Tuesday April 30, 2024

Brussels, Belgium

Enjoy chocolate or coffee in Europe with the assurance of not contributing to the disappearance of forests on the other side of the world: an EU text aimed at banning imports of products derived from deforestation will come into force at the end of December.
The European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, returned on Saturday from a trip to Paraguay, Bolivia and Ecuador designed to defuse concerns, at a time when preparations are gathering pace.
Here are the key points of this unprecedented legislation, formally approved in mid-2023 following the agreement reached at the end of 2022 between EU Member States and MEPs:
Products concerned
Responsible for 16% of global deforestation through imports (2017 figure), the EU is the second biggest destroyer of tropical forests behind China, according to the NGO WWF.
The text bans imports into the EU of a series of products if their production comes from deforested land after December 2020.
These products include soy, beef, palm oil, wood, rubber, cocoa and coffee, as well as related products (leather, furniture, charcoal, paper, etc.). The ban will apply from the end of December 2024.

Geolocation

Importing companies will be responsible for their supply chain, and will have to certify traceability using crop geolocation data – enabling authorities to carry out checks based on satellite imagery.
Smaller operators will be able to call on larger companies to prepare their “due diligence” declarations.
In the face of criticism from producer countries, which are concerned about costly constraints for their small, under-equipped growers, the EU is promising its “close financial and technological support”, in particular via cell phone solutions for communicating geolocated field data.
Brussels believes that the larger, image-conscious companies are already well prepared for the new requirements.
And several years ago, the EU initiated a “dialogue” with Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the world’s leading cocoa producers, to establish “sustainable” production criteria with them.
Controls, “risk” countries
European authorities will have to carry out annual checks on at least 9% of the volume of products from countries considered “at high risk” of deforestation.
Products from countries considered “standard risk” or “low risk” will be subject to fewer controls, or even simplified procedures.
This classification of countries has not yet been finalized by Brussels, but by default all will be considered “low risk”.

This classification of countries has not yet been finalized by Brussels, and by default all will be considered “standard risk” initially. This is a sensitive issue for producer countries, who are concerned that their image could be tarnished if they are labelled “high risk”.
NGOs are also concerned about the small number of staff currently mobilized in member states to carry out these controls – barely fifteen in Germany, according to a recent survey by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Sanctions
Penalties for non-compliance will be “proportionate and dissuasive”, and will represent at least 4% of the total annual sales in the EU of the defaulting supplier or operator, who may also be excluded from public procurement contracts.
Savannahs and finance, the big losers
In addition to deforestation, “deforestation” will also cover the conversion of primary forests or natural forest ecosystems into plantation forests.
However, the definition of “forest” (trees over 5 metres tall) excludes other threatened woodland ecosystems – in particular the Cerrado savannah (Brazil/Paraguay/Bolivia), which is the source of some of the soy imported.
According to the WWF, the Cerrado could lose an area the size of the Czech Republic by 2027.
However, the European Commission will have to consider extending the rules “to other woodlands” by July 2024, with a possible legislative revision.

By mid-2025, Brussels is also required to study a possible extension to other products (such as corn), to other biodiversity-rich ecosystems (peatlands, etc.), and also to financial institutions.
According to the NGO Global Witness, between 2016 and 2020, banks based in the EU granted almost 35 billion euros in financing to the main groups responsible for deforestation, especially in the agri-food sector.
Human rights
Importers will have to “verify their compliance with the human rights legislation of the country of production” in relation to deforestation. The text refers to the principle of “free, prior and informed consent” of indigenous peoples.

Humaniterre avec AFP