EU Backtracks on 1-Year Delay for Anti-Deforestation Due Diligence Rules
The EU is abandoning a plan announced last month that would have postponed its new deforestation reporting requirements for one year, instead granting a six-month grace period for certain companies.
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The new rules -- which are expected to set mandatory due diligence rules for traders who import or export palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy to or from the EU market (see 2407180047 and 2307270041) -- will take effect Dec. 30 “as planned,” the European Commission said in a proposal released this week. Companies that “can't comply immediately have a six-month grace period until June 30.”
The new proposal also says micro and small businesses will still be given until Dec. 30, 2026, to comply.
The announcement came nearly a month after the EU’s environment commissioner said IT issues were forcing the bloc to delay the measures for one year from Dec. 30 (see 2509260028). But the commission this week said it’s "streamlining" and simplifying its reporting requirements to make sure its IT system can handle the changes.
Under the new proposal, only the company that first places a product onto the EU market must submit a due diligence statement to the bloc, not downstream operators and traders. “With this streamlining, only one submission in the [EU Deforestation Regulation] IT system at the entry point in the market will be required for the entire supply chain,” the commission said.
For example, a shipment of imported cocoa beans would need only one due diligence statement to be submitted by the importer placing them on the EU market, and the downstream manufacturer of any chocolate products “will not be required to submit a new due diligence statement in the IT system,” the EU said. It also said micro and small companies “would only submit a simple, one-off declaration” in the IT system.
“The new entry into application dates, combined with the simplification of obligations for supply chain actors aims to ensure that the IT system can sustain the level of expected loads,” the commission said. It added that it’s working on “contingency plans” in case this proposal isn’t adopted in time, since it must be approved and adopted by the European Parliament and Council.
European Commissioner Teresa Ribera said the revised approach “provides certainty and stability, streamlining the tracking process for micro and small producers who, while individually posing little risk, collectively provide critical data for maintaining overall traceability.” It also allows “large operators to progressively adapt while giving micro and small producers more time to adjust.”
Parliament’s European People's Party Group applauded the proposals, saying they're a “step in the right direction and should be fast-tracked.” But the rules “require scrutiny to ensure the measures will be effective and provide real relief for the small and micro-enterprises affected.”
“It is an important signal that those who operate in a deforestation-free manner should no longer suffer under a mountain of bureaucracy,” said Parliament member Christine Schneider, the group’s lead negotiator on the issue. “Our goal is a fast-track procedure so that businesses can obtain legal certainty and practical simplifications as soon as possible.”
Delara Burkhardt, lead negotiator for Parliament's Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, said the “renewed delay in implementation is unnecessary.” But she also believes the proposal “has the potential to end the disputes surrounding the deforestation regulation and finally provide planning certainty for businesses.”