Motorists ride past Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park’s compound in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia, June 8, 2024. Credit: AP/Achmad Ibrahim
Why are there calls for delays in implementing the EUDR?
Officials from leading exporters of affected commodities — including Brazil, Indonesia and the Ivory Coast — object to the regulation, saying it could act as a trade barrier, negatively affect small farmers and disrupt supply chains.
“This regulation disregards local circumstances and capabilities, national legislations, certification mechanisms, their efforts to fight deforestation, and multilateral commitments of producer countries, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” the Indonesian embassy in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered, said in a statement. Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of palm oil and exports many other forest-derived commodities.
Politicians within the EU have also raised concerns or asked for postponements. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked that the regulation be suspended. Austria and some agricultural ministries in EU member states have also sought to weaken the regulation.
The head of the World Trade Organization reportedly has asked Brussels to reconsider the ban on imports from deforested areas, saying the EU has not yet issued clear compliance guidelines.
The World Trade Organization declined a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Lobbying groups representing businesses that will be impacted — such as animal feed and tire producers — have also voiced concerns about the regulation’s strict traceability requirements and a flawed information entry and database system where companies need to submit their due diligence statements.
How do conservationists hope the EUDR will help protect forests?
Europe ranked second in the amount of deforestation caused by its imports in 2017, according to a 2021 World Wildlife Fund report. Environmental organizations have said the EUDR will help reduce that.
In Brazil — where wildfires have rage d during a record drought — 25 environmental groups voiced their support for the regulations in a letter sent to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, saying companies and government offices were preparing to implement the new requirements.
“This groundbreaking regulation is the most ambitious legislative attempt to tackle these issues worldwide,” the Brazilian organizations wrote in their letter. “Every second counts to protect human lives today, as well as humankind’s future, avoid climate change, and stop biodiversity losses.”
The regulation could also help set a precedent for other countries considering legislation that would have a similar effect, said Julian Oram, a policy leader for international environmental organization Mighty Earth.
“It’s a catalyst for governments around the world to say enough is enough: That we can’t continue to import or produce goods linked to deforestation, that there has to be a cutoff point— and that is now.”
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Associated Press journalist Aniruddha Ghosal in Hanoi contributed to this report.
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Publish date : 2024-10-01 20:31:00
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