Legal & Regulatory News

Deforestation regulation published in the Official Journal of EU

On 9 June 2023, the European Union published regulation on deforestation which emphasises the impact of deforestation on the climate crisis, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss and which aims to diminish the Union’s contribution to all three.

The European Union’s objective is to restrict the consumption of commodities which are associated with deforestation. The commodities consumed in the European Union which particularly contribute to deforestation are oil palm, soya, wood, cocoa, coffee, cattle and rubber. The products concerned must be deforestation-free from 30 December 2024. 

The regulation highlights the key role that agricultural expansion has in driving deforestation and consequently under Article 3 any commodities that contain, have been fed with or are made with the previous commodities cannot be exported or made available on the market unless they meet the following criteria:

• are deforestation-free;
• are covered by a due-diligence statement; and.
• conform with the legislation of the country they were produced in.

The regulation shall be enforced by the competent authorities of the member states of the European Union, who will monitor relevant operators. Operators will be able to report information on their commodities through an information system established by the Commission.

Click here to read the Regulation.