EU Deforestation Law to Be Postponed and Rules to Be Relaxed

The EU member states have voted by majority for another postponement of the anti-deforestation law and announced a relaxation of the rules. According to diplomats, representatives of the 27 countries agreed in Brussels on Wednesday that the regulations should only take effect at the end of 2026.

The EU law on deforestation-free supply chains prohibits the sale of products grown on land deforested after 2020. This affects products such as coffee, cocoa, palm oil, soy, rubber, and beef. Companies are required to ensure compliance using satellite-based location data from the cultivation countries and report to Brussels.

The postponement and potential relaxations are a response to criticism from forest owners and food industry companies. They fear "excessive administrative burden." Internationally, there have also been complaints from EU trading partners, including Brazil and Indonesia, "because the requirements from Brussels ultimately fall on local farmers."

The law had already been postponed once; the current deadline is December 30 of this year. Now, another postponement is planned. At the same time, specific changes have been decided to ease the burden on companies: "Only the first importer to the EU market will be required to provide information on the origin of the products and pass this on to their trading partners." Small businesses are to be given easier implementation: "Instead of documenting every product, they will only need to register once."

The member states are calling on the EU Commission to thoroughly review the law in April of the coming year. The Commission is then expected to propose amendments, "for which there will be no time before the deadline at the end of the year." Subsequently, the amendments will enter into discussions with the European Parliament, which plans to define its negotiating position next week. A compromise must be reached by the end of the year to prevent the law from automatically coming into force in its current form.

With the postponement and adjustments, companies, especially small ones, could be relieved of bureaucratic burdens. At the same time, it remains to be seen whether EU trading partners and producers in the affected countries will once again influence the final implementation of the law.