Exclusive: Rainforest Alliance raises alarm over plans to delay flagship EUDR environmental laws
Fanny Gauttier, EU Public Affairs Lead for the Rainforest Alliance spoke of the importance of the EUDR regulations at last month's World Confectionery Conference. Pic: Dafos
The Rainforest Alliance has added key concerns over plans put forward by the EU Commission to delay the introduction of the flagship EUDR laws aimed at preventing deforestation in European supply chains for sectors including cocoa, palm oil and soy, writes Neill Barston.
Notably, the certification organisation, which spoke at our World Confectionery Conference last month on the value of the landmark legislation (see our exclusive video review of the event here), said the move to delay set a ‘dangerous precent’ that could lead to potential reopening of related regulations linked to the European Green Deal that has been designed to deliver sustainable food supply chains across Europe.
Moreover, beyond its focus on ensuring that companies will now have mandatory requirements to ensure that their ingredients are not linked to deforestation, the regulations also provided greater protections for agricultural workers, leading to groups such as Human Rights Watch also expressing concern over a year-long delay to the legislation that had already been fully agreed some 18 months ago by the European Parliament.
The move, reportedly sanctioned by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, a has yet to be ratified by EU member states, but as has been reportedly in national media, some 20 European nations within the EU had expressed concerns over how prepared they were for the new regulations, along with fears from cocoa associations in Ivory Coast, Malaysia and Indonesia. Concerns had also been voiced by the German chancellor, who had reportedly sought a six-month delay to the scheme – which will, if approved in a revised form, take effect at the end of 2025 for large companies, and later in 2026 for small to medium sized enterprises across Europe.
In a statement, the Rainforest Alliance said: “The Rainforest Alliance regrets the proposal by the European Commission to postpone the European Union Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) by twelve months. We see this as a blatant contradiction with all EU commitments to halt global biodiversity loss and climate change. It also sets a dangerous precedent leading to potential reopening of all the crucial regulations and directives adopted as part of the EU Green Deal.
“This delay also penalises those companies and producers that have already made significant investments to comply with the EUDR. The Rainforest Alliance has supported the EUDR from its inception and has consistently rejected any postponement of its implementation. The EUDR is the result of a very long process and comes as the result of decades of inaction to tackle deforestation.”
Fast-tracking EUDR compliance
In addition, the organisation said it remains prepared to support its partners in becoming EUDR compliant as soon as possible, which has already seen it fast-tracked changes to its certification programme to enable EUDR compliance. Consequently, in light of the new decision, the organisation said it is launching its news Deforestation Risk Assessment Tool this week for non-certified supply chain actors and farmers.
The organisation added that protecting forests remains at the core of its mission, and that it would continue its work with communities, scientists, governments and companies across 60 countries to further its goals
It added: “We stand ready to support stakeholders in the cocoa and coffee sectors and we call on the European Commission, member states and companies to provide appropriate support for the implementation of the EUDR for smallholder farmers so that the costs of compliance are not passed to them, and they are not excluded from the EU market due to a lack of resources.
“We welcome the publication of the long-awaited guidance and updated FAQ and urge companies to intensify their efforts to reach compliance, especially should the additional transitional period be approved by the Council and the Parliament.”
