The Council of the European Union has given the final go ahead to a new regulation to ban the import and export of products linked to deforestation, including beef today (Tuesday, May 16).
The new law aims to minimise the risk of forest degradation as the EU is a large consumer and trader of commodities and products that contribute to deforestation, the council said.
Under the new legislation cattle; cocoa; coffee; palm oil; soya; and wood can only be placed on the EU market or exported from the EU if it does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation after December 31, 2020.
Operators will be required to trace the commodities they are selling back to the plot of land where they were produced, the council said.
Mandatory “due dilligence” rules also apply to a number of derived products such as chocolate; furniture; printed paper; and selected palm oil-based derivates.
Deforestation
In terms of checks, the regulation creates a benchmarking system which assigns the level of risk related to deforestation and forest degradation to countries within and outside the EU.
The assigned risk category will then determine the level of specific obligations for operators and member states’ authorities to carry out inspections and controls.
Authorities will have to carry out checks on 9% of operators and traders trading products from high-risk countries; 3% from standard-risk countries; and 1% from low-risk countries.
In addition, authorities will carry out checks on 9% of the relevant commodities and products placed, made available on, or exported from their market by high-risk countries.
Fines proportionate to the environmental damage and the value of the relevant commodities or products concerned should be at least 4% of the operators’ annual turnover in the EU, the council said.
To protect human rights related to deforestation, the new rules include a reference to the principle of free prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples.
The new regulation as adopted by the EU Council will be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days after.