The European Union Parliament voted overwhelmingly today to postpone enforcement of the landmark EU deforestation-free supply chains law, known as EUDR.
The EU Parliament adopted the extension by a vote of 546-97, with seven abstentions. The provision delays enforcement of the law until until Dec. 30, 2025, for large companies, and until June 2026 for micro or small enterprises.
The enforcement delay comes as tropical deforestation continues at an alarming rate of approximately 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) per year, or the equivalent of nearly 10 American football fields per minute.
Agricultural activities account for approximately 90% of tropical deforestation, and the EUDR law is designed to ensure that European products derived from seven key commodities — including coffee, cocoa, soy, cattle, palm oil, soya, rubber and timber — are not associated with new deforestation.
As enforcement of EUDR drew nearer to its original Dec. 30, 2024 deadline, the chorus of calls to delay implementation grew louder. In the coffee industry, numerous producer-focused organizations, as well as large roasters and traders, warned of “unintended consequences,” particularly for smallholder coffee farmers who may be shut out of trade. At the same time, other environmental groups called for urgent compliance as opposed to delays, with one characterizing the coffee industry’s response as “too little, too late.”
“We paid attention to the calls of several sectors facing difficulties and ensured that affected businesses, foresters, farmers and authorities will have an additional year to prepare,” EU Parliament spokesperson Christine Schneider of Germany said following today’s vote. “This time must be used effectively to ensure that the measures announced in the Commission’s binding declaration, including the online platform and risk categorization, are consistently implemented to create more predictability throughout the supply chain.”
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 420 million hectares of forest — an area larger than the EU — were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020. EU consumption accounts for about 10% of global deforestation, according to the FAO.
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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