EU Reaches Provisional Deal to Postpone Deforestation Due Diligence Rules
EU negotiators on Dec. 3 agreed to delay the bloc’s upcoming deforestation reporting requirements by one year to help companies better prepare for the new due diligence rules (see 2410040022). The law was scheduled to take effect for most large companies Dec. 30 and for small companies June 30, but a provisional agreement struck between members of the European Parliament and Council could extend those dates to Dec. 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, respectively.
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The agreement still must be formally endorsed by the entire Parliament and the Council, and it must be published in the EU Official Journal before the end of the year.
The provisional deal comes after EU member states and companies, as well as third-country traders and lawmakers (see 2409260067), said they were concerned industry wouldn’t be able to fully comply with the rules by the end of the year. The law will set mandatory due diligence rules for traders who import or export palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy to or from the EU market (see 2407180047 and 2307270041).
Members of the European Parliament had also pushed the Council to water down the new law by adding a “no risk” category of countries that would benefit from reduced compliance checks, which would “principally have been EU members,” Reuters reported. But Parliament member Christine Schneider of Germany said the Council wouldn’t agree to changes to the law.
“We would have preferred to see several issues directly enshrined in the law, but the Council refused,” she said. “It is now up to the Commission to deliver on its commitments. We MEPs will closely monitor this process, in particular efforts towards reducing bureaucracy.”