Delays to European deforestation legislation “inevitable”

The regulation aims to tackle deforestation and forest degradation linked to feed supply chains. Photo: Canva

A lack of clarity over the European Commission’s EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) has led to implementation delays.

The European Commission announced on 2 October that it was proposing to defer the compliance date for large companies by 12 months to 30 December 2025, with smaller firms needing to take action by 30 June 2026.

The regulation, which aims to tackle deforestation and forest degradation linked to feed supply chains, has faced criticism for a lack of legal action. The delay will not only enable businesses to align with the proposed requirements, but it will also enable the Commission to set up a country risk benchmarking system and offer further guidance through updated FAQs.

A support for the need to preserve forests

James McCulloch, head of animal feed at the Agricultural Industries Confederation, said there was support among European trade associations for eradicating deforestation and forest degradation.

“We fully recognised the need to preserve forests while at the same time securing supplies of sustainable raw materials to feed people,” he said. “AIC also recognises the huge amount of resource that importers have committed to comply with by the due date. However, the lack of legal clarity from the EU Commission presented many challenges for the whole sector.”

Firms are committing resources

Coceral said last month that many supply chain representatives had not received clear guidance on regulation implementation despite firms dedicating considerable resources. “We proposed practical commodity-specific solutions to facilitate implementation, as the EUDR was not designed to adapt to the complexity of agrifood supply chains. However, uncertainty remains as to whether the sectors’ proposed solutions will be accepted as good practice and compliant by relevant authorities,” it said.

FEFAC president Pedro Cordero said the European Parliament and the Council needed to consider the challenges raised by EU member states, third countries and relevant stakeholders and approve the Commission’s proposals for a 1-year delay.

“FEFAC welcomes the European Commission proposal for 12 months of extra phasing-in time for the implementation of the EUDR, as well as the release of the Guideline and updated FAQ, to facilitate the transition to EUDR compliant value chains. …This needs to take place without jeopardising vital feed supply chains for soy (of both EU and non-EU origins) and palm oil (co)products,” he said.

Response from trade associations

The delay has generally been welcomed by trade associations, with the AIC saying it would be working hard to ensure that the legislation in the EU is fit for purpose and how it would apply in Northern Ireland, given some of the ongoing Brexit ramifications.

“We will also need to consider how the UK’s version of the legislation – the UK Forest Risk Commodity Regulations – will be implemented and look forward to working with the new government to achieve this,” added McCulloch.