EUDR delay following yesterday's European Parliament vote

Yesterday the European Parliament voted to approve the 1-year delay of the EUDR's mandatory implementation. It also approved further amendments brought by the centre right European People’s Party. The changes (from the original text) that are now on the table are: 

• Mandatory application by end of 2026 (the 1-year delay) 

• A clause specifying that if the risk benchmark and Information System are not functional 6 months before application, further delays need to be adopted. 

• The addition of a 'No Risk category' to the country risk benchmark 

• Defined by three criteria: stable forest area since 1990; adherence to the Paris Agreement and International Conventions on Human Rights and on preventing deforestation; and enforcement of regulations on preventing deforestation and forest conservation. 

• For in-scope products from these countries, only transaction data would need to be collected, and only the legality requirements apply. (i.e. deforestation requirement and related plot-level data collection is not needed - forest degradation is not exempted). 

• Using the first of three criteria proposed, the likely countries to be deemed 'no risk' would be: all European countries (minus Sweden, Norway), USA, China, India, and Vietnam. 

What are the next steps and likely outcomes? 

A Trialogue between the EP, Council and Commission is needed to reach an agreement on the added amendments, particularly the no-risk country category. Three scenarios are possible: 

1- The Council accepts the new amendments & and the EUDR goes into force (1-year delay and “no risk” countries approved) 

2- EP and EC find a middle ground in the Trialogue (likely 1-year delay + unknown changes) 

3- The Trialogue fails to reach an agreement and the EUDR (the original text) comes into force at the end of this year. 

Recommendations: 

Considering the further uncertainty of EUDR implementation we reiterate our recommendations for all companies that have obligations under the EUDR: 

☑️ Maintain ongoing efforts to implement and enhance their EUDR compliance strategies, policies and procedures, and find workable implementation solutions with suppliers. 

☑️ Use the next twelve months to really focus on where we have already identified potential unintended consequences of EUDR, including supporting small-scale producers in high-risk areas and in support of producer country led processes to ensure smallholder inclusion. 

☑️ Continue to work on the implementation of global Deforestation and Conversion Free commitments to effectively address deforestation and conversion across their entire supply base (irrespective of specific requirements under the EUDR). This includes collective action within and beyond individual company supply chains.  

Proforest will continue to monitor the status of the EUDR and support companies and governments on compliance. Amidst the uncertainties above we strongly emphasise the need for coherent global DCF and forest-positive policies.