European Press Reports EUDR Implementation Faces Further Delay
AIC is aware of press articles confirming that European Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall has announced a further delay to the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), now postponed by yet another year.
Despite the Commission’s simplification efforts, “we still cannot believe that we can really get this without disruption for our businesses,” Roswall told reporters at today’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting. “We need the time to combat the risk with the load of information in the IT system.”
The regulation was originally scheduled to apply from 30 December 2024, before the Commission proposed delaying it to the end of this year, giving companies and trading partners an additional 12 months to prepare for the new tracing and due diligence requirements.
However, more time is needed, said Roswall, and the Commission has now sent letters to the Council of the EU and the European Parliament proposing a further delay.
The Commissioner denied that the Commission’s push to delay was linked to complaints from trade partners such as the United States, Japan, or Malaysia. She also denied any connection to the conclusion of challenging trade talks with Indonesia on Monday, the world’s largest exporter of palm oil.
Roswall left open the possibility of amending the substance of the deforestation rules. “The other thing that we also have been working on for a long time is the simplification of different angles,” she said, which the Commission will “now also discuss with the ministers.”
A majority of EU member states earlier this year called for the application of the deforestation rules to be delayed, pending reductions to certain measures.
AIC will forward the official announcement once it is made available.
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