodities, namely cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood, and listed products that contain, have been fed with or have been made using them."
The regulation will take effect from December 30, 2026.
It requires these commodities and products may only be placed or made available on the EU market, or exported, if:
- They are deforestation-free,
- Have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production;
- Are covered by a due diligence statement or a simplified declaration.
Flynn continued: "However, for individual operators or micro or small enterprises, established by December 31, 2024, the regulation will take not effect until June 30, 2027.
"However, this exception does not extend to timber products already covered by the EU Timber Regulation, for which the date remains December 30, 2026."
Amendment
He said the regulation has been amended since it was adopted in 2023.
"The most significant amendment for Ireland was agreed in December 2025," he said.
"It deferred application by a further year, from December 2025 to December 2026, and introduced a simplified regime for small primary producers, such as farmers and forest owners, in countries classified as low risk.
"It also removed the requirement for businesses further down the supply chain to submit due diligence statements.
"In May, the commission completed the simplification review that the amendment required.
"This review did not propose any change to the regulation, and the application dates are unchanged."
Low risk category
In July, the European Commission adopted a delegated actadjusting the list of products covered and an implementing act on the EU information system.
Ireland, like all EU member states, is classified in the low risk category, Flynn said.
"This means Irish farmers and forest owners who are individuals or micro or small enterprises, and who place their own produce on the market or export it, will not need to submit due diligencestatements," he said.
"Instead, they will submit a single, one-time simplified declaration.
"Where all of the required information is already held in a database that exists under EU or national law, the producer does not need to submit the declaration, and the member state makes the information available in the EU information system instead."
