The European Union has voted to postpone implementing a key antideforestation law for the second year in a row, citing technical concerns. Critics of the move warn that a delay and other proposed changes will further weaken the law.

On Nov. 26, the European Parliament voted 402 to 250 in favor of an amendment that delays a start date for the landmark European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and introduces an array of exemptions to the law. When the law goes into effect, it will ban EU nations from importing goods like soy, beef, cocoa and palm oil that come from areas deforested after 2020.

If the amendment is ratified, it will delay EUDR implementation another year to Dec. 30, 2026, with an additional grace period for small businesses through June 30, 2027. The EUDR was originally set to take effect at the end of 2024, before being pushed forward a year to December 2025.

“EU lawmakers are subjecting the EUDR to death by a thousand cuts,” Nicole Polsterer, a campaigner at Netherlands-based nonprofit Fern, told Mongabay by email. “The endless carousel of attempts to revise and even destroy a law that was passed with a large democratic mandate two years ago, are a farce.”

Along with the delay, European lawmakers also made a series of changes to the original law.

Printed books and newspapers were removed from the scope of the law, a move perceived to benefit the forestry industry.

Small operators that produce their own goods and are from countries classified as “low risk” under the EUDR, which includes EU nations, the U.S., China, Australia and Canada, will be largely exempt.

Dozens of businesses and NGOs, including food conglomerate Nestlé, published a joint letter on Nov. 17 saying a further delay creates market uncertainty and instability. Conservation NGO WWF called the move “a chaotic and unmanageable situation.”

The European Parliament also proposed a review window for the law, which would allow politicians to make further changes over the coming months.

“Worryingly, parliament has asked the EU Commission to undertake a ‘simplification review’ of the law and come back with a report by April 2026,” Fyfe Strachan, policy and communications lead at Earthsight, an NGO, wrote in a statement. “This report could trigger another round of amendments, compounding the legal uncertainty created by today’s vote.”

According to Polsterer, companies that had prepared for the law’s implementation in just over 30 days will now face extra costs to adapt to additional changes.

The European Parliament’s proposed delays and revisions to the EUDR will now go into informal negotiations between the EU’s three branches of government. A final text will then be returned to the parliament for ratification.
 
Source: mongabay.com