EUDR implementation to be delayed by 12 months as EU Parliament votes in favour
The EU Parliament has voted today (14 November) to adopt the EU Commission's proposal for a one-year postponement of the application date of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
In addition, the Parliament adopted the proposal tabled by the EPP Group for a four-tier deforestation risk categorisation of producing countries. The Commission is required to finalise the country benchmarking system by 30 June 2025.
These amendments require a revision of the text of the Regulation and there will be some interinstitutional negotiations on this before sending the agreed text back to the EU Council and Parliament for final approval ahead of it being published in the EU Official Journal.
Further detail
The move comes in response to concerns raised by EU member states, non-EU countries, traders, operators, and trade associations such as the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) and its European counterparts that they would not be able to fully comply with the rules if applied as of the end of 2024.
The EUDR has been in force since 29 June 2023 and its provisions are due to be implemented from 30 December 2024. However, the implementation will be deferred to 30 December 2025 for large companies, and 30 June 2026 for small companies.
Parliament also adopted other amendments proposed by the political groups, including the creation of a new category of countries posing “no risk” on deforestation in addition to the existing three categories of "low", "standard" and "high" risk.
Countries classified as "no risk", defined as countries with stable or increasing forest area development, would face significantly less stringent requirements as there is a negligible or non-existent risk of deforestation.
In short, all the EU institutions now agree on having a 12-month delay to EUDR implementation. However, the postponement cannot be legally enacted until the amendments to the "no-risk" category are discussed and agreed, with this process set to follow today's vote.
AIC's view
Commenting on the news of the EU Commission's proposed implementation delay last month, James McCulloch, AIC's Head of Animal Feed, said: "AIC, alongside our European associations COCERAL and FEFAC, support the goal of eradicating deforestation and forest degradation.
"We fully recognise the need to preserve forests while at the same time securing supplies of sustainable raw materials to feed people.
"AIC also recognises the huge amount of resource that importers have committed to comply by the due date, however, the severe lack of legal clarity from the EU Commission presented many challenges for the whole sector.
"On balance, AIC supported the call from our EU associations for a delay of the entry into force. We will now be working hard to ensure that the legislation in the EU is fit for purpose, including how it will apply in Northern Ireland.
"We also will need to consider how the UK’s version of the legislation - the UK Forest Risk Commodity Regulation (UKFRC) - will be implemented and look forward to working with the new Government to achieve this."
AIC Members will be kept up to date with developments regarding EUDR. For the latest information, visit AIC's frequently asked questions webpage on EUDR and the UK Forest Risk Commodities Regulation (UKFRC).
Authors
James McCulloch
Oli Hill
As Head of Communications, Oli creates and oversees the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media. A qualified multimedia journalist, he previously spent six years working at Farmers Weekly magazine as a Senior Reporter on the arable team, and latterly as Community Editor. More recently he was Communications Manager at Red Tractor.
