Germany calls for delay of EU deforestation free regulation and publishes handout on the EUDR

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) of Germany as reiterated its call for the European Commission to postpone the implementation of the Regulation on Deforestation Free Products (EUDR), which is scheduled to apply on 30 December.

The BMEL argues that “in order to ensure an efficient, practical and low-bureaucracy application”, it is calling for the postponement of the application of the EUDR. Already in April, on the initiative of Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir together with Federal Minister of the Environment Steffi Lemke, several EU Member States appealed to the European Commission to put in place the necessary foundations for an efficient application of the EUDR.

Meanwhile, the BMEL has also published a handbook to enable legally secure and practicable application of the EUDR in the forestry industry.

Whilst the EUDR currently applies to the primary products palm oil, cattle, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber as well as derived products (such as beef, furniture, or chocolate), the European Commission is carrying out an exercise with a contractor to study the expansion of the product scope and ecosystems to which the EUDR will apply. It will carry out a public consultation on this matter by the end of 2024.

Additionally, a greater number of large consumer food and beverage companies are seeking to make their supply chains deforestation free, applying rules on deforestation beyond the scope of products in the EUDR.

More information:

(page only in German) https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Meldungen/DE/Presse/2024/240830-entwaldungsfreie_produkte.html

Contact: Lebo Mofolo, lmofolo@frucom.eu