The EU Parliament and the member states have agreed on a law to protect the rainforests: This means that companies will in future be subject to binding due diligence requirements in their import and export business.
The aim of this regulation is to ensure that no products are manufactured or sold in the EU that are associated with the clearing of rainforests, in order to counteract global deforestation. This appears to be imperative, as the consumption and sale of certain raw materials and consumer goods contributes significantly to deforestation and thus to the threat to the climate, people and the environment.
This affects raw materials such as soy, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee, as well as products made from them, such as leather, chocolate and furniture made from precious woods. Meat from animals such as cattle fed soy from deforestation areas will also fall under the ban. The list of products concerned is regularly updated and reviewed.
From now on, companies with due diligence statements will have to prove that their products do not originate from areas that have been deforested after December 31, 2020.
To ensure effective control, companies must submit declarations to a European information system confirming that they have fulfilled their due diligence requirements and that the products they distribute comply with EU regulations.
To promote deforestation-free agricultural supply chains, the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has established the “National Stakeholder Forum” for deforestation-free supply chains. This forum will play a central role for the exchange during the transition period until the new EU regulation comes into force.
The regulation is expected to take effect in mid-2023.
Sources
EU einigt sich auf Importverbot für Kakao und Kaffee aus Abholzungsgebieten | STERN.de, EU verbietet Warenimport aus Entwaldungsgebieten | tagesschau.de, Deal on new law to ensure products causing deforestation are not sold in the EU | Aktuelles | Europäisches Parlament (europa.eu), Die Ursachen der Entwaldung und wie die EU dagegen vorgeht | Aktuelles | Europäisches Parlament (europa.eu), Entwaldungsfreie Lieferketten (nachhaltige-agrarlieferketten.org), EuZW 2022, 99 – beck-online, EuZW 2023, 14 – beck-online, becklink 2025788 – beck-online, BMEL – Pressemitteilungen – Anti-Entwaldungsverordnung nimmt wichtige Hürde, EU: Entwaldung beenden, Landrechte schützen | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org), EU-Gesetz für entwaldungsfreie Lieferketten und EU-Lieferkettengesetz werden kommen – ein Appell, warum wir beides brauchen | Germanwatch e.V., BMEL – Wälder weltweit – Die Leitlinien für entwaldungsfreie Lieferketten,Parlament nimmt neues Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der weltweiten Entwaldung an | Aktuelles | Europäisches Parlament (europa.eu)
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Legal Compliance Expert
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