Positive EUDR news from Brussels
A “provisional political agreement” has emerged between the European Parliament and the European Council on the proposal to grant a 12-month additional phasing-in period for the European Union Deforestation Regulation.
Following this, the Parliament and the Council must still “formally adopt” the amendment. Once they do so, businesses, including those in the leather supply chain, will have an extra year to prepare for the application of EUDR, which demands detailed traceability information on a range of products, including hides and leather.
Once formally adopted, the law will become applicable on December 30, 2025, for large companies and on June 30, 2026, for micro- and small enterprises.
“Given the EUDR’s novel character,” the European Commission said, “the swift timeframe, and the variety of international stakeholders involved, an additional 12 months to phase in the system is a balanced solution to support operators around the world in securing a smooth implementation from the start.”
In the meantime, it said it would continue providing further clarifications on the legislation and explore “additional simplifications” through updates of the guidelines and a frequently asked questions document.
It said an information system on which businesses will register EUDR due diligence information will enter into operation on December 4 this year.
Originally, all countries around the world were to be classified as presenting ‘low’, ‘standard’ or ‘high’ risk of deforestation. In November, the European Parliament voted to introduce a ‘no-risk’ category too. The Commission has now said it aims to finalise the country benchmarking system no later than June 30, 2025.
